Treasure hunts awards for 2025. An inspiration for your treasure hunt in 2026.
Posted on: 03/11/2025By Tim Carter (Owner of Black Cat Treasure Hunts)
November is the time of year for my treasure hunt awards 2025. It`s a lot of fun to review the treasure hunts that made the most impact on me this year and to give you some ideas for your own Black Cat treasure hunt in 2026.From hen party treasure hunts to team building treasure hunts, the winners are...
You may ask what components make up the likely winners of this category. Is it the best questions or challenges?.. or the best info and photos supplied by the Maid of Honour/Hen party organiser to help me personalise the treasure hunt?.. or is it the feedback given about how much fun the group had? To be honest it`s probably a mixture of all of these.
A Brighton hen party treasure hunt back in July was for a girl who had performed a leading role in the show, Six, on the West End. This and other information about her experiences in musical theatre led to some lively challenges and fun questions. It also happens that she like the game UNO which made me think you should never hold back funny, contrasting info.
I have had more stag do bookings than normal this year. One of them had a `conclave` theme (as in appointing a Pope). This one went very well and would have been a serious contender had they not decided to limit their Pope and cardinal fancy dress to the Friday night only! To be fair this was an October treasure hunt and they may have been concerned about damaging their hired outfits.
With a lot of the hen party treasure hunts you can tell that the groups really like the bride to be by the kind words they add and the detailed info. Several of these could have been the winner. However, this time the top hen party treasure hunt was one held in Shoreditch that I marked remotely. It was less about the quality and amount of info they sent me, compared to the other ones I have mentioned, but more the fact they sent me a little video clip of the whole group (about 10 people) in the bar at the end raising a glass to me! I didn`t ask for this but it was a very nice gesture to show how much they had enjoyed it.
Team Building Treasure Hunts.
Last year the winning, team building treasure hunt was based on a theme of investigation (and being really hard ha ha!) for a team of investigators! This year the successful treasure hunt came down to, oddly, two recruitment companies on consecutive days. The companies were both from Brighton competing in Brighton. It was quite a week for local pride and glory and it was also noticeable to me that there was a bit of an average age gap between the two companies. I`m sure this was to do with what they were recruiting for, but it didn`t stop either of them being really competitive treasure hunting groups.
Both the groups loved their little plastic cup and medals for the winners. My favourite overall was the company who settled into a smallish pub called The Pump House in The Lanes area of the city for the round up. The banter was flowing between the owner`s team and the other teams taking part. From re-creating a scene out of Pulp Fiction in a night club to utilising an alleyway for a slightly dodgy scene from an older film, set in Brighton, called Quadrophenia it was always going to be tight. I felt they welcomed my attempts at humour and reasons for deciding who got the higher marks. There was a 5* review for this treasure hunt within a few days.
All companies get stuck into the challenges including one with the task of impersonating Narwhals! I should also add honourable mentions to two Norwegian companies who certainly made their mark. Maybe one of them overran a little but the pizza sampling at the end made up for that. I would like to see this trend of overseas team building continue in 2026 if possible. There was also an LGBTQ+ treasure hunt for a running club over from Ireland that certainly made my top 4 or 5 too.
Birthday Treasure Hunts.
There were a few less of these to choose from this year, but the standard was high and it came down to a 40th treasure hunt in Camden near the start of the year against a family one in Hastings. The family party edged it as they also adopted a `Race Across Hastings` theme for the first time as well. Whilst I have completed this style successfully it Brighton, I was not sure how well it would work in Hastings, but I need not have worried as it went down a storm and kept neatly to their timings.
I may have to look carefully at how I title next year`s awards as I still have a couple of birthday treasure hunts planned for late November/early December in Brighton and Westminster. One of these is for a 30th birthday and the other is for a 60th...a group of friends and a family gathering. Whichever way you are choosing to do this I am open to all suggestions.
Non-Sussex Based Treasure Hunts.
With an increase in London treasure hunts, it was useful for me to check back over the bookings I had before making a final decision.
A stag do treasure hunt back in March featured a group of Spaniards making their way around the capital whilst the birthday one I mentioned above had some South African links in the challenges. There were some hen party treasure hunts in London for the first time, including one which was incredibly well organised. I was very tempted to award the winners title to that one, but in the end, I have gone for a multi nation group of students on a language trip.
The date of the treasure hunt had been changed and then the weather forecast was a bit gloomy, even though it was in the middle of Summer. The omens were not looking good for this one and from my remote marking position at home I was beginning to think I would not be needed. However, the students had not come from France, Italy, Belgium and Japan just to be put off by some dark clouds over Westminster Abbey. The teams set off and were keen to use their social media accounts to prove how well they had completed the challenges. The inevitable downpour still had one of the teams completing an impressive Mexican Wave halfway across Waterloo Bridge. My contact with the group had said in advance that she herself had become bored by her guided tours! The day after this she said the students had had so much fun, even though they needed to cut it slightly short, she was looking forward to next year.
That`s it for another year, but if you feel that your birthday or team building event or hen party celebration in 2026 needs to be the best it can be then get in touch with me (Tim or `Black Cat` is fine) to start discussions on making your ideas become reality.
Email: info@blackcattreasurehunts.co.uk
Phone: (01323) 655346....I know...that`s a real landline number!
If you think I`ve made all of this up, then all I can do is direct you towards my Google Reviews. You haven`t been to Sussex (or London!) if you haven`t completed one of my personalised treasure hunts.
With a lot of the hen party treasure hunts you can tell that the groups really like the bride to be by the kind words they add and the detailed info. Several of these could have been the winner. However, this time the top hen party treasure hunt was one held in Shoreditch that I marked remotely. It was less about the quality and amount of info they sent me, compared to the other ones I have mentioned, but more the fact they sent me a little video clip of the whole group (about 10 people) in the bar at the end raising a glass to me! I didn`t ask for this but it was a very nice gesture to show how much they had enjoyed it.
Team Building Treasure Hunts.
Last year the winning, team building treasure hunt was based on a theme of investigation (and being really hard ha ha!) for a team of investigators! This year the successful treasure hunt came down to, oddly, two recruitment companies on consecutive days. The companies were both from Brighton competing in Brighton. It was quite a week for local pride and glory and it was also noticeable to me that there was a bit of an average age gap between the two companies. I`m sure this was to do with what they were recruiting for, but it didn`t stop either of them being really competitive treasure hunting groups.
Both the groups loved their little plastic cup and medals for the winners. My favourite overall was the company who settled into a smallish pub called The Pump House in The Lanes area of the city for the round up. The banter was flowing between the owner`s team and the other teams taking part. From re-creating a scene out of Pulp Fiction in a night club to utilising an alleyway for a slightly dodgy scene from an older film, set in Brighton, called Quadrophenia it was always going to be tight. I felt they welcomed my attempts at humour and reasons for deciding who got the higher marks. There was a 5* review for this treasure hunt within a few days.
All companies get stuck into the challenges including one with the task of impersonating Narwhals! I should also add honourable mentions to two Norwegian companies who certainly made their mark. Maybe one of them overran a little but the pizza sampling at the end made up for that. I would like to see this trend of overseas team building continue in 2026 if possible. There was also an LGBTQ+ treasure hunt for a running club over from Ireland that certainly made my top 4 or 5 too.
Birthday Treasure Hunts.
There were a few less of these to choose from this year, but the standard was high and it came down to a 40th treasure hunt in Camden near the start of the year against a family one in Hastings. The family party edged it as they also adopted a `Race Across Hastings` theme for the first time as well. Whilst I have completed this style successfully it Brighton, I was not sure how well it would work in Hastings, but I need not have worried as it went down a storm and kept neatly to their timings.
I may have to look carefully at how I title next year`s awards as I still have a couple of birthday treasure hunts planned for late November/early December in Brighton and Westminster. One of these is for a 30th birthday and the other is for a 60th...a group of friends and a family gathering. Whichever way you are choosing to do this I am open to all suggestions.
Non-Sussex Based Treasure Hunts.
With an increase in London treasure hunts, it was useful for me to check back over the bookings I had before making a final decision.
A stag do treasure hunt back in March featured a group of Spaniards making their way around the capital whilst the birthday one I mentioned above had some South African links in the challenges. There were some hen party treasure hunts in London for the first time, including one which was incredibly well organised. I was very tempted to award the winners title to that one, but in the end, I have gone for a multi nation group of students on a language trip.
The date of the treasure hunt had been changed and then the weather forecast was a bit gloomy, even though it was in the middle of Summer. The omens were not looking good for this one and from my remote marking position at home I was beginning to think I would not be needed. However, the students had not come from France, Italy, Belgium and Japan just to be put off by some dark clouds over Westminster Abbey. The teams set off and were keen to use their social media accounts to prove how well they had completed the challenges. The inevitable downpour still had one of the teams completing an impressive Mexican Wave halfway across Waterloo Bridge. My contact with the group had said in advance that she herself had become bored by her guided tours! The day after this she said the students had had so much fun, even though they needed to cut it slightly short, she was looking forward to next year.
That`s it for another year, but if you feel that your birthday or team building event or hen party celebration in 2026 needs to be the best it can be then get in touch with me (Tim or `Black Cat` is fine) to start discussions on making your ideas become reality.
Email: info@blackcattreasurehunts.co.uk
Phone: (01323) 655346....I know...that`s a real landline number!
If you think I`ve made all of this up, then all I can do is direct you towards my Google Reviews. You haven`t been to Sussex (or London!) if you haven`t completed one of my personalised treasure hunts.
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