Urban Quest now offers six distinct team building formats — and the most common question we get from new organisers is: which one is right for us?
The honest answer is that it depends on four things: where your team is located on the day, how much time you have, whether you need to stay indoors or can go outside, and what you’re trying to achieve beyond just having fun.
This guide walks through every format clearly, with a simple “best for” summary for each one, so you can decide in minutes rather than going back and forth in email.
The six Urban Quest formats at a glance
| Format | Setting | Duration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean’s Eleven | Melbourne CBD (outdoor) | ~2.5 hrs | Flagship team day, interstate visitors |
| Questbusters | Docklands (outdoor) | ~2-2.5 hrs | Docklands-based teams, fresh alternative |
| Black Friday | Melbourne Central & Emporium (indoor) | ~2-2.5 hrs | Weather contingency, year-round reliability |
| Dull Breaker | Your conference room or venue | ~1-1.5 hrs | Conferences, planning days, within-agenda slot |
| True Detective | Your venue, anywhere in Victoria | ~1.5–2 hrs | Retreats, off-sites, regional locations |
| Mission Impossible | 100% online | ~1.5–2 hrs | Remote or hybrid teams |
Format 1: Ocean’s Eleven — the flagship outdoor CBD experience
Ocean’s Eleven is Urban Quest’s original and most popular format. Teams of four to five use smartphones and augmented reality to navigate Melbourne’s CBD — racing through laneways, past iconic buildings, and across city streets to solve clues and complete challenges against the clock.
It’s the format that most people picture when they think of Urban Quest, and it’s where the experience is at its richest. The city itself becomes part of the challenge.
Best for:
- Your main annual or mid-year team day
- Teams with interstate or international visitors who haven’t explored Melbourne’s CBD
- Groups of any size from around 6 to several hundred (multiple teams run simultaneously)
- Organisations booking their first Urban Quest event
Consider something else if: your team is based in the Docklands and the commute to the CBD adds friction, the weather forecast is genuinely bad, or your event is embedded within a conference with a tight agenda.
Format 2: Questbusters — the Docklands alternative
Questbusters delivers the same Urban Quest format — augmented reality challenges, competing teams, smartphone-guided gameplay — but set entirely in the Docklands precinct. Teams explore the waterfront, weave through modern architecture, discover public artworks, and crack codes against the backdrop of Marvel Stadium and the harbour.
For teams already based at the western end of the city, this removes the need to commute into the CBD. For organisations that have already done Ocean’s Eleven, it provides a genuinely fresh experience in a very different environment.
Best for:
- Teams with offices in the Docklands or Southbank
- Returning Urban Quest clients looking for a new setting
- Groups who love the idea of a waterfront backdrop
- EOFY or EOY events for City-West businesses
Consider something else if: your group has never done Urban Quest before (Ocean’s Eleven is the stronger introduction), or if you need an indoor option.
Format 3: Black Friday — the fully indoor CBD experience
Black Friday is Urban Quest’s answer to Melbourne’s notoriously unpredictable weather. Set entirely within Melbourne Central and Emporium — two of the city’s most dynamic shopping precincts — it delivers the same technology-powered gameplay and competitive team format, but in a fully climate-controlled, weather-proof environment.
This isn’t a compromise option. Many teams that book it specifically as their primary format — not as a wet-weather backup — find it every bit as engaging as the outdoor experiences. The multi-level environment of shopping centres in particular creates a genuinely exciting challenge landscape.
Best for:
- Autumn and winter bookings when outdoor events carry weather risk
- Teams that want the reliability of a guaranteed indoor format
- Adding as a weather contingency alongside an outdoor booking (Urban Quest can switch your group on the day if conditions turn)
- EOFY season, when Melbourne’s weather is at its most unpredictable
Consider something else if: your team is specifically keen on exploring the city streets, or you’re booking during the reliably warm summer months and prefer the outdoor experience.
Format 4: Dull Breaker — the conference and planning day energiser
Dull Breaker is fundamentally different from the other formats. Rather than a standalone team day, it’s a structured, hosted activity designed to fit within a conference or planning day agenda — typically running 60 to 90 minutes, entirely within your event space.
It was built specifically to solve one of the most common problems organisers face: how to keep a room of people genuinely engaged after hours of presentations and workshops? Dull Breaker replaces passive listening with creative, fast-moving team challenges that demand collaboration and lateral thinking — and leave the room buzzing rather than drooping.
Firbank Grammar’s staff planning day is a good example of how it works in practice. Staff from different departments who don’t normally collaborate found themselves working together on challenges that required both creative and analytical thinking — and the energy shift was immediate.
Best for:
- Full-day or multi-day conferences needing an energiser break
- Staff planning days and professional development days (including school or university staff)
- Large events where leaving the venue isn’t practical
- Organisations that want team building embedded within their agenda, not bolted on
Consider something else if: your team is looking for a standalone half-day or full-day event away from the office, or you specifically want an outdoor city experience.
Format 5: True Detective — custom on-site, anywhere in Australia
True Detective is Urban Quest’s most flexible format. Using the same AR-powered game platform, it can be set up at almost any location — your office building, a conference resort, a regional retreat venue, or an outdoor precinct — turning your chosen environment into the playing field.
This is the format for organisations that want the full Urban Quest experience but aren’t coming into Melbourne’s CBD. It’s also the go-to choice for corporate retreats, where the team is already assembled at a venue, and you want something that uses that space meaningfully rather than sending everyone back into the city.
Best for:
- Corporate retreats and off-site events at resorts or regional venues
- Teams outside Melbourne CBD who want the Urban Quest experience at their own location
- Large organisations with a dedicated venue or office campus
- Organisations wanting a fully customised challenge tailored to their space of choice
Consider something else if: your team is already in Melbourne’s CBD or Docklands, in which case Ocean’s Eleven or Questbusters will deliver a richer city exploration experience.
Format 6: Mission Impossible — virtual team building for remote and hybrid teams
Mission Impossible is Urban Quest’s online format, designed from the ground up for teams who can’t be in the same physical location. Using Urban Quest’s proprietary game platform alongside Zoom (or your preferred video tool), teams of four to five complete a structured sequence of problem-solving and logic challenges in breakout rooms — with a host managing the overall experience.
It replicates the core dynamics of a physical Urban Quest event: the competitive team structure, the problem-solving under time pressure, and the shared experience that sparks conversation well after the session ends. It’s particularly well-suited to hybrid organisations where some people are in Melbourne and others are interstate or overseas.
Best for:
- Fully remote teams across different cities or countries (ExxonMobil used this format to unite their international team)
- Hybrid teams where not everyone can be physically present
- Organisations wanting a team event with no travel or venue logistics
- Teams who have done a physical Urban Quest and want to include remote members in the next one
Consider something else if: your team can gather in person — the physical formats consistently produce stronger interpersonal connections than the virtual format, simply because the in-person dynamic is harder to replicate online.
Still not sure? Three quick questions to find your format
1. Can your whole team be physically together?
No → Mission Impossible. Yes → continue.
2. Are you working within a conference or planning day agenda?
Yes → Dull Breaker. No → continue.
3. Do you have a specific venue, or are you coming into Melbourne?
Specific venue outside Melbourne CBD → True Detective.
Docklands-based or want a waterfront setting → Questbusters.
Want the guarantee of indoor → Black Friday.
Everything else → Ocean’s Eleven.
A note on combining formats
Several organisations use more than one format over time — running Ocean’s Eleven for their annual team day, then switching to Questbusters the following year for a fresh experience, and adding Dull Breaker as a conference energiser when the need arises. Urban Quest’s historic leaderboards across all formats mean your teams build on a shared competitive history across events, which adds an extra layer of engagement for returning participants.
If you’re unsure which format suits your specific situation, get in touch — we’ll help you work it out in a single conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Can we book more than one format for the same event?
Yes. Some organisations run a Dull Breaker during the conference day and an Ocean’s Eleven or Questbusters as the afternoon standalone event. Urban Quest can help you structure the day, so both work together.
What’s the minimum and maximum group size?
All formats work with around 6 participants or more. The outdoor city formats (Ocean’s Eleven, Questbusters, Black Friday) scale easily to several hundred. Dull Breaker is designed for conference rooms of all sizes. True Detective scales to your venue. Mission Impossible typically runs best for groups up to 150.
Can we switch formats on the day if the weather changes?
Yes — if you book an outdoor format, Urban Quest offers Black Friday as a same-day weather contingency switch. No rebooking, no added stress.
How far in advance do we need to book?
As a guide, popular dates (EOFY in June, Christmas in November–December) book out months in advance. For other periods, a few weeks’ notice is usually sufficient — but earlier is always better to secure your preferred date and format.
View all corporate team building formats →
Or if you’re ready to book: get a quote and we’ll come back to you within 24 hours.
Urban Quest has delivered over 8,500 team building events across Melbourne for organisations including Jetstar, ExxonMobil, BDO, Medibank, DoorDash, Pryda, eSuperfund, and many more
