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Adventure Planning

Getting from an idea to a played game.

Planning an adventure runs backward from two facts: how long you want it to last, and the age of the youngest player. Everything else follows from those.

Length sets the count. A puzzle takes a group of children about five to eight minutes, so a forty five minute game is six or seven puzzles and not the fifteen it is tempting to write. The youngest player sets the floor, because a group moves at the speed of whoever is being left behind, and a child who stops contributing at minute ten is a child causing trouble at minute twenty.

Then test it on one person before the day. One is enough. Hand the first clue to a single child or an adult who has not seen it, say nothing at all, and watch where they stall. Every stall is a puzzle with one way in. You will find two of them, they will take ten minutes to fix, and fixing them is the difference between an adventure that runs itself and one where you spend the whole party explaining.

Guides

Indoor Scavenger Hunt for Kids: Free Printable Lists for Every AgeAdventure PlanningIndoor Scavenger Hunt for Kids: Free Printable Lists for Every AgeAn indoor scavenger hunt for a rainy day, with lists for three ages that work in any home and need no setting up at all.1 min readFall Scavenger Hunt for Kids: A Free Printable List for the Yard or ParkAdventure PlanningFall Scavenger Hunt for Kids: A Free Printable List for the Yard or ParkA fall scavenger hunt list for the backyard or the park, by age, with every item findable on an ordinary fall afternoon.1 min readEscape Room Ideas for the Whole FamilyAdventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for the Whole FamilyA six year old, a teenager, two parents and a grandparent in one game. How to give every age something only they can do, and the one clue only a family can solve.4 min readHow to Throw an Escape Room Birthday Party at HomeAdventure PlanningHow to Throw an Escape Room Birthday Party at HomeTwelve children is not one team, the game goes before the cake, and the goodie bags are the treasure. A two-hour plan that works.4 min readEscape Room Ideas for TeenagersAdventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for TeenagersTeenagers do not want to be helped. They want a room that fights back, atmosphere they can feel, and a host who disappears. Here is how to build one at home.3 min readEscape Room Ideas for 7 and 8 Year OldsAdventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for 7 and 8 Year OldsSeven and eight year olds can read a clue, count and hold two facts at once, but a padlock under pressure still beats them. What works, what still fails, and how to run it.4 min readA brown envelope closed with a white wax seal, a pen lying across it on a wooden desk.Adventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for TweensAt eleven and twelve, whether a game looks babyish matters more than how hard it is. Give them a real mystery, a real deadline and room to argue, then step back.3 min readOld maps spread over a table with a compass, a camera and a notebook tied with string.Adventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for 9 and 10 Year OldsNine and ten year olds can crack a real cipher, work a combination lock and split a puzzle between them. What they cannot stand is anything that feels babyish.4 min readEscape Room Ideas for 6 Year OldsAdventure PlanningEscape Room Ideas for 6 Year OldsSix year olds cannot read fast, cannot hold three facts at once, and lose interest in ninety seconds. Here is what works instead, and why most escape room ideas do not.4 min read

More Ideas

Puzzle DesignCodes & CiphersEscape RoomsGame DesignAdventure PlanningPuzzle IdeasMechanisms that reward working it out.Clue IdeasWhat a clue says, and what it holds back.Codes & CiphersCiphers a solver can crack unaided.Hiding PlacesFindable, but not on the first pass.DIY PropsProps built from what is already in the house.ThemesSettings that carry a whole adventure.Setup TipsLess time setting up, more time playing.Finale IdeasEndings worth all the work before them.