The photo scavenger hunt: twelve photo scavenger hunt ideas that get a room moving

Why does a photo scavenger hunt work?

Asking guests to “take lots of photos” gets you a hundred pictures of the same three moments from the same three angles. A list of missions does something different: it gives people a reason to look for the photo nobody else is taking, and a reason to talk to someone they have not met. It is also the most reliable way to get photos of the things you actually want photographed.

With Mosaikin the hunt sits inside the event. A guest picks a mission, takes the photo, and it uploads attached to that mission, ticked off on their list, with their running score at the top. The photo joins the gallery like any other. See How does the scavenger hunt work?

Which missions come ready-made?

On the Activities tab, one click applies a set: Wedding Classics, Party & Birthday, Corporate Event or New Year’s Eve. You see what a set will add before it is applied. Six of the best from those sets:

• Group Selfie. The easiest way to get a table that never quite assembled into one frame.
• Worst Dance Move. Turns the dance floor into the photos everyone asks to see the next morning.
• Tears of Joy. The speeches, from the guests’ side of the room, which the photographer at the front cannot see.
• The Whole Crew. Every member of a group in one picture, which is harder than it sounds after midnight.
• A Toast! The raised glasses, from inside the circle rather than across the room.
• Sparklers. From the New Year’s Eve set, and just as good at a wedding send-off or a bonfire night.

What are some new photo scavenger hunt ideas?

These are ideas, not presets: type any of them in on the Activities tab, one mission at a time, and change the wording to suit your crowd.

• The oldest and youngest guests together. Usually the best photo of the day, and often one nobody would have thought to take.
• Someone you met today. The mission that does the most for a room of people from different parts of someone’s life.
• The view from your seat. Thirty different angles on the same speech, which together tell you what the day looked like.
• The person who travelled furthest. A conversation starter as much as a photo.
• Shoes on the dance floor. Close, low and anonymous: good for guests who would rather not be in front of the camera.
• Whoever made today happen. The caterers, the bar, the band, the friend who did the flowers, with their agreement. Thank-you photos are some of the ones people keep longest.

A good mission is specific enough to send someone looking, open enough that twenty guests can each answer it differently, and kind. Avoid anything that asks guests to photograph a stranger without asking first.

When should missions appear?

A list of twelve at the start of the evening is a lot to hold in your head. Keep some back. Open a mission with the pencil, turn on Reveal later and choose the time: “The First Dance” as the dancing starts, “Sparklers” at the send-off. Until then guests cannot see or score it; at that time it appears on their phones without anyone reloading, and the event page tells them a mission has unlocked. You can schedule a mission up to seven days either side of the event date. See How do I set up the scavenger hunt?

A new mission arriving mid-evening does more than a reminder from the microphone ever could: it is news, and people check their phones for it.

How do points and the leaderboard work?

• Each mission scores once per guest. Five photos for Group Selfie score what one would, so the game rewards range rather than volume, and nobody floods the gallery to win.
• The leaderboard shows the top guests, and each guest’s own standing whether or not they are near the top.
• Names come from public photos only. A guest who leaves the name blank appears as “Guest”; one whose photos are all private still scores but stays off the board.
• Guests must have joined to score. Someone browsing a public gallery can see the missions, but scoring is tied to the guest’s session for the event, which is also what stops one person claiming a mission twice.

Scores are worked out fresh each time the board is shown, so a photo you delete takes its points with it. See How is the leaderboard scored?

How do you get guests to play?

• Mention it once, from the microphone. “There is a photo hunt on the album; the leader at midnight gets the last of the cake.” A small prize is plenty.
• Put the slideshow on the screen. Mission photos appear on it like any others, and seeing a rival’s Worst Dance Move arrive is a strong prompt. See How do I run the live slideshow?
• Seed it yourself. Score the first mission in front of a table and the rest follow.

A memorial has no scavenger hunt, by design: a family gathering photos of someone they have lost should not open on a points table. For a wedding, a birthday or a weekend away, see parties on Mosaikin and weddings on Mosaikin, and pricing for what each plan includes.