Ravenchase

History

Ravenchase was created in January 2001 by Joshua Czarda for his family. The company was founded in Richmond, Virginia and retains a corporate headquarters there.

Name

Ravenchase was named in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, who lived in Richmond, Virginia for a time and was an avid code and cipher enthusiast, and also a formative influence on popularizing the idea of buried treasure, treasure hunting and mystery. Ravenchase games are also reflective of the style of prose found in many of Poe's great works.

What is Ravenchase?

Ravenchase is a trademarked and registered term of art for a type of adventure game or alternative reality game. Ravenchase is also the name of a national event management company. Ravenchase games differ from a classic treasure hunt or scavenger hunt. Basic games open to the public are similar in nature to a puzzlehunt. Ravenchase games are conducted all over the world and last from two hours to as long as one month. The purpose of a Ravenchase game is to crack codes, ciphers and riddles while trying to beat other teams to the secret end location or buried treasure. Games range from paper based basic maps and scrolls to GPS games and use of cell phones along with a range of gadgets which help to reveal locations or crack codes. Ravenchase games are commonly used by corporations for team building events and offered to public consumers in various cities throughout the United States. Ravenchase holds monthly games similar to west coast versions of the game in Virginia, Washington DC, Paris, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, California, Washington State, Oregon and Hawaii.

Ravenchase Events

Ravenchase conducts several annual races that are longer than its typical public hunts. The Great Virginia Race, Quest for the Golden Gnome, is one of the first two day races conducted by Ravenchase and is now on its fourth year. Past races have taken players through Richmond, Lexington, Charlottesville, Williamsburg, Norfolk and to Harpers Ferry. Ravenchase also recently conducted The Great America Race which was an eight day event which spanned from Washington DC to New Orleans. The second annual Great America Race, originally planned from [Lexington, Virginia to Martha's Vineyard from August 9-16, 2008, was cancelled due to a lack of signups and high gas prices. The event has been rescheduled for the summer of 2009. Eight teams participated in the first event, and many kept online journals of this adventure. Ravenchase also holds an annual international event for private groups. These events have taken place in Gozo in the Maltese Islands, Mykonos, Santiago, Chile, and London and ranged in theme from classic puzzle hunts to 007 theme adventures, to a simulated heist where players tried to break into a renovated bank, to a murder mystery and to an event based on the Illuminati. Typical public races are open to all players and generally take 2.5 through 4 hours to complete for a basic level event. Ravenchase recently completed a charitable fundraiser with the Indianapolis Colts entitled "Quest for the Ring" in which players competed for super bowl rings. The event raised $250,000 for local Indianapolis Charities. Ravenchase recently sponsored a promotional game for "Come Out and Play" the urban gaming festival in Manhattan. Ravenchase recently launched several multi state and country urban gaming events including the [http://www.undeadinvasion.com Undead Invasion] on Halloween and the Quest for Father Time, a new years eve adventure race.

Participant Event Reviews and Information

* [http://boards.nbc.com/nbc/index.php?showtopic=760412&st=0&p=2329286&#entry2329286/ The Perfect Hunt]
* [http://www.connorsheroes.org/newsitem/anthem_quest_for_the_cure_a_huge_success/ Quest for the Cure a Success]

Several teams that participated in the Great America Race, created blogs which documented their adventure in the Great America Race. Their blogs can be reviewed from the following links which reflect the team names:
* [http://eotcg.wordpress.com/ Enemies of the Common Good]
* [http://onevan.livejournal.com/ Fellowship of the Van]
* [http://www.marcuswatkins.net/joomla/ Team Lazlo Hollyfield]
* [http://teamstillwater.blogspot.com/ Team Stillwater]

References

*cite news
last =Couch
first = Christina
coauthors =
title = License to Thrill
work =
pages =
publisher = Air Tran Go Magazine
date = July 2007
url =http://airtranmagazine.com/contents/2007/07/scavenger-hunts/
*cite news
last =McCormack
first = David
coauthors =
title = Unreal Adventures
work =
pages =
publisher = Time Out Chicago
date = March 15-March 21 2007
url =http://www.ravenchase.com/resources/RichmondMagazine.pdf
*cite news
last =Van Dognen
first = Susan
coauthor =
title = Clued In
work =
pages =
publisher = Time Off
date = June 13 2007
url =http://www.ravenchase.com/news/timeoff_jersey.pdf
*cite news
last =Heisler
first = Steve
coauthors =
title = Thrill of the Hunt
work =
pages = 54-57
publisher = Richmond Magazine
date = October 2006
url =http://www.timeout.com/chicago/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TOCWebArticles1/107/around_town/thrill_of_the_hunt.xml

*cite news
last =Snyder
first = Chris
coauthors =
title = DCist Interview: Joshua Czarda
work =
pages =
publisher = DCist
date = November 30 2006
url =http://dcist.com/2006/11/30/dcist_interview.php Washington DC Adventure Games
*cite news
last =Maltby
first = Becky
coauthors =
title = Hint Hunt
work =
pages =
publisher = Honolulu Weekly
date = December 6 2006
url =http://honoluluweekly.com/hotpicks/2006/12/hint-hunt/
*cite news
last =Neumark
first = Jared
coauthors =
title = Reality Life
work =
pages =
publisher = Creative Loafing
date = August 23 2006
url =http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A66641

External links

* [http://www.ravenchase.com Ravenchase Home]