Autumn is the most underrated season for team events. The summer months are traditionally our busiest, in December everything crowds into three weeks – and in between lie September, October and November, when conditions are often better than at the height of summer. Cooler, clearer, calmer. Here are six formats that work particularly well in autumn, and an honest word about the weather.
Why autumn is better than its reputation
There are three reasons, and none of them is marketing. First, the temperature. At 30 degrees in July nobody wants to walk through the city centre for three hours – at 14 degrees in October they do. Anything involving movement is simply more pleasant in autumn.
Second, availability. In September and October you can still get dates that were long gone in June and December. If you are planning at short notice, autumn gives you a far better choice.
Third, the point in the working year. Autumn is the phase when teams are back from holiday, year-end business is not yet pressing and projects are being set up afresh. An afternoon together lands differently then than in November, when everyone is already looking at the annual accounts.
1. Night archery – here the early darkness is an advantage
No other format benefits from autumn as directly as night archery. In June you would have to wait until 10 pm for it to be dark enough. By late October the late afternoon is enough – an event that requires a night shift in summer becomes an ordinary after-work programme in autumn.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 100 people, from 49.95 € per person. We provide all bows and equipment, and nobody needs prior experience. If you prefer daylight, classic archery costs the same.
2. Escape the Forest – the woods look their best right now
Escape the Forest takes place in a freely accessible patch of woodland or park. Cast as scientists, your team has to stop a toxic cloud escaping from a secret laboratory – the game app guides you through the mission, chat and phone support are included, and the winner's trophy waits at the end.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 200 people, from 44.95 € per person. In October the format runs against the best backdrop of the year, and the temperatures are ideal for something involving movement. The only thing that matters is the right clothing: sturdy shoes and one layer more than you think, because it is noticeably cooler in the forest than in town.
3. GPS City Rally – short distances, full scenery
The GPS City Rally is our all-rounder and works as well in autumn as in any other season: in small teams you move through the city centre with tablets, solve puzzles, complete photo and creative tasks and collect points.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 500 people, from 44.95 € per person. New are the battlespots – points on the map where two teams meet and compete directly against each other, either on the spot or digitally in the app. That was always the weak point of classic rallies for me: if the teams never meet, the shared experience is missing.
The autumn advantage: distances stay short and every group is back in a café or under a canopy within minutes. From the big cities to smaller old towns we have dedicated pages with matching routes for around 58 cities.
4. Crossgolf and office golf – the autumn light does the work
In crossgolf you play a self-built course straight across a site – over meadows, around trees, through obstacles that look nothing like a golf course. Calmer than the Highland Games, but with the same competitive edge.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 100 people, from 39.95 € per person. If it gets too wet outside, office golf is the indoor variant: the holes then run through corridors, stairwells and meeting rooms – same price, same effect.
5. Beat the Box – the reliable plan B
At some point in November comes the day when nothing outdoors is fun any more. That is what Beat the Box is for: step by step your team opens locked boxes, decodes clues and assembles the abort code before the countdown runs out. There are several scenarios – from a hacker attack to a bank robbery to an espionage story.
Key facts: 2 hours, 10 to 500 people, from 44.95 € per person, indoors. The format needs nothing but tables and space: a canteen, a meeting room or a hall is plenty. How it compares to the other escape formats is covered in our escape game comparison.
6. Team Building Quiz Show – when everyone has to be able to join in
The Team Building Quiz Show is our most accessible format. A host guides the evening, questions appear on a projector, teams answer via tablets. Knowledge rounds and game rounds alternate, and the system counts the points.
New this season: the quiz show runs on our own web app. Little changes for you on the tablets, but a lot behind them – there are new categories, and the whole evening has become smoother and simpler.
Key facts: 2 hours, 15 to 500 people, from 35.95 € per person, indoors. The format works regardless of weather, age and fitness – and it is the right choice if somebody in the group cannot or does not want to walk for three hours. The Team Challenge and the Domino Challenge solve the same problem.
The weather: planned honestly, not talked away
I do not tell anyone that an outdoor format is “weatherproof”. It rains in October, and then people get wet. Two things genuinely help.
- Announce the clothing, and do it early. One sentence in the invitation – sturdy shoes, a jacket, one layer more than you think – does more for the mood than the programme itself. Anyone who turns up in dress shoes has lost interest after forty minutes, and that is contagious.
- Agree the plan B in advance, not on the morning of the event. We can switch to an indoor format at short notice if you have a room. So clarify at the time of booking which room is available if needed – it takes five minutes and saves the date.
And one consolation from practice: the groups that were out in drizzle are the ones who tell the most stories afterwards. A bit of bad weather brings people together. Being soaked through does not.
Autumn is also the last calm planning window
If you run a team event in autumn, you are already sitting in the Christmas planning. The weeks from late November onwards are our busiest of the year, and the Friday dates go first. If you are talking to each other in October anyway, fix the December date at the same time.
- A Christmas party with a programme – five formats instead of buffet and speech
- Planning the Christmas party early – why booking ahead pays off
- Team events in winter – when it gets properly cold
The transition is fluid: the Christmas Rallye runs from November, as do Rettet Weihnachten and Beat the Red Box. A date in mid-November can therefore be either an autumn or a Christmas programme, whichever you prefer.
Conclusion
Autumn gives you better temperatures for anything involving movement, freer dates than summer or December, and in night archery a format that only exists in the dark half of the year. The price is a plan B you actually mean – and that costs nothing more than one question at the time of booking.
Tell us your group size, city and preferred period, and we will tell you what is still free this autumn and what suits your crowd. Just drop us a line.
– René
Secure an autumn date
September to November still has room – December gets tight. Tell us your group size, city and preferred date.
Enquire now
