Race to the North Pole
Beat the blizzard: a two-hour Arctic rescue mission played on your team's phones.
About
The North Star research station has been silent for three days, and a huge blizzard will hit in 48 hours. Your teams are the rescue crew sent north on an icebreaker to bring the scientists home.
The mission runs on GoQuest, TeamTika’s team game app. Each team plays on a phone or tablet and works through five stages: the Icebreaker Polar, the White Glacier, the Blue Ice Cave, North Star Research Station and Under the Northern Lights. There are 25 tasks in all, from icebreaker speed sums and iceberg maths to roped glacier walks, living ice sculptures and a rescue call shouted into the cave.
The leaderboard runs live on the big screen. At the station, teams crack the door code, ration emergency supplies and act out first aid, then race to get the helicopter off the ground before the storm arrives.
Under the cold scenery sits a warm message: in a real rescue, nobody gets left behind.
Learning outcomes
A rescue mission has a hard deadline, so teams learn to plan backwards: how far, how fast, how much food, what time the helicopter must leave. It is practical planning under pressure, with clear numbers to get right.
Roped together on the glacier or frozen into one ice sculpture, teams find that the slowest step sets the pace for everyone. Looking out for each other becomes part of the score.
Code words, scrambled letters and backwards writing reward careful reading, and since each answer goes in only once, teams check with each other before they send it.
The final reflection on Arctic ice adds a short, thoughtful note on responsibility, a natural bridge to sustainability topics back at work.
Program flow
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1. The Icebreaker Polar
Teams receive the station's last radio message, calculate the voyage through the ice and pack the right polar gear.
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2. The White Glacier
Teams rope up for a single-file glacier walk, size up a hidden iceberg and read a warning written backwards in the snow.
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3. The Blue Ice Cave
Teams find out why the ice glows blue, age an ancient icicle, freeze into a living sculpture and shout through the cave.
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4. North Star Research Station
Teams crack the door code, ration emergency supplies for the scientists and act out first aid for the cold.
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5. Under the Northern Lights
Teams beat the storm deadline, pose under the northern lights, radio home and see the final leaderboard.
What is included
Included
- Facilitation by experienced game hosts
- The Race to the North Pole game on the GoQuest app
- Live leaderboard for the big screen
- Judging of photo, video and audio tasks
- Winner announcement and closing recap
Not included
- Venue rental
- Catering and refreshments
- Audio-visual equipment (projector, screen, sound)
- Phones or tablets for each team
- Transportation to and from the venue
Frequently asked questions
How many people can take part?
We run up to 30 teams per event, each playing on its own phone or tablet. Players join in the phone browser with a game code, so there is nothing to install. Tell us your headcount and we will suggest team sizes.
How long does the program take?
About two hours of play, plus a short briefing at the start and the leaderboard reveal at the end.
Is this suitable for hot climates or summer events?
Absolutely. The cold is all in the story, so the mission works just as well in a tropical resort as in a city ballroom.
Can this be run indoors or outdoors?
Both. The tasks only need the app and things found nearby, so it works in a meeting room, a hotel ballroom, a resort or a garden.
Is the game available in Vietnamese?
Yes. Race to the North Pole has full English and Vietnamese versions, and we set the language for each event.
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Request a quote for Race to the North Pole
Tell us your group size, date and goals. We will reply with a tailored proposal.