Imagine visiting a region for the first time. You stroll through a historic town, admire the landscape, perhaps read an information board and take a few photos. You learn something about the local history, enjoy the scenery and move on.
Now imagine experiencing that same destination differently. You are searching for a hidden treasure. A story guides you through the region. Along the way, you need to uncover clues, recognise connections and solve puzzles.
Suddenly, an inconspicuous detail on a building becomes interesting. A historical fact you might otherwise have overlooked could hold the key to your next challenge.
You are no longer simply looking at the destination. You are actively exploring it.
When Landmarks Become Clues
Destinations have an incredible number of stories to tell. Their history is embedded in buildings, landscapes, traditions and sometimes in small details that visitors would normally walk straight past.
The challenge for Destination Management Organisations is not necessarily to provide more information. In many cases, that information is already available.
The more interesting question is:
How can we inspire people to actively seek out and discover these stories for themselves?
This is where game design for destinations opens up new possibilities. An information board communicates knowledge.
A well-designed mission can encourage visitors to actively search for that knowledge, understand it and use it to solve a challenge. The difference lies in motivation.
People engage with a place not simply because information is available, but because they need it to progress through the story.
Treasure at the Gotthard – When a Region Becomes Part of the Adventure
One example is our game “Schatz am Gotthard” – Treasure at the Gotthard developed for Schweizerische Südostbahn AG (SOB).
The idea behind it is simple:
The destination is not merely the backdrop for a game.
It becomes an essential part of the experience.
The treasure hunt gives visitors a reason to explore their surroundings more closely. The story provides a connecting thread, while the challenges encourage them to actively engage with the location.
For us, this is a fundamental principle when developing destination games: Puzzles should not be arbitrary challenges that could take place anywhere.
Wherever possible, they should emerge from the location itself, its history and its unique characteristics.
That is precisely where the value of a custom-designed game lies.
An experience like this cannot simply be transferred to another location. It belongs to that destination.
Why Destination Games Are Interesting for Tourism
A well-designed destination game can offer much more than an entertaining activity for visitors. It can encourage people to explore lesser-known places, connect different landmarks and bring stories to life that might otherwise remain undiscovered.
The experience can also be tailored to different target groups. Families explore a region differently from adults, school groups or international visitors.
The desired duration of the experience and the distribution of visitors across different locations can also be considered during the design process. What makes this approach particularly interesting is the combination of entertainment and knowledge transfer.
When visitors need a piece of historical information to solve a puzzle, they engage with it differently than when they simply read it on an information board.
Of course, this effect does not happen automatically by placing a few quiz questions along a route. What matters is the quality of the challenges, how naturally the surroundings are integrated and whether the story creates a genuine desire to keep exploring.
This is where custom Game Solutions for destinations can turn an existing place into an experience designed around its story, audience and purpose.
Not Every Destination Needs a New Attraction
Destinations invest heavily in tourism infrastructure. Yet sometimes, the greatest potential lies in what is already there. A historic town centre, an ancient trade route, a distinctive building or a local legend can become the starting point for a unique game experience.
This does not necessarily require new installations or expensive structural changes. A thoughtfully designed game concept can bring existing places to life in entirely new ways – digitally, physically or through a hybrid experience.
And perhaps that is one of the most interesting opportunities for destination management:
Not always creating new attractions. But creating new reasons to discover existing ones through different eyes.