Scavenging Through History One Hunt at a Time

There’s nothing quite like learning the significance of the landmarks that rest in the many corners of our city. This is exactly what DFW Scavenger Hunt has in store for local interactive mystery fans.

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There are many historically significant markers, places, and structures that adorn every city —and Fort Worth is no exception. From the legendary Fort Worth Stockyards to Hell’s Half Acre, our city rests on the bedrock of the wild west. I mean we are “where the west begins,” right? Gun fights, brothels, and some pretty darn impressive architecture are all just a fraction of what makes our city so unique. Yes, of course a few other North Texas cities may also have some cool things, but Fort Worth wears its history on its sleeve. Whether we’re referring to the iconic Texas and Pacific Lofts (The T&P Warehouse) or the Flatiron building at Ninth and Houston streets, many of our city’s structures are still standing as past relics that reside in our modern times. It’s from this very scenario that local entrepreneur Brandon Oropallo pulls from to create the lists that make up his one-of-a-kind scavenger hunts.

Oropallo is the founder and owner of a North Texas business called DFW Scavenger Hunt, an E-business that creates puzzles based on a city’s landmarks and history for groups to solve. Since the company’s inception in 2018, Oropallo has hosted hundreds of these hunts throughout the DFW area, not to mention quite a few virtual ones in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Ironically, this era of time actually played a huge role in Oropallo’s decision to create this company in the first place.

“We put up a website to see if somebody would be interested in a scavenger hunt back in 2018, and they did, and it sort of was the proof of concept. To us this was proof that we could do this as a business and people paid for it, which kind of surprised us all at the beginning,” Oropallo says. “But since then, we've sort of figured out what we are and where we want to be and what we want to offer and have just grown and grown.”

According to Oropallo, DFW Scavenger Hunt wants to provide a solution for team building that encourages collaboration, communication, and camaraderie.

 “We wanted to create events for companies that weren't just ‘forced fun,’ and we wanted to help improve people. To make them better, together.,” he says.

For anyone who’s never taken part in a scavenger hunt, a moderator hands out a list of items for a group to find and check off. The lists in these hunts could consist of anything from certain aspects of architecture, to a sign in a hidden space. The first group to find all of their items wins, and besides bragging rights, the first group also learns more about the subject matter being presented on the list. Unlike many of the businesses that existed prior to the pre-pandemic shutdown, DFW Scavenger Hunt witnessed an uptick in interest in 2020, given it could run its scavenger hunts remotely.

“This was a thing for a while, but it worked, and it was really fun,” he says.

Oropallo’s passion for puzzle building and problem solving goes back to his childhood, where he said he was always enthralled with a good mystery. Over the years, he would join scavenger hunts, participate in escape rooms, and be present for trivia-themed events at many local breweries. It’s from these experiences, that Oropallo says he began to build his own hunts. However, the hunts were mainly virtual; that was until he had an idea to take them out of the virtual world and place them firmly into reality.

“Frankly, this idea only strengthened in the first half of 2020 when we were literally stuck inside for so long. I was like, ‘man, I really want to be back outside and do stuff,’” he says.

This added with his insatiable appetite for learning the ins and outs of the places he visits became the catalyst for what is DFW Scavenger Hunt today.

“I always liked discovering places and learning all the secrets and finding the hidden gyms,” he says. “And when we build our scavenger hunts, we definitely aim to show those things to people. If I find a plaque on the ground that I've never noticed before, I'm like, ‘well, that's got to go on the hunt.’”

A typical DFW Scavenger Hunt usually takes a large group of five or more roughly two hours, from beginning to end, to complete. Oropallo describes his hunts as a “puzzle-solving race on foot through town.” Most of the hunts are themed, but they can always be customized according to the event, whether corporate or just a fun family get-together. These hunts strive to create an experience that celebrate an area’s culture, art, and history, from the well-known to the surprising.

“It's a lot more fun to walk by and see a building that’s been in a spot for 200 years. And I think that is something we like to do too, showcase things and highlight things that people might not have known about. But when there's plaques and things like that, it makes it a lot easier. It makes my job a lot easier when we build these things out for sure,” Oropallo explained.

Each hunt is created by Oropallo with the help of several of his hunt testers (friends). He has each section of his list of nearly 30 items checked and double checked for accuracy and ease for participants. “Sometimes I place a few landmarks that are just too hard to find and my testers will let me know that.”

After a list has been approved, Oropallo says he still continually tweaks it to make sure it’s user friendly.

“So far the feedback I’ve received from various groups has been super positive,” he says. “Many of the groups I’ve worked with have employees that don’t normally work together in an office setting and by the end of the hunt they’re quick friends.”

This is the point of these hunts, he says, to have fun learning about an area, while also building new relationships.

“Not only do you get to know something about somebody personally, but if you're a boss, you are suddenly discovering things about people on your team that you may not have ever seen them do — right? I like to mix it up. I want people to interact who don't usually do that. People are not only building skills, but they are revealing skills," he says. "And it's a way to know what you're good at. I just think it makes a big difference when you're back at the office."