PA Life goes on the hunt with ClueGo

Team-building activities are becoming an essential part of many companies’ business plans and PAs are increasingly being put in charge of booking days out. The PA Life team had the chance to try out a revolutionary interactive treasure hunt from the clever cogs at ClueGo.

ClueGo is a GPS-based treasure hunt that can be arranged in cities around the world (they recently developed an activity for a team in Istanbul). The intuitive app – which is displayed on iPads provided by the company – is preloaded with hotspots in the city that are activated when you walk close to it – kind of like how Pokémon Go works, but much more interesting.

Charlotte and I took part in a ClueGo hunt that started at South Bank in London on one of the hottest days of the year, but the event was so fun from the word go that we didn’t feel the heat. Along with our team of fellow journalists, we made our way by foot across the Golden Jubilee bridge, which is where the real fun started.

Along the way, we came across on-screen interactive tasks ranging from jigsaw puzzles to video challenges. While we fell a bit short on the puzzles, we excelled at acting like fools in front of the camera. We even reenacted the famous slow-motion opening credits scene from cult classic Reservoir Dogs. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun during a team-building exercise.

But there’s a catch; in addition to the option of playing a prank on the other team by sending them an on-screen scare or “breaking” their iPad for a few seconds – potentially in the middle of a challenge – teams have to be aware of two baddies that can steal your points. One is a red Pac-Man-style ghost and the other is a slow-moving zombie, both of which latch on to your GPS coordinates and move toward you. If they catch you, it can have a disastrous effect on your score.

There are also optional extra-hard challenges you can complete in an effort to beat the other teams. We scored a few bonus points by finding the previous day’s newsletter at Charing Cross station and buying a Blackjack sweet. Sadly we only got half points for taking our picture with a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger because he wasn’t the real deal or a look-alike.

After the hunt we met back at the London Eye to blast off aboard a Thames Rocket for a high-speed journey down the river – and there were even riddles to solve along the way. Back on dry land, we retired to the Slug and Lettuce pub for delicious nibbles and drinks while we congratulated the winning team – unfortunately not ours, but the whole experience was so fun we didn’t even mind!

Team-building packages start at £35 + VAT per person. To find out more about ClueGo and the activities on offer, visit cluego.co.uk.