Questo: Walking Tours & Games

I did another one of these through another company and had a blast…the puzzles were thought-provoking, the story entertaining and thoroughly grounded in the source material. We just finished the Wizard of Oz puzzle and I’m trying to figure out what age level it was intended for. The puzzles were either entirely inane or so tricky as to be frustrating (the final puzzle required us to pull out pencil and paper in order to solve it), the story was lacking in both substance and sense. Following the map led us in a literal circle around the downtown area and required no brain power whatsoever. I couldn’t help wondering the entire time if it had all been AI generated like the over-the-top ad images I’ve seen on facebook for the past month. Two suggestions, if you decide to ignore my review and do this app anyway: make sure everyone has a phone so they can all have a chance to see the puzzles. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between team members’ phones, so even if one person solves it super fast the slower members will still have a chance to play. And two, don’t expect the littles to have much interest in this game. Most of the puzzles required reading and problem solving skills of about second grade or above (some WAY above). Our 4 and 6-year-olds did enjoy the occasional “act out this silly instruction” moments, but for a lot of it they were just unengaged. All in all, I’ve spent more money on worse entertainment, but that’s not much of a recommendation. Maybe give CluedUpp a try instead?

This was our first QUESTO challenge and what fun we had! It was lucky for us that our 9 year old granddaughter was so wise and capable …. She was really into it. The whole format showed an incredible amount of foresight by the planners. Our group was two couples, both grandparents and our two grandkids, ages 9 and 6.5. Our 9 year old is a wiz but it was a bit above the 6.5 year old’s ability, even though he is a sharp cookie. If an iPad can carry this app, I would recommend it. There is much to benefit from with the larger screen; the graphics and the information offered is amazing. My phone has a privacy screen shield, so it was difficult to have several pairs of eyes to help out. Not QUESTO’S fault but might be a recommendation. Also, plan for time to be about two hours. They’d said 12 stops but there were 15 and the ending spot listed before the app opened for the experience had changed. All simple adjustments for this traveler and our group. It was a wonderful time! I’d do it again! And will in Milan as part of our tour time!

We did the Phoenix, AZ Wizard of Oz Questo game and not only did we learn new things about the city of Phoenix downtown, but we also learn new things about Wizard of Oz that we did not previously know, even though we thought we were big fans! Some of the answers to the clues seemed too basic for example, one of the answers was tree, and we thought we had to name the type of tree and so we got stuck at some places for too long because we may have over thought it or the creator under thought it not sure. There was also one of the clues that was very difficult to read in the bright sunlight in the middle of the day, and no matter which angle we turned our phones we could not get it. So we felt there should have been an easier way, or less elongated letters for us to read and understand the clue. last thing I will say is in giving directions as to where to go for the next clue it kept bringing us out to main avenues that seemed quite unnecessary. Other than that, I do recommend Questo games! I look forward to the next city outside of my home, on vacation to possibly explore and do another escape room/scavenger hunt. Last but not at least they have very good customer service and they do respond quickly to emails and questions.