Fun & Games - Your Guide to Winning Prizes at Fall Fest

Do you love winning prizes? Do you want to take home some of the $4000+ in prizes we have accumulated for Fall Fest? The best way to win (well, the only way to win really, unless you purchase a VIP package or register for camping) is to get involved! We have a ton of games and activities on site that give you (yes you!) the opportunity to win prizes ranging from geocoins and trackables to Monster speakers and headphones, Camelbak and Hydroflask water bottles, gift baskets full of geocaching and local items, cache containers, pathtags and more. 

Each registration package (From the Free “Canuck for a Day” package to the “Just Give’r” VIP Package) will include a full set of game cards that you can use to win prizes. Some games, such as the Geocacher’s Bingo, provide instant win opportunities, while others get your name entered into a draw for the bigger prizes. 

Geocacher’s Bingo (Instant Winner Game)

In this twist on a typical bingo, your job is to locate 23 ammo cans that are hidden (well, not really hidden per say, but strategically placed) within the Large Horse Arena. Your task is to open the ammo can and inspect the item inside. If that item is located on your bingo card, take a sticker from inside the ammo can and place it on the item on your bingo card. If you get a bingo (line, two lines, X, T, box, etc) you will instantly win a prize at the prize table, ranging from a pathtag to a custom bison tube with RITR log sheet. 

Icebreaker Bingo

We know, this game is played at pretty much every large geocaching event around the world, so we had to jump on the bandwagon. Take your card, make new friends, and have them sign your squares until the whole card is full. Some will be easy, others may be a challenge - can you fill them all in? Once complete, drop your card off at the prize table, and you’ll be entered to win tons of great prizes.

Guessing Games

How many micros are in the really big container? How many Smarties (those are like M&M’s for our American friends, not those awful chalkie things you guys call Smarties) are in the PB jar? How many pens are in Pasha88’s backpack? Guess all three, and if you’re the closest to the actual number without going over, you win a geocoin. Can’t get much easier than that! Please don’t eat the Smarties though… they’ll be the road trip snack of champions in the month(s) following the event. 

Toonie Toss
We admit it, this is pretty much as Canadian as it gets. Popular at Stag & Doe events (that's like a fundraising party for a Bride & Groom before their wedding, to help them pay for wedding costs), this game of skill and luck combines curling with a carnival-like game to win a prize basket valued at over $300! Slide, Toss, or flick your Toonie (that's a Canadian $2 Coin) at the bottle from 25 feet away. The goal is simple, have your Toonie be the closest one to the bottle at the end of the night, once everyone has thrown their Toonies - the one with the closest Toonie takes home the prize basket! Play as many times as you want for your chance to win, and Toonies will be available prior to and during the game to exchange. 
Please note: Due to the contents of the basket, only those age 19 or older can participate in this activity. Please drink responsibly. 

Inukshuk Building Contest

If you are camping on site during the event, consider participating in the Inukshuk Building Contest, for your chance to win (you guessed it) MORE PRIZES!! You can use absolutely anything to build your Inukshuk, and the rules are very simple - your Inukshuk must be visible from the road in front of your campsite, and it cannot be made of anything dangerous (fireworks = bad idea). Judging will take place at approximately 2pm on Saturday, so you have all week to perfect your Inukshuk before we select the winners (unless you arrange with us otherwise because you need to be present during judging, it has light up components that are best viewed in the dark, or you need to pack up before 2pm on Saturday). Since our theme this year lays heavily into Canadiana and Canadian items, we'd love to see some themed Inukshuks, but you're welcome to design it however you wish. Have fun with it, and help us point the way to Fall Fest 2025! 

Geocaching Balderdash (Instant Winner Game) 

For those who have never heard of Balderdash before, it’s a Canadian game that involves shenanigans and tomfoolery (which is why we love playing it). You’ll be given 10 words on your game card - your task is to find the ammo cans (hidden near the large horse arena) with the definitions card, and select which is the correct definition. If you get 8 of the 10 correct, you automatically win a Pathtag for playing along. If you get all 10 right, your game card will go into a draw for some bigger prizes. Don’t worry, most of these words can’t be Googled, so you’re on your own for this one!

Closest to the Pin

In your registration package you will find two things - a small flag on a wire stick, and a set of coordinates printed on a business card. First, write your Geocaching name on the flag in Sharpie (we have lots of sharpies near the event log in Bi-Centennial building) and enter the coordinates into your GPS or mobile device, and head over there (the coordinates will be on the grounds, we promise). Drop your flag where YOU zero out. The flag closest to where Pasha88’s GPS unit says the coordinates are, wins a geocoin. 

Pathtag Dice Game 

We really like Pathtags. We consider the guys over at Pathtags.com good friends. So, when Mike reach out and said he would send us some Pathtag Dice sets, we knew we had to add it to the schedule (actually, it was already on the schedule, we just double checked it was there). For those who have never played Pathtag Dice game before, it’s pretty easy. Players “buy in” to a round with three Pathtags, then play old-school Left-Right-Center with those pathtags, instead of using quarters or chips. Roll the dice, follow the instructions the dice give you, passing tags to the player on your left, on your right, in the center, or keep them in your hand. The last one with Pathtags in front of them, wins the pot in the center. This fast-paced game gives players the opportunity to take home tons of new tags, while having fun at the same time. 

In the 5-Hole Hockey Challenge

In hockey, the 5-hole is a term used for scoring a goal between the goalie’s legs. Of course, getting someone to play goalie for 3 hours so everyone can play might be a challenge… so we opted to use ammo cans instead. Head on over to the Small Horse Arena and test your hockey shooting skills. In front of the net, you’ll find a couple of ammo cans. Shoot the ball into the ammo cans to score points, which will be calculated by our volunteers extraordinaire! The highest score for each category (men, women, teens (12-18) and kids (0-12) will each take home a shiny new geocoin to add to their collection. 

Easter Egg Hunt

Have you been finding Easter Eggs all over our cache pages, event grounds, Facebook page, and even the event store? Did you find them all? Write them on the game card included in your registration package and drop it off at the prize table to be entered to win some SUPER special prizes. 

Where Am I? (Instant Winner Game)

If you’re from SW Ontario (and even if you aren’t), you’ve probably completed a “Where Am I?” puzzle cache at some point in your caching career. Look at the picture, figure out where the picture was taken from, project a waypoint from that spot, and then find the cache. We’re taking this game to the next level, with (unpublished) caches hidden around the fairgrounds - collect the code words from inside the caches and write them on your game card - if you find them all you will instantly win a prize (prize TBD at the time of website development… I will update this later with what the prize is, if I remember). Please note: you will need a smartphone to participate in this game.

Pathtag Stringers

Have we mentioned that we REALLY like Pathtags? Of course, nothing makes us happier than the chance to win a TON of shiny metal tokens… enter Pathtag Stringers. We’ve been to a lot of Megas and Gigas and we’ve seen some MASSIVE Pathtag stringers - how big can the Fall Fest stringer get? For those who have never seen or heard of Pathtag Stringers before, the concept is simple - take a plastic chain, add a bunch of Pathtags to it, and then give it away to one lucky person. If you add a Pathtag to the chain, you get a prize ticket to take it home at the end of the day. If you add 10 pathtags, you get 10 tickets. If you add 50 pathtags, you get 50 tickets. Simple, right? At the end of the day, one lucky person is going to take all those Pathtags home… will it be you? 

What Is It? 

Another popular geocaching puzzle idea we’re stealing from Bug Finders (thanks, Bug Finders) involves REALLY close up images of common items. Like, macro pictures as 50x zoom. Look at the picture, figure out what the heck the item is, and record the answer on your game card. Turn your game card into the prize table to be entered into a prize draw for trackables and other prizes. Here’s a hint - all of the items are Canadian inventions… so brush up on what those Canadian inventions are! Please note: you will need a smartphone to participate in this game.

The Big One - The GeoChallenge (Instant Winner Game)

What geocaching event is complete without a pile of new caches? How about 100 new caches as part of a GeoChallenge? Sounds fun?

100 new geocaches will be published on Thursday morning (ish… we’re still talking to our friendly neighbourhood reviewers about this one) and each of these 100 caches contains a code word OR a stamp. Using your GPS or smartphone, your job is to go out into Brant County, explore the area, and find the GeoChallenge caches. Using the game card you have from your registration package, record the code word and/or stamp your game card in the appropriate spot. THIS IS NOT A RACE! As long as your game card is back to Event HQ and handed in to the Prize table before noon on Saturday, you will have the chance to instantly win a prize (depending on how many of the caches you complete). All GeoChallenge game cards will then be entered into a prize draw for some of our big ticket prizes. Of course, we couldn’t make this too easy - make sure to check out our TOTT Pathtag set for an indication of some of the tool you might want to bring with you to complete the GeoChallenge caches. It is a CHALLENGE, after all. Instant winner prizes include pathtags, trackables, and cache containers. 

The Extra Prizes, Just for Doing Stuff You'd Probably Already be Doing
If you purchase a VIP Package, you will find a car tag to hang from your rearview mirror that reserves you a spot in the VIP parking area (closer to the main activities). Each parking spot is numbered. Each of those VIP Car tags is also numbered (please match the numbers, and park in your designated spot. Thanks!). Just before the closing ceremonies, we will let the Random Number Generator Gods pick a couple of parking spot numbers. The owners of those VIP parking spots will win a prize that they can pick up at the closing ceremonies. Another bonus as a thank you to our valued VIP Patrons!
Guess what... we're not done there. If you've read the camping page, you know that our campsites are also numbered. Our campers will also have a car tag. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!! As an extra thank you for those who reserved their camping online ahead of time and picked up their camping tag like they were supposed to, we're going to let that Random Number Generator choose a couple of camping tag numbers, who will also take home some extra swag... just for reserving their campsite and following directions! Pretty sweet, right?

Of course, not every game can be a prize-winning game (unfortunately, we just don’t have the budget for that… maybe next year). But, we want to make sure you have LOTS of games to play and chances to take home “Bragging Rights”, so we’ve added some extra activities to fill your calendar with (in case you didn’t think you’d be busy enough). 

Giant Lawn Games

These games don’t offer any prizes, but will keep you entertained during the Club 99 evening campfires. From Lawn Pong to Giant Jenga, these games are really just for fun… and bragging rights. Challenge your camping neighbour or geocaching bestie to a giant version of our games, so you can brag the whole way home (and for months to come).

Decorate a Quilt Square for Next Year’s Geocaching Quilt

Being our first year, we know that some things will take some time to build. One of those things is our annual geocaching quilt. The concept is simple - come down to Bi-Centennial Building on Saturday morning and spend some time decorating a white 10” by 10” quilt square. You don’t need to be an artist to participate! We’ll provide the craft supplies and fabric paint, and you provide the content. Decorate your square, add it to the completed pile, and after the event (like, a couple of months after the event… we are going to need some time to recover!) we are going to take all of the squares to a quilter to turn into a beautiful geocaching quilt. Next year, you’ll have the chance to win that quilt in the silent auction. You don’t want to miss having your square be a part of geocaching history!