Reimagining community engagement through play
“The District Hunt completely changed how I see DC’s arts scene,” shared Maria Chen, a first-time participant. “What started as a fun afternoon solving puzzles turned into a deep dive into the rich history of Black Broadway. I had no idea these stories existed in my own backyard.”
The event’s structure catered to diverse skill levels through a three-act format, and recapped the District Hunt story:
- Act I: At Folger Shakespeare Library, players discovered a playbill about W’s latest show and used this resource to explore the site. They identified context clues revealing they, themselves, were actually part of the play itself. After a career of near misses, W believed this was necessary to gain attention and fame.
- Act II: Through snippets of W’s career near U Street, players learned W had brilliant ideas that never gained traction. This past culminated in a reflection about how experience shapes new goals. Players found their own soapbox and were asked: “What is something you wanted to experience or learn how to do?”
- Act III: W engaged the Gemini brothers, Castor and Pollux, to market the play. Both secretly loved W and believed the play needed a second act to succeed, pitching their vision to win W’s heart. During their argument, W realized this should be Act III – a love story where W learned to trust their vision. Tragically, W died before seeing their play performed.
Building meaningful partnerships
Local arts organizations played crucial roles to the success of the 6th annual event, too. From a partners’ perspective, hosting a checkpoint for the District Hunt brought new audiences into different spaces throughout DC, participants who might never have visited these spaces have now learned and interacted with places of historical significance in DC’s cultural landscape.The game is woven into the story which is woven into the city. A challenging and fun treasure hunt, and like any hunt as a few plots and twists.
Digitally, the 2024 District Hunt marked a partnership with Kahoot! and their global learning platform. Kahoot! was one of the District Hunt’s five anchor partners, “We had used them (Kahoot!) in prior client engagements before, and wanted to use the platform while also exposing the local community to Kahoot! tools” Roddy, of Game Genius. The partnership resulted in a post-event trivia game that extended the learning experience, with about 20% of participants engaging with the platform after the main event.
Using a simple trivia or multiple choice game is a simple way to start or end an event. Whether for teachers or facilitators doing a team building activity, the Kahoot! platform is easy to learn and there is very little in the way of set-up.
Success in the game
The event’s success extended beyond participation numbers:
“Really enjoyed the puzzles! It was great how they increased in difficulty level. I was a little surprised to see a Caesar cipher” Said one of the players “I’m excited to add a new cipher to my knowledge!”
Another player added, “I loved it!!!! The comments attached were really only to make this even better, and also were partially on me for solving myself instead of as a group, I had an incredible experience and will definitely be back. The help line was great, the clues were great and SO diverse in presentation and solution, it was easy to get started, the acts were grouped very well by increasing difficulty….. stellar job!!!”
Looking forward
The 2024 District Hunt demonstrated Game Genius’s continued ability to weave together fun, philanthropy, and community building. By embedding serious themes within an accessible game format, the organization created meaningful engagement with local history and culture while fostering connections between community members and organizations.
“Each year, we strive to push the boundaries of what community engagement can look like,” said Peter Williamson, Executive Director of Game Genius. “This year’s success proves that people are hungry for innovative ways to connect with their city and each other.”
