18 Virtual Scavenger Hunt Ideas on Zoom for Remote Teams (2024)

Everybody loves a good challenge. We are natural thrill-seekers and love to participate in group activities. That’s one of the reasons scavenger hunts have found popularity in recent years, more so as an office activity because it brings teams together and instills group mechanisms. But have you ever wondered how a virtual scavenger hunt would work?

In times of the pandemic, social distancing and masking have become a norm. Yet, even with the offices reopening, remote working is picking up pace. This can lead to a sense of separation and anxiety, at times, among employees. A Virtual scavenger hunt or a zoom scavenger hunt is a great way to do that.

In this article, we will talk about some of the best virtual scavenger hunt ideas and how to execute them.

A virtual scavenger hunt is a collection of various activities that the participants, or in this case, the employees, have to solve or perform. At the end of each activity or task, an item is revealed, along which the employees have to take a photo or video.

This activity encourages competition and agility among the employees. But it also inculcates collaboration and motivates the employees to form a connection as at the end of the hunt, everyone shares the photos and videos taken.

In today’s times of remote working, a virtual scavenger hunt or zoom scavenger hunt is a great way to connect. It helps the employees not feel disengaged or isolated.

We have created a virtual scavenger hunt list, a ready reckoner you can refer to while creating an online scavenger hunt for team building.

A virtual treasure hunt game can be of various types. You just have to pick one from the lot, depending on the time and theme, to get started with it. Here are a few ideas that can get you going.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt Ideas with Photos and Videos

#1 Morning Glow-up

This one is fun. Ask your employees to send a picture of any of their morning chores. Any picture would do, whether it is brushing their teeth or having their morning tea. This one is fun and surprising. Imagine employees having a quiet laugh over their managers in Hello Kitty bathrobes.

#2 Clean Up

This one is another one of the unique indoor scavenger hunt ideas. Only, you replace the morning selfies with cleaning equipment. Ask the employees to share pictures of them cleaning their house, along with the equipment; broom, vacuum cleaner, whatever it is.

#3 Search Engine

Give your employees a certain set of words and ask them to add it at the end of the company name and enter it in their search engine. They have to then share the first image that crops up in their search results.

#4 Weather Update

If you have a remote team that works across different time zones, this one is going to be quite a fun experience for the employees (unless, of course, they are sleeping). Ask your employees to take a 10-second video of the weather outside and share it on the communication app or whichever mode you have chosen to conduct the activity.

#5 Petfies

Now this one is quite easy. All your employees have to do is click a selfie with their pet, if they have any. You can also add a twist to it by asking them to share a picture from when their pet was a baby or when it came to their houses and then the latest one. This would be quite a heartwarming one and may serve as an ice-breaker as well.

#6 Recreation Reincarnation

Not reincarnation literally, but this one is fun. You must have seen the Instagram trends wherein people are recreating their childhood photos. Some are funny, some heartwarming, and the ones with people who are gone, sweet and nostalgic. Ask your employees to recreate their favorite childhood pictures. To avoid any tears, ask them to recreate a solo picture. This one should be fun. Again, this hunt will also serve as an ice-breaker.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Live Games

#7 Job Description

Do you remember the time when you were hired by the company? Quite a trip down memory lane, especially if you have been in the company for a long time. Ask everyone to share a video of them reading their original job descriptions creatively. From the oldest employees to the newest ones, this will be quite an interesting exercise.

#8 Alphabet Alpha

This one is quite simple, or maybe, not so much. That is what makes it so much fun. Give your employees an alphabet and a time slot. They have to find an object that starts with the same alphabet. At the end of it, the employee who has collected the most objects is declared the alpha of the virtual scavenger hunt.

#9 Zoom Out

Every technology has a glitch at some point. Zoom is the most used video call app that has been in fashion ever since remote working became a norm. Naturally, it had its limitations too which led to multiple and constant updates. Ask your employees to share their top 3 “Zoom Out moments”, or the moments when either due to the app glitch or due to their own goof up, some funny or embarrassing incident happened with them.

#10 Wishlist Wish Hunt

Everyone has a wish list. We all have had these little lists ever since we knew we could make a wish. It just graduated from paper to Amazon accounts. Ask your employees to share their wishlists from 5 years ago and from now. Share and compare life on the screen. It is a great exercise in helping the employees bond, especially if they have similar tastes. It will also help them prep for Secret Santa, birthdays, and other gift exchange occasions wherein they will know what to gift their colleagues.

#11 Book/Movie Hunt

Are any of your employees voracious readers? Everyone likes to read something or the other, even if they are not voracious readers. Ask them to share the thinnest and the thickest book on their shelf. It doesn’t matter what genre it belongs to. Alternatively, since not everyone may be a reader, you can combine it with movies, or keep these separate scavenger hunts. In the case of movies, you can ask the employees to share the longest and the shortest movie they’ve ever watched.

#12 Safety Check

How prepared are your employees for the pandemic, even if they are working remotely? This virtual scavenger hunt idea is a great way to check their safety measures. Ask your employees to list down five things, including masking up and sanitization, that they are following to keep themselves protected from the virus. Bonus points if they are already vaccinated.

App-based Virtual Scavenger Hunt Ideas

#13 Catch-meme if You Can

If the name caught your attention, the game would too. This online virtual scavenger hunt is perfect for those who love mystery. It requires the participants to form teams and then look for a mysterious hacker who is picking their images and creating memes with them.

Download it here

#14 Race for the Lost Tomb

Another scavenger hunt that is app-based, this one also requires employees to team up and look for clues all across Atlantis via the app. The aim is to escape the city together within an hour.

Download it here

#15 Let’s Roam

Why need Atlantis or any other virtual city of fiction if there are gems hidden in your city? One amazing thing that remote working has done is connect employees beyond boundaries and time zones. Let’s Roam is an app-based virtual scavenger hunt that leverages the same. Via the app, the employees can uncover the hidden delights within their city and share them with their teammates.

Download it here

#16 The Great Race from Wildly Different

This is one of the bestselling virtual scavenger hunt games. This game is another collaborative one that encourages team spirit and helps employees connect better with each other. It is played via Zoom and another application. The teams have to complete trivia and games based on the theme of travel. It also includes virtual races. The employees can participate from anywhere in the world.

Download it here

#17 Virtual Team Hunt

This one requires information on the employees that are then formed into various survey questions and quizzes. It’s a competition on who knows each other the best. The best way to conduct this would be to choose an engaging host, probably from among the employees. Fun and frolic, this one is simple and interactive.

Download it here

#18 Enchambered, the Legend of Skull Witch

Again, one for the lovers of mystery and fantasy, this game is quite like a treasure hunt or a virtual scavenger hunt. The best part about this one is that it doesn’t just feel like a game. Various tasks are spun together with chapters which makes the employees feel like they are a part of the story. The ones to escape first from the clutches of the witch are the winners. Spooky yet worth it, this is an interesting virtual scavenger hunt.

Download it here

Now that you know some of the best ideas, how do you organize them? Here are a few tips that may help you out.

Choose a Web Platform

You need to choose a platform via which your employees can interact as they participate in the virtual scavenger hunt. While Zoom is one of the most popular platforms, you can also take a look at Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and others. Choose one that has the most comfortable user interface, and also one that accommodates all your employees.

Decide a Time and Duration

Virtual scavenger hunts can go on for a long time. But you have to set a time limit to it because the employees have work commitments as well. Decide the frequency of the hunt and also how much time each scavenger hunt would be for. Remote working comes with a lot of responsibilities and distractions, some of them blurring the work-life boundaries. Ensure that there is a time and duration that suits all and no one feels compelled to participate.

Know your Goals

Office games, whether virtual or not, are not just for recreational purposes. True, these are meant to ease up the employees and help them be more productive, but they should serve more purposes. These virtual games can be an icebreaker scavenger hunt for the new hires and their respective teams. Similarly, it can also be an inter-branch activity to let the employees know each other better. Define the goals and create a virtual scavenger hunt accordingly.

Make it Inclusive

Do not create a virtual treasure hunt keeping only the majority in mind. Make it inclusive. Know that your business is global and that there are bound to be people from various cultures, genders, races, etc. Be careful while you pick up any of these activities.

One act of inclusivity can go a long way. Let’s start with this.

Can you manage it?

This is a million-dollar question. Can you manage this particular scavenger hunt on your own or do you need to hire an event agency for it? Plan it through and figure out how to best execute the event.

We’d say, try it out. There are many online office activities available, now that we are mostly working remotely. But, as an HR professional, it is your responsibility to plan one that serves your organization’s unique purpose, whether on a macro level or a micro one. Know what factors matter the most, who are the people working for you, and what would be the best way to get them to interact and bond with each other so that ultimately your organization works better as a whole.

Virtual scavenger hunt just goes a few steps ahead of usual office activities by making the employees work together over trivia and quizzes rather than just answering ice breaker questions.

Does your organization conduct a virtual scavenger hunt? Do connect with us and let us know.

Employee Engagement, HR Best Practices, Productivity, Remote Work