Understanding Quests

A quest involves two players: a Master and a Subject.

Yankee Stadium selected as destination

The Master…

The Master’s job is to select a treasure to hide in the box and a destination where it will be revealed. These should usually be related. For example, if you wanted to end your quest at a glamorous restaurant, you might choose a matching gift card as the treasure.  You could also conceal a key in the box that opens the storage locker found at the quest’s end. Your imagination is the only limit to the hundreds of wonderful possibilities.

…Designs the Quest.

You configure a Quest Box with our Quest Design software, which lets you do several things:

  1. Select a destination on a map.
  2. Decide how close the box must get to that destination to open.  (This distance is usually small for a specific place like a restaurant or hotel, or larger for more expansive targets like islands or cities.)
  3. Limit the number of times your Subject may activate the box.  (By default, all quests end after 50 attempts.  Lowering this number adds urgency.)
  4. Personalize the greeting the Subject sees. (“Happy Birthday, Robert!” or “I love you, Jan!”)

Discovering the destination with circles

The Subject…

Once the Treasure is locked up, the Master delivers the box to a friend for the Subject to solve.  The Master chooses how much to reveal about how the box works.  In some memorable quests, the box is given anonymously with no accompanying instruction at all.

…Lives it!

After a few tries, the Subject should begin to realize that the box is reporting its distance from some special place.  Since the box can only be activated a limited number of times, the Subject must quickly learn how to use these clues to find that place.

Some people find it helpful to give the Subject a paper map and a compass to mark circular distances.

If the Subject manages to solve the quest before it expires, he or she is treated to the distinctive whirring that signals the opening of the internal latch.  The box is now unlocked–it’s time to see what’s inside!