The scavenger hunt app, from missions to leaderboard.
A scavenger hunt app turns a list of challenges into a game people play on their phones: missions to complete, proof to submit, points that land on a live leaderboard, and a judge who sees every submission as it arrives. It is one of the most common things a group ever asks a phone to do, whether the group is a classroom, a team offsite, a wedding party or a city tourism office, which is why it belongs to the wider family of community and organisation apps.
This page is about what the app has to get right underneath the fun: the records it keeps, the five mission types and what each one proves, a scoring model that survives a tie, how GPS check-ins and the iPhone location prompt behave, what an off-the-shelf platform charges, and when a group ends up building a scavenger hunt phone app of its own.
See what a hunt app has to keep track ofThe short version
Six records, five mission types, one clock.
A scavenger hunt app keeps six records: the hunt, its missions, the teams, every submission, a score derived from accepted submissions, and the judge actions that changed them. Missions come in five types, photo, video, text, GPS check-in and code scan, and the important difference between them is who checks the proof: a person or the app. Everything hangs off one clock. Submissions before the end time count, submissions after it are stored but ignored, and the tie-break is the time a team reached its final score. The rest of this page is the detail, with a planner for sizing a hunt and dated prices for the off-the-shelf route.
The records
What a scavenger hunt app has to keep track of.
Strip the confetti off any hunt platform and the same six records are underneath, whether it is a scavenger hunt mobile app used by a school or a corporate team-building event with sponsors. Get these right and the leaderboard is defensible. Get them wrong and the prize table turns into an argument.
| Record | What it holds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hunt | Name, start and end time, join code, team or individual play, whether the feed is visible to everyone, the tie-break rule | The clock and the join code are the two things every player asks about, so they live in one place |
| Mission | Title, instructions, type, points, proof required, location and radius, answer key, time window, unlock rule | One mission definition drives the player screen, the automatic checker and the judge queue |
| Team | Name, members, the devices that joined, join time | Scores belong to a team; submissions belong to a member of it, which matters when a phone dies mid-hunt |
| Submission | Mission, team, server timestamp, the proof (file, text, code or coordinates), status (pending, accepted, rejected, adjusted), judge note, points awarded | The record that decides the leaderboard, and the one people argue about at the prize table |
| Score | Points from accepted submissions, bonuses, penalties, time of the last accepted submission | Derived, never typed: recompute it from submissions so a judge edit moves the board instantly |
| Judge action | Who accepted, rejected or adjusted a submission, when, and why | The audit trail when a team disputes a result after the clock has stopped |
The submission is the record that matters
Everything a team argues about at the end is a submission: was it on time, was it accepted, why was it rejected, who changed the points. So the submission needs a server timestamp rather than the phone's clock, a status that moves from pending to accepted or rejected, the judge's note, and the points actually awarded, which can differ from the mission's face value when a judge gives partial credit. Score is then a derived number: add up accepted submissions, apply bonuses and penalties, done. A leaderboard someone types into is a leaderboard someone can mistype.
Mission types
Five mission types, and what each one proves.
Mission type decides two things at once: what the player has to do, and who checks it. Photo and video missions need a human judge, or an honour system with spot checks. Text, GPS and code scan missions check themselves, which is what lets one organiser run a hunt for a hundred people without a judging team. The mix you choose is the biggest lever on both fun and workload.
| Mission type | What the player does | How it is checked | Cheat resistance | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | Takes a picture that matches the brief | A judge accepts or rejects it; some organisers auto-accept and spot check | Medium: in-app capture and a timestamp stop camera roll uploads | Creative and team missions, everyone-in-the-shot |
| Video | Records a short clip | A judge, same as photo | Medium to high: harder to fake than a photo | Performance missions, chants, re-enactments |
| Text or quiz | Types an answer or picks an option | Automatic, against an answer key with several accepted spellings | Low unless timed: answers travel between teams fast | Trivia, riddles, clue solving |
| GPS check-in | Goes to a place and taps check in | Automatic, when the phone's position is inside the radius | Medium: a radius plus a timestamp; a jump across town in a minute is a flag | City tours, campus orientation, park trails |
| QR or code scan | Finds and scans a code placed at the spot | Automatic, when the code matches | High for presence, unless a code gets photographed and shared | Indoor hunts, museums, conference booths |
Sequential unlocks: the treasure hunt rule
One rule on the mission record changes the whole game: whether the mission is visible from the start or unlocks when another one is accepted. Free-choice missions make a scavenger hunt, where teams pick their own route and the highest score wins. A chain of unlocks makes a treasure hunt, where each accepted answer reveals the next location and the first team to the end wins. Good events often mix them: a long free-choice list for points and one story route that unlocks step by step, with a time bonus for finishing it.
Scoring
A scoring model that survives a tie.
Scoring looks trivial until two teams finish level with three minutes left and a prize on the table. The model below is what most hunt platforms converge on, and it is worth writing down before the event so nobody is inventing rules at the finish.
Seven rules to print on the briefing sheet
- Face value per mission, weighted: many quick missions worth a little, a few hard ones worth a lot.
- Bonuses for a reason: the first team to complete a mission, or finishing a timed mission inside its window.
- Rejected means zero, with one resubmission allowed while the mission is still open.
- Judges can adjust points up or down, but only with a note the team can read.
- Score is recomputed from accepted submissions every time a judge acts, never edited directly.
- Tie-break one: the team that reached its final score first. Tie-break two: fewer rejected submissions.
- The clock is final: a submission stamped after the end time is kept for the record and ignored for the score.
Live leaderboard
Same points, different clock
- 1. Blue Heronswins on tie-break640
final score at 15:52
- 2. Night Owls640
final score at 15:58
- 3. Team Otter585
final score at 15:59
- 4. The Lost Keys470
final score at 15:41
Two teams on 640. The one that got there first wins, and the app decides it from timestamps, not from a judge's opinion.
Sizing the hunt
How many missions, and how many judges?
The two questions every organiser asks the week before. The planner uses a rule of thumb, about one mission for every five minutes of play including the walking, and assumes every team attempts every mission and a judge spends about half a minute on each photo or video. It is a planning aid, not a study, so round to what your venue allows.
Try it
Hunt planner: missions to write and judges to book
Move the sliders to match your event. One mission per five minutes of play, every team attempts every mission, and a judge spends about half a minute on each photo or video.
Mission mix
Missions to write
18
9 self-checking, 9 judged
Submissions to expect
144
72 of them need a human
Per judge
72
about 36 min of judging in a 90 min hunt
Judging load
Comfortable. One person can judge from the feed and still answer the phone.
Location
GPS check-ins and the location prompt.
A GPS mission stores a target point and a radius, and the app compares the phone's position against it when the player taps check in. Three practical details decide whether that works on the day.
01
The radius is the mission
Phone positioning drifts, especially between tall buildings and indoors. A radius of a few dozen metres around a landmark is forgiving enough to work and tight enough to prove someone went there. A radius of a few metres fails honest teams. A radius of half a kilometre proves nothing.
02
iPhone will not ask without a reason
Apple's Core Location documentation is explicit: the app must declare a usage description (the NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription key) before it makes any authorization request, or the request fails immediately. When in Use access, which only delivers location while the app is open, is what Apple calls the preferred choice, and it is all a check-in needs. Apple also advises asking at the moment the feature is used rather than at launch, so the prompt should appear when a player opens their first location mission. Apple's authorization guide
03
Timestamps catch the shortcut
A team that checks in across town one minute after its last check-in did not walk there. Store the position and a server timestamp on every location submission and let a judge flag impossible jumps. Make it a review tool, not an automatic penalty, since a wrong flag on an honest team costs more goodwill than a missed cheat.
That is as far as this page goes on the sensor side. How location updates behave in the background, what accuracy to expect from a phone, and what it costs the battery are their own subject.
GPS and location in mobile appsRunning the hunt
The organiser's workflow, start line to prize table.
An app for scavenger hunt organisers earns its keep in the hour before the start and the ten minutes after the clock stops, not during the hunt. This is the sequence that keeps both calm.
- 1
Write the missions with the proof type and points attached
Decide who checks each one as you write it. If more than half need a judge, plan the judging team now, not on the morning.
- 2
Set the clock, the team size and the join code
Start time, end time, maximum members per team, and whether the feed is visible to everyone. Print the join code large.
- 3
Test the whole loop on two phones
Join, submit a photo, check in at a location, reject a submission, watch the leaderboard move. Do it the day before, at the venue if the hunt is outdoors.
- 4
Brief the players on the three rules that cause arguments
The clock is final, rejected means resubmit while the mission is open, and the tie-break is time to final score.
- 5
Judge live from the feed
Accept or reject as submissions arrive so the leaderboard stays honest during the hunt, not in a rush at the end. Leave a note on every rejection.
- 6
Lock, resolve ties, announce
Close submissions at the end time, let the app apply the tie-break, then announce from the leaderboard rather than a scrap of paper.
- 7
Give people the photos
The photo feed is what everyone wants afterwards. Export it, or keep the hunt open in read-only mode for a week.
Two neighbouring formats get confused with a hunt. If the event is really about the pictures rather than the race, a fixed spot, a frame and a shared gallery, that is a photo booth app, not a hunt. And at a conference, a mobile app scavenger hunt is usually one tab inside the mobile app for conference attendees already carry, with a code on every sponsor booth as the mission and the agenda one tab over.
The off-the-shelf route
What a scavenger hunt app costs off the shelf.
Hunt platforms price by head count and by how often you run one. GooseChase, one of the best known, publishes its free and single event tiers, so it is the useful reference point. The figures below are in US dollars from its pricing page, checked on 21 September 2026.
| Plan | Price | Participants | Live experiences | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 3 per experience | 1 at a time | Up to 24 hours |
| Single event | $99 one-time | Up to 10 | 1 | 30 days to launch and run |
| Single event | $299 one-time | Up to 40 | 1 | 30 days to launch and run |
| Single event | $499 one-time | Up to 100 | 1 | 30 days to launch and run |
| Single event | $749 one-time | Up to 175 | 1 | 30 days to launch and run |
| Enterprise, not-for-profit, K-12 | Quote | Custom | Unlimited, simultaneous | No duration limit |
From GooseChase's pricing page, 21 September 2026. Participants join in a web browser or the free GooseChase app with a join link, code or QR code, and the company quotes separately for K-12 educators, non-profits and groups larger than the listed tiers.
Which scavenger hunt app is best?
Three questions answer it faster than any review roundup. How many people: platform pricing steps up with participant count, so a 40 person offsite and a 400 student orientation are different purchases. How often: a single event tier covers a one-off, while a hunt that runs every term, or a permanent city trail, is either a subscription or your own app. And how standard your rules are: photo, text, GPS and code missions with a leaderboard are what every platform does well, while sabotage missions, sponsor-specific rules, a branded app under your own name in the store, or photos that must stay on your own storage are where the settings pages run out.
| Approach | Mission types | Self-checking GPS and codes | Live leaderboard | Rules you can change | Cost model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper clue sheet and a group chat | Photo, text | No | No | Anything, by hand | Free, plus a judge's evening |
| Shared spreadsheet and phone photos | Photo, text | No | manual refresh | Anything, by hand | Free, but every score is typed |
| Off-the-shelf hunt platform | Photo, video, text, GPS, code | Yes | Yes | Within the vendor's settings | Per event or per participant tier |
| Custom-built hunt app | Whatever you define | Yes | Yes | Whatever your event needs | A monthly builder fee plus store accounts |
Free vs. paid
Is there a free scavenger hunt app?
Yes, for a test run. GooseChase's free plan, as checked on 21 September 2026, allows up to 3 participants per experience, one live experience at a time and a maximum of 24 hours, which is enough to try the format with two friends and not enough to run an event. A paper clue sheet and a group chat are free too, and the difference between a paper and an app scavenger hunt is exactly the part that costs money: automatic checking, a live leaderboard and a feed that keeps the photos. Building your own is not free either. Newly, for example, is $25 a month with no free plan, and publishing to the App Store adds Apple's own developer membership on top.
When to build your own
When a group builds its own scavenger hunt app.
The reason to build rather than subscribe is rarely the per-event price. It is a hunt that does not fit the settings page: a school that runs one every term and wants the photos of its pupils on its own storage, a city that wants a permanent trail under its own name in the App Store, a company that wants the hunt inside the app its staff already use, or an organiser with rules no platform offers, like missions that steal points from another team. That gap, an event whose rules or repeat schedule no off-the-shelf tool quite fits, is what Newly is for: describe the hunt you actually run, the mission types, the point rules and the tie-break, who can judge, and it builds a real native app around your event instead of the vendor's template.
Two product facts to plan around, both from the App Store submission guide. The iPhone build goes to App Store Connect and reaches your own phone through TestFlight before it reaches players; publishing needs an Apple Developer Program membership at $99 a year, a store build takes 5 to 15 minutes, and Apple's review typically takes one to three days, so a hunt with a fixed date needs the app submitted weeks ahead, not days. And there are no Android release builds on v2 today, so a bring-your-own-phone hunt needs an iPhone group. Check the phones in your group before you commit to a native player app.
Two of Apple's review guidelines shape the design. Guideline 5.1.1 (v) says an app without significant account based features should let people use it without a login, so join by code, no sign-up. Guideline 5.1.1 (iii) says to request only the data the core function needs, so ask for location when a player opens a location mission, and never in a hunt with no location missions at all. App Review Guidelines
The mission list, the scoring rules and the tie-break are worth writing on paper first, because they are cheap to change before anything is built and impossible to change fairly once the clock is running.
Sources
Where the specifics came from.
Four things on this page come from a primary source rather than general practice:
FAQ
Scavenger hunt apps, answered.
A scavenger hunt app turns a list of challenges into a game played on phones. The organiser writes missions, gives each one a point value and a proof type, sets a start and end time and shares a join code. Players or teams complete missions by submitting a photo or video, typing an answer, scanning a code or checking in at a GPS location. The app scores them, runs a live leaderboard and shows accepted submissions in a feed, which replaces the paper clue sheet and the judge with a clipboard.
Write the missions, then build the app.
A hunt is decided by its rules long before anyone runs: the mission mix, the points, the clock and the tie-break. Get those on paper, then build the app around them in Newly.