Creating a hunt? what you like and what don't?

[mali]

We have been inspired to create our own mini hunt. The prize wont be massive and the clues maybe not that great.
But we will see....
also
We would love to know what you like in a hunt and what you love about the thrill of the chase, also what you dislike about clues. And your best moments confirming the clues! 

[riddlerja]

Treasure Hunt Parameters

1. No Equipment Required! Treasure is hidden but not buried.
This makes it more accessible for families, travelers, etc. No issues with people digging where they’re not supposed to, and people don’t have to pack gear. Ideally, no metal detector needed, either, since most people don’t own one of those.

2. Location permits this activity; not on private property, not public where prohibited.
Many parks and other public spaces allow hunts, many don’t. You should check before you hide. Make sure you don’t violate any rules of the locale when hiding it and that the searchers won’t need to nor be encouraged to violate the rules when hunting.

3. Clues are relatively identifiable.
One thing that divides hunters is book-based hunts or ones like them where the reader / hunter has no idea what the clues are. Some people enjoy trying to figure out if an illustration or quote is a clue or not. Others prefer figuring out what the clues mean as the primary effort, not guessing what the clues are. There are more of the latter than the former (although I don’t know the mix on this board).

4. Clues don’t require arcane knowledge. Codes, if any, are of “common” designs.
The clues should be challenging, but not such that once revealed, people would say “how the bleep was I supposed to figure that out?” People should feel that they reasonably could have figured out the solution once it is revealed.

5. Limited “possible” answers to each clue.
If there are too many possible ways to interpret a clue (“where do warm waters halt?”), it can get really frustrating quickly.

Think of the hunt like a physical crossword puzzle: each clue should have a few possible answers, although in the hunt case they may take a lot of thinking or some online research to figure out. When you add in the other words, or in this case other clues, you limit how many of the possible answers to other clues still “fit.” Ideally, people will develop a set of answers to each clue, and like the crossword, only one combination of answers fits together to form a solution.

You can also use this crossword analogy to test your clues for possible short-cuts. If some clues are too unique, someone might solve the hunt without solving many of the other clues. Ever do a crossword where you guessed a long phrase that formed an entire row or column of the puzzle and made the whole thing instantly much easier? On the flip side, if some clues are too vague, the hunt may go unsolved too long.

There’s some thrill from solving an individual clue; there’s more thrill when you get multiple clues to fit together, like in the crossword.