The Art Attack Scavenger Hunt at the Art Institute of Chicago
- Most Popular
- private
- adults
- indoor
Uncover the secrets of an amazing museum
This whirlwind tour of the Art Institute has something for everyone—from paintings to pottery, armor to amore, Dali to dollhouse-like period rooms, ancient Roman warriors to a room where modern moneymen battled, and more.
On teams, you’ll follow a trail of clues in search of answers to tricky, humorous questions designed to get you thinking, bonding, and laughing. But don’t worry: no knowledge of the museum or its contents is necessary—you just need a sharp mind and comfortable shoes.
Looking for an after-work activity? The AIC is open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays!
Your Art Institute of Chicago scavenger hunt might include…
- A famous Parisian dancer who probably would have been an expert during a 1990s dance craze
- A notorious snoozer who dozed off before a war…and found things significantly different when he woke up
- A flexible gal whose gesture seems to say, “Bring it on!”
- A multi-armed god who’d be great at doing “the wave”
And those are just a few of the highlights on an adventure that takes you through time and around the world, all while revealing the best of the museum. The hunt is played using the Watson Adventures app, which works on any smartphone.
If you’ve been searching for something unique and fun for a corporate outing, alumni reunion, birthday party, or any other occasion where you want participants to mingle and make memories, this is it! A Kids Edition is also available, in which kids and adults combine forces to tackle questions that are fun for everyone.
Team-building booster: the Mixed Alliances Edition
Looking to have your group interact with each other even more? Consider the special Mixed Alliances Edition. During the game, each team must collaborate with three other teams, and each player must work with up to 11 other players. To win, you must not only compete—you must also cooperate.
What people are saying about this art museum scavenger hunt
A 5-star review on Google: “What a fun experience! Everything was great from booking to the actual hunt. My team participated in the Art Attack at the Art Institute of Chicago. Lots of follow-up from Watson before the hunt and afterwards to make sure everything went smoothly.”
A 5-star review on Yelp: “Our residency group did a Watson Adventure Scavenger Hunt at the Art Institute in Chicago for our annual retreat—we had a great time! Fun way to see the museum, and everyone got very into the mystery of it.”
Contact us to learn more about the Art Attack Scavenger Hunt—and find more fun in Chicago!
The Field of Screams Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt
- Most Popular
- public
- private
- adults
- indoor
A deadly game of cat and mouse—and dinosaurs
Something strange is afoot at the Field Museum. Staffers involved in acquiring a sacred Egyptian relic have been turning up dead. Is it the work of a serial killer? Or the dreaded Curse of Ahtchu? To solve the mystery and stop the killings, you’ll have to crack a hieroglyphic code, question a suspect, and uncover the museum’s secrets.
Along the way, you might…
- Search an Egyptian tomb for clues
- Interrogate spirits of the dead in the South Pacific
- Scrutinize dinosaurs
- Barge into a cocktail hour at an African watering hole
- Find out what’s wrong with the man-eating lions of Tsavo
Those are just a few of the fun challenges on this hunt that leads you to the best of the museum’s exhibits. No knowledge of the museum or its contents is required—you just need a sharp mind and comfy shoes.
The Murder at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
- Most Popular
- private
- adults
- indoor
Dead and loving it
Well, the curator who’s been murdered probably isn’t, but you and your team will enjoy this murder-mystery game. The victim left behind a cryptic trail of clues connected with secrets in the works of art here. As you figure out what they mean, you begin to piece together the sordid details that got him killed—all of which revolve around the museum’s upcoming purchase of a priceless painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
The curator knew too much, and you’ll have to find out what he knew and which of the four suspects killed him. Along the way, you’ll get a whirlwind tour of the Art Institute, starring a pickpocket at a rooster fight, a deadly threat from a tiny rifle, a marching band suitable for the Planet of the Apes, Van Gogh’s telltale tipplers, and a warning to remain silent from a saint who literally holds his tongue.
The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt at the Field Museum
- Most Popular
- private
- adults
- indoor
Go on an eccentric safari…
…while testing your group’s ability to work together. You’ll trek from ancient Egypt to the Pacific Islands, from the tundra to the forest, from Tibet to the time of dinosaurs, all while answering tricky, humorous questions about what you find. No knowledge of the museum or its exhibits is necessary: you just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and great teamwork.
You might search for answers to such questions as…
- In ancient Egypt, find “bowling pins” with the head of a human, a jackal, a falcon, and a baboon. They’re waiting for organ transplants. As a group, which organ would they reject? Answer: People preparing mummies discarded the brain of a dead person but put the other organs in canopic jars.
- Play the Mating Game. You would say this place stinks, but some single males would call it a “hot spot for picking up ‘single’ females.” Who are these bachelors? Answer: Dung beetles, who meet on piles of dung.
And in case you were wondering, yes, we’ve left out some key ingredients to solve these puzzles. To get the right answers, you’ll need directions and other hunt clues.
One of Our Top Museum Team Building Activities
Since this hunt’s debut in 2005 the Field Museum has been one of our most popular locations for team building activities for corporate groups, including such clients as Microsoft, Turner Construction, Orbitz, Kimberly-Clark, Tropicana, and Exelon, to name a few. If you want to emphasize interaction and collaboration between teams, ask about our Mixed Alliances Edition.
What are players saying about the Field Museum scavenger hunt?
A 5-star Yelp review: “We had a team building activity with a scavenger hunt at the Field Museum. It was terrific! I highly recommend this company; we had an amazing time. The booking experience was smooth and easy. They were always responsive to questions and timely with information. For the scavenger hunt itself, it was just terrific. Valerie did a great, quick briefing that was clear. The clues were subtle but solvable. We had SO MUCH fun roaming all over the museum solving. We have some truly epic pics from the additional challenges! If you have a group, do this!”
Contact us to learn more about our Field Museum scavenger hunts—and find more fun in Chicago!
Escape the Chicago History Museum Scavenger Hunt
- public
- private
- adults
- indoor
The clock is ticking…
You better hope your team can uncover the historical secrets of this remarkable museum—and fast! Because if you don’t follow the clues, find objects on display, and unravel the riddles around them, when you will fail to recover the antidote that will save your life.
Oh, did we leave out a little detail? You’ve been poisoned at the start of this game. A diabolical villain is toying with you with the scavenger hunt he created at this museum. If you can outsmart him, he might invite you to join his gang. And if you fail…well, you know.
The Escape the Chicago History Museum scavenger hunt provides a fun way to go on a time-traveling tour of the exhibits. Plus it’s open till 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, making it a perfect after-work team-building activity. So what are you waiting for? Perhaps you’ve been poisoned already… and the clock is ticking…
Puzzled at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- indoor
Solve the puzzles, save your life
You’ve been poisoned! Don’t panic: there’s a cure…and you’re about to have a lot of fun finding it. The evil genius who poisoned you has created a series of puzzles that lead you to figure out the combination to a box that holds the antidote. Anyone can escape a room, but can you puzzle your way to victory and escape the Art Institute of Chicago with your life?
As you try to do just that, you’ll search the nooks and crannies of the museum to find answers to devilishly tricky questions about works of art. You’ll also interact with our staff to tackle sneaky puzzles and ultimately crack the code.
No knowledge of art or the museum is required: you just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, a smartphone, and excellent teamwork.
Contact us to learn about this puzzling Chicago scavenger hunt—and find more fun at the Art Institute of Chicago!
The Art of Darkness Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- indoor
Steel your nerves…
…for an ominous adventure, as you explore the dark side of art on this spooky tour of the Art Institute. You’ll collaborate with your team to follow strange clues and answer tricky, entertaining questions about morbid masterpieces and the artists who created them. Starring: skulls and skeletons, terrifying monsters, severed heads, torturous devices, martyrs and murderers, strange beasts, and other assorted ghouls in the galleries.
The Brain Squeeze: A Trivia Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- indoor
Like a pub quiz—in art art museum
Show off your pop-culture smarts on this unusual game at the Art Institute of Chicago. Here’s how to play: collaborate with your team on a trivia question, and then use that answer to figure out another question—this time about an object on display. Topics include movies, music, history, sports, science, books, and more.
For example, a Lady Gaga song could help you figure out what’s happening in a painting of a sneaky card game. Knowing the number of stars in a famous dipper could help you find a goddess getting a constellation prize. And a movie quote could help you spot the, um, shortcomings of a Roman statue.
If you get stuck, you can consult Dr. Google—but keep in mind that the groups that get the answers faster will answer more questions and score more points.
Contact us to learn more about this trivia scavenger hunt—and find more fun in Chicago!
The Museum Madness Scavenger Hunt for Kids
- private
- kids
- indoor
An awesome art adventure for kids
On this action- and art-packed scavenger hunt inspired by our popular Art Attack Scavenger Hunt, kids and adults work together to search for wacky paintings, scary armor, tiny dollhouse-like rooms for kings and queens, and much more, and answer fun and funny questions about what they find. No knowledge of the museum or art is necessary, but teamwork and a sense of adventure are key if you want to win.
This game is ideal for school field trips, camp outings, birthday parties, family reunions, and any other occasion where you want to get kids interacting and bonding. Kids have a blast with their teammates and adult partners, learn a whole lot without even realizing it, and discover a love of art in the process.
Recommended for ages 7 and up. Each team must be accompanied by at least one adult.
Contact us to learn more about this great activity for school groups—and find more fun for kids in Chicago!
The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt for Kids
- private
- kids
- indoor
Have a Field day!
On this whirlwind tour of the Field Museum, kids and adults work together as they travel around the world—and back in time. You’ll follow quirky clues and answer fun, funny questions about the historical hilarity that you uncover. Starring: mighty mites, man-eating lions, amazing mummies, awesome antlers, shocking sharks, giant forest hogs, and Dr. Funkenstein. And watch out for the dinosaurs!
Best of all, no previous knowledge about the museum or its contents is necessary to win! You just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and good teamwork.
Along the way, your team will also need to search for opportunities to take creative team photos in certain places or with particular objects in the museum.
Along the way your team will tackle such questions as…
- Why are the famous Lions of Tsavo smaller than they used to be?
- What injury can you discover by tickling the ribs of SUE the T. rex?
- What tiny Egyptian dung collectors were considered to be like a sun god?
- What surprising thing did British people do with cat mummies?
This scavenger hunt is adapted for kids from our best-selling version for adults, The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt. The kids edition is recommended for ages 7 and up. Kids must be accompanied by an adult. It’s a great way to introduce kids to the wonders of natural history, whether they’re participating in a school field trip, or enjoying a children’s birthday party, or looking for some educational fun in any kind of group outing.
Contact us to learn more about our scavenger hunts for kids at the Field Museum—and find more field trip fun in Chicago!
The Naked at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
Art goes au naturel…
…in this naughty tour of the Art Institute of Chicago. You’ll scrutinize bathing beauties, Peeping Toms, sultry sirens, a muscleman who’ll ruin his birthday suit while wrestling a lion, a woman enjoying a golden shower from Zeus, cads and cuckolds, provocative Picassos, dangerous natives, a mystic who’s gone too far with the SlimFast, and much more. Blushing is optional as you answer tricky questions about these works of art with your teammates. No previous experience with art, or nudity, is required.
The Sherlock Holmes at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- indoor
Can you solve the mystery of the dancing figures?
At the outset of this game based on a Sherlock Holmes story, wealthy businessman Hilton Cubitt and his wife, Elsie, have been shot in their elegant home. Hilton is dead, and Elsie has been seriously wounded. Police think she killed her husband and then turned the gun on herself. If she recovers, she’ll be tried for murder!
But wait—there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye. A week earlier, Hilton had asked Watson Adventures’ code-breaking experts to decipher e-mails that Elsie had received. They contained strange images of dancing stick figures. They seemed to upset her, but she insisted to her husband that they were meaningless.
The crime scene included a crumpled copy of a scavenger hunt involving works of art at the AIC. We believe that the scavenger hunt is connected to the e-mails—and that completing it and revealing its secrets will prove Elsie’s innocence.
See if your band of sleuths can figure out who dunnit by working together to answer tricky questions and piece together the puzzle. The hunt’s afoot!
The Twisted Science Museum Scavenger Hunt
- public
- private
- adults
- indoor
So much fun, it defies the laws of physics!
You might never suspect that the Museum of Science + Industry contains so many crazy, amazing, and amusing sights and facts. But that’s exactly what this madcap tour reveals as you follow clever clues and answer tricky, humorous questions. If you like surprises and variety, this is the hunt for you.
On teams, you might be challenged to…
- Search an actual Nazi submarine for an “inflatable woman”
- Inspect vintage race cars
- Find the missing piece in the world’s largest “flipper machine”
- See a famed werewolf turn into the Atomic Man
- Uncover a mad scientist’s “worm lozenge”
- Learn the secret behind frogs’ glow-in-the-dark eyes
- Play Gulliver beside the Loop’s mini canyons in an enormous train set
- Check out some hot chicks—in a hatchery, of course
And that’s just a small sampling from the museum’s scientific smorgasbord. To win, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist—or have any prior knowledge about the museum or its scientific marvels—but a set of sharp eyes and great teamwork could make you feel like Einstein.
The Twisted Science Scavenger Hunt for Kids
- private
- kids
- indoor
You’re about to begin a strange experiment…
Kids and adults work together to answer tricky, humorous questions at this quirky Chicago science museum. You’ll explore a World War II German submarine, a vintage 1930s train, a Boeing 727, the Apollo 8 command module, the Whispering Gallery, and much more.
This group game is sure to be a hit with young hunters for birthday parties, school field trips, camp outings—you name it. Suitable for ages 7 and up.
The Whodunit Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- kids
- indoor
Catch a killer? Get a clue!
There’s a murderer lurking in the halls of the Art Institute, and you’re the only one who can stop him. How? By following the clues and answering the questions in the scavenger hunt that the villain created to taunt the police.
Five of the works of art will reveal his identity, the murder weapon, and the location of the body. But which five? The police are depending on you to find the evidence they need to catch and convict the killer. Are you up to the challenge?
The hunt is great for adults who want to add a murder mystery to their museum visit, but want something a bit less challenging than our Murder at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt. There’s also a Kids Edition, for ages 10 and up, in which kids and adults work together to crack the case.
Contact us to learn more, before the trail runs cold—and find more murder-mystery fun in Chicago!
The Wizard School Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- kids
- indoor
See the museum as Harry Potter might
If you’ve ever thought you could be a great wizard, fighting you-know-who alongside Harry and Hermione, then this is the game for you. On teams, you’ll search for art that echoes the people, places, and objects in the Harry Potter books and movies, and answer tricky, entertaining questions about what you find. Be prepared to track down terrifying dragons like those in the Triwizard Tournament, centaurs and unicorns that seem like they stepped out of the Forbidden Forest, and ghastly figures as scary as any Death Eater or Dementor.
But you don’t have to know Hogwarts from hog warts to win, and a cheat sheet will help out the muggles on your team. The hunt is not an addition to or variation on Harry’s adventures, but instead, it highlights strange and surprising works of art at the AIC that will remind you of J.K. Rowling’s bewitching world.
Not just for kids: what adults say about this game for Harry Potter fans
A 5-star review on Yelp: “We had such an incredible time. I organized a Harry Potter themed scavenger hunt at the Art Institute for my friend’s bachelorette party, and we had a blast. Everything was well organized, and the hunt itself took me to parts of the museum I had never visited, and was also a lot of fun for everyone, even if she wasn’t a huge HP fan. Thanks for a great afternoon!”
Contact us to learn more about this great game for Harry Potter fans—and find more fun at the Art Institute of Chicago!
Escape to the Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt
- private
- adults
- indoor
Visit museums across the country—virtually!
Discover odd and unusual art and artifacts on this unique museum virtual tour. Tricky, fun trivia questions provide clues that lead you on a quest to explore 16 online museums of all kinds, all over America. You’ll pick your way through virtual galleries and historic locations, in search of amazing masterpieces, startling artifacts, dinosaurs, famous people, and more, earning points for uncovering humorous details, all without leaving your comfy chair.
No previous knowledge is required. You just need sharp eyes and great teamwork on this adventure. Thanks to video conferencing technology and our custom game app, people at home can play along with a Watson Adventures host, work with teammates, and have fun together. This game sends you searching for the strangest and funniest details in art hidden on museum websites.
Special editions for private groups
- Want your colleagues to mix more during the game? The Mix & Mingle edition rearranges the teams at “halftime” to increase the number of people players interact with during the game.
- The International Edition is great for groups seeking online ESL games.
- If your group is up for a challenge, try the Brain Squeeze Edition, which adds devilish trivia questions to the clues.
- Or if you’re an educator looking for online classroom games, consider the Kids Edition.
Want to see more of a particular city’s best museums and landmarks? Escape games for New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, and Washington, D.C., are also available. If your group includes people from a variety of countries, whose first language might not be English, check out the Around the World Scavenger Hunt.
Contact us to learn more—and find more fun working at home!