I just held a virtual scavenger hunt with my friends over Zoom, and it was one of the best remote games I've played so far. Here's how to create your own. (2024)

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First, each team or player should create a list of items that other players will hunt for.

To start, each player or team should come up with a list of 10 items to submit to the virtual group.

I say player or team because it's probably easiest to create teams according to household. So if you live with a spouse or roommates, you can team up to find items together around the house when it's your turn. You can play the game solo, too.

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But the key is to think creatively about the items you choose.

Of course, you can keep things simple and just list specific items, like "sunscreen" or "a coffee mug."

But the game is most fun when you get more conceptual with your choices. For example, my list included "something that someone else made for you" and "something you've owned since high school."

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Once every player has their list, it's time to start the game.

Each team will take turns assigning their list to the other players and judging the results.

For example, in my game there were four different teams playing from four different households. One team would share their entire written list with the group, while the other three teams would search their respective homes for those items.

You can do this through the text chat feature built into Zoom or other video chat services, or through another text platform of your choice like Google Docs or email. It doesn't really matter how you share it as long as everyone playing the game can see the list.

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But it's not just about grabbing random objects in your home and passing them off as items on the list.

Once the time limit has expired, the creator of the list has to approve each player's choices and make sure they fit the criteria.

For example, one team tried to pass off what was clearly a shoe box as an Amazon shipping box during our game. (That, of course, didn't count.)

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Each team will take turns showing the items they managed to find within the time limit.

The team that finished first is also usually first to show their findings.

The judging player or team chooses a winner by identifying the team that found all of the listed items first within the time limit.

There are some rules that help dictate what counts and doesn't count as winning:

• If you simply don't own everything on the list and therefore can't complete it, you can't win — even if you finish first.
• You must have every item next to you and ready to be shown to the group when the timer expires. That means you can't get up and grab an item from across the room when it's your turn to show your findings.
• If no participants complete the list, the player or team who found most of the items on the list wins.

And that's all there is to it. Happy scavenging!