When a company brings more than a hundred people to Berlin, the team event has to do several things at once: get everyone out of the meeting room, show them the city, mix people who don’t usually work together — and fit neatly between lunch and the evening party. This case study shows how we put together a treasure hunt for 130 employees of a Big Four professional services firm from Denmark, what the client asked for and what made the afternoon work — written by Daniel, who was one of the three Game Masters on the day.
The event at a glance
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Client | Big Four professional services firm from Denmark (audit, tax and advisory) |
| Participants | 130 employees travelling from Denmark |
| Date | Friday, 5 April 2019 |
| Format | Treasure hunt with 20+ teams of 5–6 players playing in parallel |
| Game area | Brandenburg Gate – Gendarmenmarkt – Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin-Mitte |
| Timing | Afternoon, about three hours from briefing to finish |
| Language | English |
| Game Masters | 3, including Daniel Wittenberg, the author of this case study |
| Planning time | About three and a half months, from first enquiry to event day |
The brief
In December 2018, the client’s event organiser sent us an enquiry: around 140 colleagues would travel to Berlin in April, spend the morning in meetings and wanted “a fun team building event in the city centre” in the afternoon, ideally from 2 to 5 pm. The group was staying at a hotel near Alexanderplatz.
Over the following weeks, three wishes shaped the whole event:
- A small area. The teams should play close enough together to keep running into each other during the game.
- Fun first. In the organiser’s words, it “should be all fun and with enough time to laugh and make some crazy selfies”.
- Awards in the evening. The company wanted to buy its own prizes and celebrate the winners during the dinner party, not directly after the game.
How we planned it
With more than three months to go, there was time to fine-tune every detail — most of it by e-mail, plus one planning call.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| December 2018 | Enquiry and proposal; game area and the balance between knowledge, competition and fun agreed |
| January 2019 | Planning call; start point moved to a lunch restaurant next to the Brandenburg Gate |
| February 2019 | Finish point set at the group’s hotel; award ceremony moved to the evening dinner |
| March 2019 | Team split and scoring explained; the organiser prepared a first team list |
| Week of the event | Final number confirmed (130); written summary with meeting point, times, language and Game Master contacts |
| 5 April 2019 | Event day |
| After the event | Feedback from the client |
One detail shows why early planning pays off. The group first considered having lunch at a beer hall in Kreuzberg, some distance from the historic centre. The game could have started there too, with a public-transport leg built into the route — but on the planning call we suggested a restaurant right next to the Brandenburg Gate instead. The group had lunch there, and the treasure hunt started on foot at Berlin’s most famous landmark. For your own event, our planning timeline shows what to book when.
How we set up the game
- A compact game area. The route ran through the triangle between the Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt and Checkpoint Charlie — the heart of our Brandenburg Gate & Checkpoint Charlie route. With more than 20 teams in a small area, groups kept bumping into each other, which added to the competition.
- Small teams, split on the spot. The organiser had prepared a list of 24 teams of 5–6 people. To save time on the day, we agreed to split the group directly at the restaurant — both options work, but an on-the-spot split gets everyone moving faster.
- Points for laughter, not just knowledge. Besides questions about the monuments and riddles, teams earned plenty of points for creative photo tasks — for example, a selfie of the whole team re-enacting their favourite movie scene.
- A ranking for the evening. Instead of an award ceremony on the street, the Game Masters prepared a table with every team’s points and ranking, so the company could celebrate the top teams with its own prizes at dinner.
- Three Game Masters. One ran the briefing, and all three — including Daniel, the author of this article — were out on the route to help the teams and keep the energy up. The organiser shared her mobile number with the Game Masters so they could reach her at any time during the day.
The day
| Time | Programme |
|---|---|
| 12:30 | Lunch at a restaurant next to the Brandenburg Gate |
| around 14:00 | Briefing by the Game Masters, splitting into teams, handing out the game kits |
| around 14:15 | Teams set off through Berlin-Mitte |
| afternoon | Treasure hunt: monuments, riddles and photo tasks between the Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt and Checkpoint Charlie |
| late afternoon | Finish at the group’s hotel near Alexanderplatz |
| evening | Dinner party with the award ceremony, based on the Game Masters’ ranking |
The result
130 colleagues on the streets of Berlin-Mitte at the same time, a lot of laughter, a camera roll full of team photos — and a ready-made ranking for the evening party. A few days after the event, the organiser summed it up:
“We had a great time, thank you! People had a fun time in the city, and that was important to us.”
Lessons for planning a large group event
What made this event work applies to almost any company group of 50 or more:
- Start early. Three and a half months left room for a planning call and several adjustments. For groups over 50, book at least 2–3 weeks ahead — earlier if you also need hotels and restaurants.
- Keep the game area compact. Many teams in a small area create energy and friendly rivalry. More in our guide to team building for large groups in Berlin.
- Put lunch at the start point. A restaurant next to the Brandenburg Gate meant no transfer between lunch and the game.
- Finish where the evening begins. Ending at the hotel gave everyone time to rest before dinner.
- Decide where the award ceremony happens. It can follow the game directly, or — as here — move to the dinner party.
- Don’t over-plan the teams. Splitting a large group on the spot is often faster than finding pre-assigned team members.
- Name one contact person for the day. One mobile number shared with the Game Masters keeps communication simple.
Planning team building for your company in Berlin? Read our guide to corporate events in Berlin or send us your date and group size for an instant quote.
