A Race To Find The Killer: How We Put Together A Custom Murder Mystery Team Building Event In SF

There’s a dead body inside the museum – and the killer is lurking somewhere among the art. 

At least, that’s the scenario we laid out for a group of 30 employees from an international software company earlier this year when they joined us for an awesome afternoon of team building in San Francisco.

Company leaders reached out to us a few weeks earlier, hoping to plan a fun event outside the office that incorporated company values and goals, and encouraged team members to work together, all while still having a super good time. They were especially intrigued by the idea of a murder mystery tour, and that’s how our two-hour interactive scavenger hunt and competition to find the killer was born!

Working together to nab the killer

Our tour guides led the company’s 30 employees to a secret location inside the de Young where they set the stage: a body had been discovered inside the museum and the murderer is still on the loose somewhere in the galleries. We broke the large group down into smaller teams and tasked them with solving the mystery and nabbing the killer before it was too late. 

Groups raced to solve clues, accomplish collaborative challenges, and unravel the mystery our guides had created. Throughout the experience, the guides popped up in certain spots to share the craziest facts and stories about the museum’s pieces we’d incorporated into the hunt. At the end, the guides revealed the winners and awarded prizes before the survivors headed off to enjoy a glass of wine in the cafe. 

“The team really enjoyed the murder mystery hunt!” 

We had an amazing time working with the customer to plan this brand-new event! We’d never ran a murder mystery in San Francisco before, so our guides worked behind the scenes to craft a completely custom experience for the software giant. Each clue was specifically designed to require teamwork to solve – and with the customer’s needs in mind. Some were funny and some tied directly back to their industry and their tam’s goals and values. 

The team loved their custom event in SF!

“Thanks so much for taking good care of us! The team really enjoyed the murder mystery hunt and particularly appreciated your efforts to customize it for us.” – Elizabeth, company event organizer 

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This post originally appeared at MuseumHack.com.