New game coming to annual Steinbach scavenger hunt

The games master for the Steinbach Family Resource Centre’s annual Community Scavenger Hunt has prepared a new game this year, and he hopes his games will lure the public into playing and entertain them at the same time, all while raising money for SFRC.

“We want them to have a memorable experience with their groups, their family, and whoever they’re playing with. Honestly, it’s a good thing to have to look forward to in the cold winter months,” said games master Gabriel Verrier, owner of The Puzzler Escape Rooms in Steinbach.

This is Verrier’s third year being games master and every year he comes up with a new interactive and amusing game. New this year is The Spy Game, where players are detectives and have to use their reasoning and deduction skills in order to solve a mystery and get their prize – a sticker for the game board.

“So, we’ve got new sponsors that sponsor the game and also contribute. So, we always try to tailor our games to those sponsors as well, just to try to add value to their sponsorship,” said Verrier.

There are five games on the board that take players to 30 businesses throughout Steinbach. Verrier begins designing the games in the fall with input from SFRC and the participating businesses. He draws inspiration from the games in his escape rooms, other games, from family members, and from the annual theme of the hunt, which this year is Roaming Gnomes.

“Basically, it’s playing off of the idea of Elf on the Shelf over Christmas. So, basically, you’re going to a sponsored location, find the gnome that is essentially being mischievous, and you take a picture, you post it on social media, and then you get your prize from there,” he said.

Verrier’s favourite game on the board is Treasure Hunt, which was introduced last year and feeds into the scavenger hunt style of the game by getting people out and about the community.

“I think that encapsulates the spirit of what we’re trying to do here,” he said.

Verrier feels great about being a part of the scavenger hunt as it’s a way for him to support the community and be an asset in the work that SFRC does.

“It is part of their fundraiser, their main fundraiser for the centre itself. So, without (the scavenger hunt), they would definitely not be getting as much funding,” he said.

SFRC executive director Jo-Anne Dalton said the money raised by the hunt goes towards operating costs, which this year are budgeted at $453,000 and are expected to increase to about $550,000 next year.

“When I first came here in 2018, our budget was just over $200,000,” she said.

The centre, which is not funded by the province, currently supports less than 700 families compared to more than 400 pre-COVID.

“We recognize that we are trying to offer the same level of supports with the same funding to twice as many families accessing the center. Not only that, but our resource distribution, our programming has grown significantly,” said Dalton.

The centre has a $50,000 fundraising goal for the hunt and has already amassed $40,000. Dalton said the money raised by the scavenger hunt, which is in its sixth year, is critical to the centre’s operations.

The idea for the scavenger hunt came about when SFRC participated in an outdoor community event held by the City of Steinbach on Family Day during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The scavenger hunt was a success and was the blueprint for the current model of visiting a business, answering some questions, and tagging that business in order to get a reward.

“We saw a really big spike in our social media following because of that event. And we thought, ‘Well, this is kind of a fun way to connect to businesses and support our community and give them something fun to do in a really cold month of the year.’”

While previous years had the scavenger hunt run from Feb. 1 to Family Day, this year Dalton decided to let it run for the full month.

“This has become a really popular, well-known community event…And it’s a relatively inexpensive sponsorship to become a location on our game board.”

Dalton said participating businesses see an influx of visitors due to the game, which builds their brand awareness while aligning the business with the values of the SFRC and the work it does in proving services and resources to families in the area.

Players who are older than 16 can participate in the scavenger hunt and enter as a single ballot or as a group ballot. Last year, there were more than 1,500 entries.

“The game itself continues to get better and better every year. We are so fortunate,” said Dalton.

The grand prize this year is a custom $1,800 vacation package to Brereton Lake Resort. “What’s fun about that prize is it’s fully customizable,” said Dalton. “It’s really what works best for you and your family.”

Players can get game boards from participating businesses and at the SFRC office. More information about the game will be available on the SFRC’s website on Feb. 1.

“We want people to know that this event is for everyone,” said Dalton. “We want every family, every individual, every couple, every person who enjoys playing a good game to get out there and play it.”