Handstand vs Stray Boots: Which Corporate Scavenger Hunt Fits Your Team? (2025 Guide)

Looking for the perfect corporate team building scavenger hunt? Compare Handstand and Stray Boots to find the best fit for your company's needs, budget, and team size.

Table of Contents

1. Quick Comparison Overview
2. Detailed Feature Analysis
3. Pricing and Value
4. Best Use Cases
5. Customer Success Stories
6. How to Choose the Right Provider
7. Frequently Asked Questions

When it comes to corporate team building, scavenger hunts are a favorite for a reason. They get people moving, solving problems together, and celebrating wins as a team. Both Handstand and Stray Boots know how to create a fun adventure — but the kind of experience (and scale) you get with each company is very different.

Whether you're organizing a small team outing in downtown San Francisco or coordinating a global team building event across multiple offices, choosing the right corporate scavenger hunt provider can make or break your team building experience. This comprehensive comparison will help HR professionals, event planners, and team leaders make an informed decision between these two popular team building companies.

Quick Comparison Overview

Detailed Feature Analysis

Event Facilitation and Support

✨ Handstand’s Approach:
With Handstand, you get choice and flexibility. Want a polished, fully hosted experience? Our professional facilitators handle everything — pre-event setup, live hosting, troubleshooting, and even a fun debrief to wrap things up. Want something lighter? Teams can simply press “Start Game” and dive in at their own pace.

This means Handstand adapts to your budget, timeline, and comfort level. For high-stakes company offsites, go hosted. For quick quarterly team bonding, DIY works beautifully. Either way, your team gets a smooth, stress-free experience.

🏙️ Stray Boots’ Approach:
Stray Boots leans into the classic guided city tour format. Local guides lead your team through landmark-based hunts, weaving in fun facts and history. This style shines for exploration and cultural immersion — great for teams visiting a city or wanting to rediscover their own backyard.

Customization and Branding Capabilities

Corporate Identity Integration: For companies prioritizing brand alignment in their team-buildingteam-building activities, customization capabilities become crucial. Handstand excels in this area by offering comprehensive theming options that can incorporate company values, inside jokes, recent achievements, or specific learning objectives into the scavenger hunt experience.

Examples of Handstand's customization include:

• Custom puzzle creation based on company history
• Branded checkpoints and challenges
• Integration of company values into game mechanics
• Tailored content for specific departments or roles
• Multi-language support for diverse teams

Stray Boots' City-Focused Customization: Stray Boots takes a different approach, focusing on customizing experiences around city landmarks and local culture. While they offer some corporate customization, their strength lies in creating authentic local experiences that help teams bond while exploring urban environments.

Scalability for Large Organizations

Enterprise-Level Coordination: Large corporations with multiple offices face unique challenges when organizing company-wide team-building events. The ability to run synchronized activities across different time zones while maintaining consistent difficulty levels and themes becomes essential.

Handstand's global coordination capabilities allow companies to:

• Launch simultaneous events across multiple continents
• Maintain consistent branding and messaging
• Compare results and foster friendly competition between offices
• Coordinate timing despite time zone differences
• Provide unified reporting and analytics

This makes Handstand particularly valuable for multinational corporations, distributed teams, or companies looking to strengthen connections between different office locations.

Technology Integration and User Experience

Mobile App Functionality: Both providers rely on mobile applications to deliver their scavenger hunt experiences, but with different focuses:

Handstand's Technology:

• Intuitive interface designed for various tech comfort levels
• Offline capabilities for areas with poor connectivity
• Real-time leaderboards and progress tracking
• Integration with popular corporate communication tools
• Detailed analytics and reporting features

Stray Boots' Technology:

• Location-based challenges using GPS functionality
• Photo and video submission capabilities
• City-specific content and historical information
• Social sharing features for team memories

Pricing and Value Analysis

Understanding Corporate Team Building ROI

When evaluating team building scavenger hunt providers, it's essential to consider not just upfront costs but the overall return on investment. Effective team building activities should improve communication, boost morale, increase retention, and enhance collaboration—benefits that can significantly impact your bottom line.

Handstand's Pricing Structure: Handstand offers transparent, custom quotes based on several factors:

• Group size and number of teams
• Level of customization required
• Facilitation needs (hosted vs. self-launch)
• Geographic scope (single location vs. multi-office)
• Additional services like post-event analytics

This transparent approach helps companies budget effectively and understand exactly what they're paying for. The pricing typically becomes more cost-effective per participant as group sizes increase, making it particularly attractive for larger organizations.

Stray Boots' Pricing Model: Stray Boots uses city-specific pricing that varies based on location popularity, local guide availability, and seasonal demand. While this can sometimes result in more competitive rates for small groups in certain cities, it can make budgeting more complex for companies planning multiple events or comparing options across different locations.

Cost-Benefit Analysis for Different Team Sizes

Small Teams (10-25 people):

• Stray Boots may offer more competitive per-person rates
• Handstand provides better value if customization is important
• Both options can deliver strong team-building outcomes

Medium Teams (25-100 people):

• Handstand's scalability advantages become more apparent
• Cost per participant often becomes more favorable with Handstand
• Logistics management becomes easier with Handstand's coordination tools

Large Teams (100+ people):

• Handstand's enterprise features justify the investment
• Multi-office coordination capabilities provide unique value
• Stray Boots may struggle with logistics at this scale

Best Use Cases and Recommendations

Choose Handstand When:

Global or Multi-Office Coordination is Essential

If your company has offices in multiple cities or countries and you want to create a unified team-building experience, Handstand's global coordination capabilities are unmatched. This is particularly valuable for:

• Annual company-wide team building days
• New hire orientation programs across locations
• Department-wide activities for distributed teams
• Corporate retreats involving multiple office locations

Large Group Events Are Required

For organizations regularly hosting events with 50+ participants, Handstand's scalability and logistics management tools become invaluable. The platform can handle complex team formations, real-time coordination, and comprehensive reporting that would be challenging to manage manually.

Custom Branding and Messaging is Important

Companies prioritizing brand consistency and custom messaging in their team-building activities will benefit from Handstand's extensive customization options. This is especially relevant for:

• Companies with strong brand identity requirements
• Organizations using team building for specific learning objectives
• Businesses wanting to reinforce company values through activities

Hybrid or Virtual Options are Needed

In today's flexible work environment, the ability to include remote team members in team building activities is increasingly important. Handstand's hybrid and virtual options ensure no team member is left out, regardless of their physical location.

Choose Stray Boots When:

Local City Exploration is the Primary Goal

are For teams looking to explore and learn about their city while building relationships, Stray Boots' local expertise and landmark-focused approach provides exceptional value. This works well for:

• Teams hosting visitors from other locations
• Local teams wanting to discover hidden gems in their city
• Groups prioritizing cultural and historical education
• Teams are comfortable with smaller, more intimate group sizes

Budget is the Primary Constraint

For smaller teams with limited budgets, Stray Boots' city-specific pricing may offer more affordable options, particularly in less expensive markets.

Traditional Guided Experiences are Preferred

Some teams prefer the structure and local insights that come with professionally guided experiences. Stray Boots excels in providing this traditional approach to city-based team building.

Customer Success Stories

Handstand Success Stories

team-building

Industry Benchmarks and Trends

Recent studies in corporate team building effectiveness show that:

• Companies investing in regular team-building activities see 25% lower turnover rates
• Interactive, technology-enhanced experiences generate 40% higher engagement than traditional activities
• Customized team building events produce 35% better long-term team cohesion
• Multi-office coordination activities improve cross-location collaboration by an average of 30%

Implementation Guide: Planning Your Corporate Scavenger Hunt

Phase 1: Needs Assessment (2-3 weeks before event)

Team Size and Composition Analysis:

• Count total participants across all locations
• Identify any special accommodation needs
• Assess technology comfort levels
• Consider language requirements for diverse teams

Objective Setting:

• Define primary goals (team bonding, skill development, company culture reinforcement)
• Identify key success metrics
• Establish budget parameters
• Set timeline and logistical constraints

Phase 2: Provider Evaluation (1-2 weeks before event)

Request Detailed Proposals: Both Handstand and Stray Boots offer consultation calls to discuss specific needs. During these conversations, ask about:

• Specific customization options for your industry/company
• Contingency plans for weather or technical issues
• Post-event reporting and analytics capabilities
• References from similar-sized organizations

Pilot Testing: If possible, consider running a small pilot event with your preferred provider before committing to a large-scale implementation.

Phase 3: Event Execution and Follow-up

Pre-Event Preparation:

• Communicate clear expectations to participants
• Ensure all team members have necessary technology
• Prepare backup plans for potential issues
• Coordinate with facilities/locations as needed

Post-Event Analysis:

• Collect participant feedback through surveys
• Review analytics and performance data
• Measure against predefined success metrics
• Plan follow-up activities to reinforce team building outcomes

Alternative Team Building Options

While Handstand and Stray Boots are leading options in the corporate scavenger hunt space, it's worth considering how they compare to other team building approaches:

Virtual Team Building Games: For fully remote teams, dedicated virtual team building platforms might be more appropriate than location-based scavenger hunts.

Escape Room Experiences: Companies looking for problem-solving focused activities might consider corporate escape room providers, including Handstand's escape room offerings.

Outdoor Adventure Activities: Teams comfortable with physical challenges might benefit from outdoor adventure companies that offer hiking, climbing, or water-based team building.

Skills-Based Workshops: Organizations prioritizing professional development might combine team building with skills training through workshop-based providers.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Q: How far in advance should we book our corporate scavenger hunt? A: For Handstand, booking 2-4 weeks in advance ensures optimal customization and facilitator availability. Stray Boots typically requires 1-2 weeks' notice, depending on the city and season. During peak team-building seasons (spring and fall), earlier booking is recommended for both providers.

Q: What happens if weather conditions are poor on our event day? A: Handstand offers flexible rescheduling and can quickly pivot to virtual or indoor alternatives. Stray Boots typically offers rescheduling options but may have limited indoor alternatives depending on the city and availability.

Q: Can participants with mobility limitations fully participate? A: Both providers can accommodate accessibility needs with advance notice. Handstand's customization capabilities often allow for more comprehensive accessibility planning, while Stray Boots can recommend accessibility-friendly routes in most cities.

Technology and Logistics

Q: What if some team members don't have smartphones? A: Handstand can provide device rental options or create team formations that ensure smartphone access. Stray Boots typically requires smartphone access for their app-based experiences, but can work with teams to find solutions.

Q: How much data/WiFi is required during the event? A: Both platforms are designed to work with standard mobile data plans. Handstand offers offline capabilities for areas with poor connectivity, while Stray Boots relies more heavily on consistent internet access for location tracking and content delivery.

Q: Can we integrate our corporate learning management system? A: Handstand offers various integration options for enterprise clients, including LMS connectivity and data export capabilities. Stray Boots has more limited integration options but can provide event data in standard formats.

Customization and Content

Q: How specific can we get with custom content? A: Handstand offers extensive customization, including company-specific trivia, branded challenges, and custom artwork. Content can be tailored to specific departments, recent company achievements, or learning objectives. Stray Boots offers more limited customization focused on city-based experiences with some corporate messaging integration.

Q: Can we include remote employees in the experience? A: Handstand offers hybrid options where remote employees can participate virtually while in-person teams complete physical challenges. This creates unified experiences across distributed teams. Stray Boots focuses on in-person, location-based experiences with limited remote participation options.

Q: How do you handle multiple languages for international teams? A: Handstand can create multilingual experiences and provide facilitators who speak various languages. Stray Boots' language support varies by city and guide availability.

Measuring Success and ROI

Q: What kind of post-event analytics do you provide? A: Handstand provides comprehensive analytics, including participation rates, team performance metrics, engagement levels, and detailed feedback analysis. Reports can be customized for different stakeholder audiences. Stray Boots offers basic participation tracking and photo/video highlights from the experience.

Q: How do we measure the long-term impact of our team-buildingteam-building investment? A: Both providers can work with you to establish baseline metrics and follow-up surveys. Handstand offers more sophisticated analytics integration that can track ongoing team collaboration and communication improvements. The key is establishing clear success metrics before the event and conducting follow-up assessments 30-60 days later.

Conclusion: Making the Right Choice for Your Team

Choosing between Handstand and Stray Boots ultimately depends on your organization's specific needs, size, and objectives. Here's a final decision framework:

Choose Handstand if you prioritize:

• Scalability and large group management
• Global coordination across multiple offices
• Extensive customization and brand integration
• Flexibility in facilitation (hosted vs. self-launch)
• Virtual and hybrid participation options
• Comprehensive analytics and reporting
• Long-term partnership with advanced features

Choose Stray Boots if you prioritize:

• Local city exploration and cultural immersion
• Guided experiences with local expertise
• Smaller, intimate group sizes
• Traditional scavenger hunt format
• Established presence in major cities worldwide
• Straightforward, location-focused experiences

For many organizations, particularly those with distributed teams, complex coordination needs, or extensive customization requirements, Handstand's comprehensive platform and flexibility provide superior value. The ability to create unified experiences across multiple locations while maintaining brand consistency makes it an ideal choice for growing companies and established enterprises alike.

However, for teams seeking authentic local experiences with professional guidance and straightforward implementation, Stray Boots offers proven city-based adventures that can effectively strengthen team relationships while exploring urban environments.

Regardless of which provider you choose, investing in quality team-building experiences pays dividends in improved communication, stronger relationships, and enhanced company culture. The key is selecting a provider whose strengths align with your team's specific needs and organizational objectives.

Ready to plan your next corporate team building event? Contact Handstand today to discuss custom solutions for your team's unique needs and discover how our global coordination capabilities can bring your distributed teams closer together.

For more team building insights and corporate event planning tips, explore our comprehensive guide to virtual team building activities and ROI measurement strategies for corporate events.