ClueKeeper is a
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
location-aware software platform created by a group of puzzle lovers
and initially released in 2013.
It is an iOS and Android based app for building and playing puzzle hunts.
It incorporates features of a
puzzle hunt
A puzzle hunt (sometimes рuzzlehunt) is a puzzle game where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles. A puzzle hunt can happen at a particular location, in multiple locations, or via the Internet. In a puzzle hunt, a puzzle is usually not acc ...
, an
escape room
An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...
, and
augmented reality.
Creators can develop self-enclosed story files (called "hunts") that are read by the ClueKeeper app, which is installed on a GPS-enabled smartphone. The player and story take advantage of the location information provided by the GPS to trigger in-game events, such as using a virtual object, unlocking a puzzle, or interacting with characters. Completing a hunt can require going to different locations and solving puzzles. A typical ClueKeeper adventure is the Sunset Bar Crawl, created by San Francisco-based puzzle hunt company Shinteki, in which players are guided to several local pubs where they find clues and answer trivia questions.
Hunts can be either hosted or self-guided. The former are organized events in which teams compete at the same time. The latter are played individually or as a team, not at a set time but whenever they want to do the hunt.
Some are designed by escape room companies to supplement their room-based games with outdoor, walking puzzle hunts in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Jersey City.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, social distancing rules and business lockdowns forced many escape rooms to close their doors temporarily. Some of them turned to ClueKeeper as a way to allow people to play puzzle-and-escape games without actually going inside an escape room. Some rooms held hosted games, where teams compete for prizes without coming into contact with each other. Others developed play-anytime games in which the players download a ClueKeeper app whose clues and puzzles lead the players to various locations. In some cases, puzzle developers were asked by city park and recreation departments or visitors bureaus to create ClueKeeper apps featuring local landmarks or facilities for the entertainment of locals and tourists.
ClueKeeper is used to run the annual international puzzle hunt fo
D.A.S.H as well as hunts by companies such a
RavenchaseShinteki
and many others.
See also
* Augmented reality
* Escape room
An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...
* Location-based game
A location-based game (or location-enabled game, or geolocation-based game) is a type of game in which the gameplay evolves and progresses via a player's location. Location-based games must provide some mechanism to allow the player to report thei ...
* Munzee
Munzee is a freemium scavenger hunt game where QR codes have to be found at different places in the real world. The game is similar to geocaching but uses QR code technology, in addition to device GPS location, to prove the find instead of a log ...
* Pokémon Go
''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android ...
* Puzzlehunt
A puzzle hunt (sometimes рuzzlehunt) is a puzzle game where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles. A puzzle hunt can happen at a particular location, in multiple locations, or via the Internet. In a puzzle hunt, a puzzle is usually not acc ...
References
{{reflist
External links
ClueKeeper.com
- Official ClueKeeper site
ClueKeeper: AR-powered group gaming is awesome!
Outdoor locating games
Augmented reality
Puzzle hunts