Editor’s Pick: District Hunt
An annual outdoor adventure challenge across D.C., this year's citywide scavenger hunt is dubbed "The Wordsmith's Wriddle."
Started in 2019, District Hunt is an annual thematic outdoor adventure challenge across D.C., organized to spotlight a critical issue by promoting organizations and initiatives devoted to a particular cause.
Presented by Game Genius, a nonprofit that provides play-based services and experiences, the hunt has focused on women’s history, mental health, and the climate and environment in its first three years.
Literacy is the organizing principle for this year’s 4th annual offering, a partnership with over 30 organizations working to improve the region’s literacy, from language and culture to finance and tech, and enlisted to help build awareness and involve more people in the important work.
Dubbed “The Wordsmith’s Wriddle,” the premise of this year’s hunt involves “an underground society of wordsmiths [using] the power of language and storytelling to change the course of history — but one of their members recently went rogue and rewrote the past.” As such, they need all the help they can get to help determine who betrayed the group.
Everyone is welcome to play by registering in advance, with two to five friends encouraged to sign up together. Teams can either race against each other for prizes on opening day, set for Saturday, Oct. 1, or by opting for a self-directed experience and completing the hunt anytime through Oct. 10, but with no prizes awarded.
“The whole purpose of the hunt is to showcase D.C. through a clever game while lifting up those who make it special,” says Peter Williamson, executive director of Game Genius. “Every year gives us another opportunity to create new relationships and encourage collaboration throughout the region.”
“We really want this event to have a ‘by the people, for the people’ feel,” adds Roddy McKenzie, the organization’s development director. “Contributors get a front row seat to see how all the pieces come together — hopefully that inspires them to integrate play into more facets of their own life.”
Opening Day is Saturday, Oct. 1, starting at 10:30 a.m. at Planet Word, 925 13th St. NW. Play ends on Oct. 10.
Tickets are $30 per person or $100 per team, with discounts offered to those who work for participating partners or who cannot afford the full price. Visit www.gamegenius.org/districthunt.
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