“Tired of planning? No need to hide. 🙈 Just let the game be your guide! 📲Simply gather your team of 2-4, 🧑🤝 🧑Venture into town to explore!”
Introducing Riddle Routes, “gamified towntours for curious crews,” where local flavor, history and some friendly competition guide the adventure. We were elated to discover that NumberBarn customer, Riddle Routes, offered an intriguing opportunity in our own backyard (more or less). Naturally, a few of us ever-curious, game-loving, escape room aficionados on the NumberBarn staff had to try it out. So we ventured out to navigate Riddle Routes’ fascinating, fun and fact-filled exploration of nearby Carlsbad Village, about 30 miles north of San Diego, CA.
We’ll spare you the spoilers, because whether you reside on the West Coast or you’re just passing through, you’ll definitely want to experience one of Riddle Routes’ nine different routes available throughout California, Oregon and Hawaii.
Like their geographical inspiration, each of these routes are entirely unique, with a special emphasis on “the road less traveled.” (Figuratively speaking at least, since some of these routes include popular travel destinations like Old Town San Diego and Waikiki, Oahu.) While you may find yourself next to a famous and well-traversed highway for instance, you will still feel like you’ve ventured a bit more off the beaten path.
Riddle Routes offers the convenience of an inexpensive, family-friendly scavenger-hunt style route with just a few clicks via an app on your phone. Each location weaves little-known details about the history and local community culture into a gamified series of riddles throughout the walking route.
Two Teachers Take On A Mind-Bending Idea
The year was 2016 and Brenda Burke, Co-founder and Owner of Riddle Routes visited her sister who had recently moved to the rustic town of Bend, Oregon. Her sister “played tour guide, taking me to the best spots, telling me tidbits of their history and showing me all the hidden gems. We had fun little adventures and she always had a list. We’re both teachers, by the way. So this was all very teachery,” Brenda laughs.
(Speaking of “teachery,” teachers and educators and anyone else honestly, don’t miss the FREE “Geo Clues Mystery Locations” supplemental classroom resources also available on the Riddle Routes website. They are “classroom / homeschool ready for grades 3-12 and encourage curiosity, investigation, research,inferencing and geography skills.”)
On a trip to Catalina island about ten years ago, Brenda signed up for a local tour and found herself ruminating on the things she appreciated about it, and what she would do differently. So she pitched the idea of Riddle Routes to her sister.
“I wanted to focus on small towns or villages, local businesses, historical elements, and places where there is no large-scale commercial or corporate sponsorship of anything. And that was a big point for me – trying to share in an interactive and respectful way what’s actually part of the culture of that location.”
When Brenda learned about guided mobile apps for exploring, she thought Bend could be the perfect place for one. “At that point, there was nothing like that in Bend. So, beyond the fact that my sister and I were both teachers, we both also love the game ‘Clue.’ We decided to combine all of these things to make an engaging, educational, fun, sleuthy game where people also learned about the local culture and discovered some cool places.”
Play Anytime, Rain or Shine
While highlighting local businesses and community culture underlies the Riddle Routes experience, there’s “no need to go inside any businesses. You can play literally anytime. You can play in the middle of the night when everything’s closed. I don’t recommend that, but there’s no game clues inside any businesses.”
The routes are self-paced so guests can “pause and start again as much as they’d like.” Riddle Routes recommends dedicating 2-3 hours on average per route, but you can “stop and grab lunch, shop, or circle back to historical sites or artwork or whatever you want, whenever you want.” (We stopped to catch a radiant sunset, melting into the great blue Pacific along historic Carlsbad Blvd / Highway 101.)
Gamify Your Fitness Training, From Anywhere
Not only can you play the designated geographical routes any time, you can also play anywhere with Riddle Routes “Play Anywhere Railway of Riddles” murder mystery route.
Want to add some intrigue to your outdoor fitness walking ventures? “This game can be played on any walking path. The challenges and distance between clues increase as you go. Just keep walking and solving!” Inspired by an actual event and location, the route is ideal for “anyone who loves historical fiction, whodunnits, choose-your-own-adventure, escape rooms and riddle/puzzle solving of all sorts!”
Livin’ La Vida Local
Ironically, even “locals” are sometimes unfamiliar with many of the unique factoids and cultural treasures they encounter along their route. “They walk right by. All the time we hear ‘I had no idea! I lived here for 10 years or whatever,’” Brenda divulges.
As a prior Carlsbad resident, I’m embarrassed to admit that I too had very little insight into the rich and extensive centuries-old heritage that I discovered threaded throughout the Carlsbad Village route, despite having walked or driven through that neighborhood for decades. I recognized many of the stops, but found myself immensely enriched by how the route revealed fascinating historical elements and even managed to tie many of them together for a bird’s eye view of the larger Carlsbad story.
Riddle Routes strives to “spark curiosity and wonder” while supporting and encouraging outdoor exploration, meaningful experiences, teamwork/connection with others, commemoration of indigenous peoples, discovering lessons from history, and more. Riddle Routes definitely lives up to its mission. But it hasn’t come without its own set of obstacles.
Change Comes With Challenges
When her sister became a mom five years ago, Brenda transitioned to sole ownership and management of her now expanding Riddle Routes “side gig,” in addition to her career in education. Riddle Routes research and development transpired heavily during summer breaks, with a goal to make her app and platform as user friendly as possible to avoid glitches during the school year.
While Riddle Routes has made big strides (so to speak), Brenda acknowledges a sentiment most of us can relate to. “It’s always a work in progress. Besides developing each route itself, the website in particular is new. We also recently converted the game platform from a web app to a mobile app which adds an additional layer into the game by incorporating GPS pins into the games. It’s a little bit like geocaching coupled with scavenger hunt-style trivia games.”
They’ve also upgraded their platforms to utilize automations and integrations to help create a more seamless user experience and take some of the technical burden off of Brenda. It was a significant overhaul. She reiterates, “change usually comes with challenges, but in the end it’s worth it.”
Pave Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot
Participants follow clues led by a GPS point that takes you to the vicinity of the riddle or puzzle answer. “You’re looking for something physical to help you answer the question.” But what happens when something in the route changes?
Perhaps a business relocates or a landmark changes. “We rely heavily on audience feedback,” Brenda explains. “There’s an opportunity at the end of each of the games for teams to let us know their thoughts and also update us if there’s any changes along the route.”
Brenda composes all the content for the riddles, trivia, etc. for each game route (and they’re very clever, I will add). She sometimes must quickly rewrite various sections of different routes to adjust for situations like major construction detours, new businesses, and the unfortunate reality of urban redevelopment.
Riddle Routes celebrates the quirky and charming character of many of its locations. But as the Joni Mitchell song goes, “don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. Pave paradise and put up a parking lot”…or a condo complex, or shopping mall.
And though Brenda is quick to accommodate alternatives into the routes, she can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness when one of these nostalgic or iconic local entities disappear. (We reminisced over the recent loss of a one-of-a-kind bookstore that’s no longer present along the Carlsbad route). “We’re trying to introduce people to local culture, not box stores and giant corporations, but inevitably, things and places will change.”
Despite the intrinsic obstacles of building and maintaining her routes, at the end of the day, Brenda remains positive. “You know, my sister and I were just doing the best we could with what we knew, which was very little. Neither of us had ever started or run a business before so I feel pretty proud of us, that we did it and it’s still going and expanding.”
Connecting With Local Culture, And Company Culture
Facilitating meaningful connections will always remain a fundamental value for us here at NumberBarn. And it’s one of the many aspects of Riddle Routes and their mission that particularly stood out to us.
Creating connecting experiences for guests, teams and families is an ultimate objective for Riddle Routes. Cultivating teamwork and team building motivates and excites Brenda.
“It’s also fun when a company reaches out and wants to take their entire work staff and divide into smaller teams, or a church event or retreat because then it’s another level of team building. There’s a friendly competition and sometimes they’ll even do a prize for the winners.”
Companies or groups can email Riddle Routes prior to playing to access a couple of different unique benefits. Riddle Routes will set up a customized leaderboard for teams to track their rankings. Additionally, Riddle Routes offers a special discount for large groups competing in teams. Teams are scored on both time and accurate responses to game questions.
Adding A Route To Waikiki? Hawaii Not!
Riddle Routes’ latest addition features a murder mystery based around an early 1900’s true crime story. While visiting Hawaii, Brenda checked out a local history tour. When they mentioned a “haunted hotel” Brenda took a research deep dive into an obscure rabbit hole to learn more of the story, and naturally, the “rest is history!”
With “multiple suspects, drama, all sorts of motives,” Brenda couldn’t resist turning this mystery into a new Riddle Route. With only a week in Waikiki, Brenda arduously investigated and identified the perfect stops to include on the route. Even with its very recent release, the Waikiki Moana Murder Mystery route has already received rave reviews, with participants giving it five stars and calling it “entertaining and humorous.”
On A Personal Note
Brenda’s currently taking a break from the education field and making Riddle Routes her full time job, along with pursuing some other passion projects. As the enterprising individual that she is, Brenda appreciates having a dedicated number just for Riddle Routes, keeping her personal and professional calls separate.
“NumberBarn is an affordable way for customers to reach me should they need something, and a great way to protect the privacy of my personal number,” she says.
As a small business owner, she can access Riddle Routes calls and messages at any time, while working from her laptop or directly from the NumberBarn mobile app on her personal cell phone, so she can stay focused on her priorities and nurture the things she values most.
Uncovering The Extraordinary In The Ordinary
For Brenda, stimulating curiosity and wonderment underscores the heart of Riddle Routes, and fostering inquisitiveness goes far beyond a game or route experience. It’s a lifestyle and a paradigm.
Curiosity compels us to examine the world with new lenses, “look a little deeper, step outside of our assumptions and discover something new,” Brenda explains. Embracing curiosity is where we “find the extraordinary in the ordinary” and expand our ideas, experiences and perspectives. “I think we just need to pay attention, otherwise we miss so much of the magic of what’s already around us.”
If you’re looking for a unique gift idea, consider a Riddle Routes adventure. “We always have gift cards available. And because it’s now also automated, you can leave a personalized message to the recipient or team, and they will receive automatic access via email.” Gift cards are good for one year and can be applied to any route the recipient chooses.
Thanks Riddle Routes for the captivating Carlsbad Village adventure! We can’t wait to try more of your routes in other awesome destinations like Big Bear and Palm Springs!
A Special Riddle Just For You
I’m rarely seen but always there
I help my customers stay aware
Of calls and texts from those who care
To reach out for business needs and wares
I help my users save time and money
So they can enjoy their days so sunny
I offer local, vanity and toll free numbers
To keep small business owners less encumbered
And boost your business’s ability
To stand out more and gain visibility
No contracts or commitments mean
No complications, to keep things clean
Who am I? Ask if you dare
I’m NumberBarn! Feel free to share!
