Should You Use Teams Mode or Individual Players Mode?
GooseChase organizers will notice two distinct game modes when they access the Participants tab in the Game Manager. This setting determines whether players will be completing their Mission Lists as part of a team with multiple devices contributing submissions, or individually from a single device.
Teams: In Teams Mode, multiple mobile devices can join the same team and all members of the team work together on the same mission list. Once a team member completes a mission, that mission is marked as completed for the whole team. The points are tallied for the entire team, and it is not possible to view an individual team member’s points or submissions in team mode.
Individual Players: When playing as individuals, each player is able to submit an answer for all of the missions in the game. This allows each participant to be able to earn their own points and show their work. Individuals will all play with their own usernames and profile photos which will be displayed in the Activity Feed and Leaderboard.
This blog post will include benefits of each, and suggestions for when to choose one mode over the other from an organizational level. Please take a look at our FAQ on Managing Teams and Participants for more technical help with setting up your participants.
Benefits of Using Teams Mode
Teams mode is useful for events where individual team members might not be sticking together for the entire duration of the GooseChase game, but still want to compete together. An example might be a weekend-long conference GooseChase game with different organizations competing against each other. Since it’s unrealistic to team members from an organization to always be together in a group for the whole weekend, utilizing Teams mode means individual members can contribute to their team’s score on their own time.
Being able to divide up the mission list gives a unique sense of each individual player on a team contributing their efforts toward a greater whole. Heroes are able to shine, as more difficult missions can motivate individuals to go the extra mile and bring home big points for the team. In cases of especially competitive games, such as those with missions spread out over a large distance or those limited by time constraints, the extra coordination and cooperation needed to ensure individual team members are not duplicating their efforts adds another level of challenge. For these reasons, Teams mode games can make for an ideal team-building activity format.
One thing to consider with Teams mode is that not all members of the team will get the chance to experience completing each mission on the list, which means this format is typically not suitable for games where important training or educational material is being communicated. We generally don’t recommend creating teams of more than 5 individual players, as this can result in the game feeling “crowded”, and some players feeling like they aren’t able to contribute. Please also note that the *leaderboard *for Teams mode only tracks the points of an entire team, and it is not possible to view the points contributed by each individual.
Benefits of Using Individual Players Mode
Individual Players mode is ideal for competitive games that result in one definite winner, or games that involve a smaller number of players. With this mode, players have access to their own mission list, and do not have to worry about other players on their team already completing a mission. Using this mode, it’s possible to deliver educational or training-oriented content through the game and ensure that all players have a chance to complete the missions. Players are also able to utilize the leaderboard to track exactly how many points they have individually scored in this type of game.
Team Games With Individual Players Mode
Team-oriented games are not entirely impossible using Individual Players mode. A game can be set up in Individual Players mode with missions that require multiple players to complete, as long as all members of teams stay together for the duration of the game. This format is popular for games at community events, those that include younger children, or any other type of event where there is less of a desire for members of the team to split up. A team-oriented game using Individual Players mode can only be played with one mobile device per team signed in to the game, so it can be helpful to delegate team captains who will handle completing mission submissions on their device.
Have you decided on whether you will be using Teams or Individual Players mode for your game? Check out our scavenger hunt ideas or FAQ for more resources to help you organize your GooseChase!
What is GooseChase?
GooseChase is an online platform that helps organizers create and run digital scavenger hunt experiences for team building, learning, public engagement, or a variety of other events. Sign up and try creating a free recreational game, or contact us to learn more about our enterprise solutions!