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In the last blog I explained in some detail how you use the treasure hunt editor. Here we are going to look further at the process of creating a game – but bear in mind that I have, so far, only created a few and at the moment there is a lot of trial and error. You learn a lot from creating a game and then trying it out with real people. Expect to come back to this as I get more experience and feedback.

As the players start by being presented with a picture, an obvious ploy is to present them with a view of where they are and the direction they should be traveling in. Below is a view from my front door where my first test game started. As they walk towards the destination, the second picture is displayed. Now if we want to do something simple – this is a picture of something they can see easily. Here after 1 minute, they come to a fountain.

It may seem obvious, but worth stating anyway. I plan a route that I know, so have a fairly good idea of the places that I am going to use. I take my camera and look to take portrait-orientated photos (for usual phone screen shape). It might be good here to introduce the subject of theme. For a general treasure hunt, this might be unnecessary but it can serve to focus on how one goes about creating the game. A couple of examples close to where I live are: a “blue plaque” trail, a seafront exploration, or a tapas tour.

But of course this is a fairly simple way to use it. I have created a couple of games for places that I haven’t been to. A bit risky, but so far, so good. Satellite photos (e.g. Google Maps/Earth (and  can be used and you can use them even for places that you have access too – a treasure hunt of aerial photos and maps can be a challenging. A general point here is that the contrast is not so good with most maps – a spot of improvement can be useful (praise be the “one step photo fix” : )

A difficulty that one is presented with when creating the initial picture to point the player in the right direction, is will it really show him the way. A map of the general area with a hand-drawn arrow had been useful to me. But we can also think laterally. A clue to take the player to a nearby roundabout could be a road sign of a roundabout. And now we are thinking laterally, why don’t we start to create some really cryptic clues. I’m looking for volunteers – but don’t worry, if all else fails, there is still the warmometer.