This Is The Most Embarrassing (And Hilarious) Way To Kill 90 Minutes In Dublin

Here at Lovin Dublin we're always trying to uncover exciting local activities for you to partake in — and today we've a bit of a doozy.

We were recently invited to the Trinity City Hotel, which gives its guests the option of taking part in an altogether unusual iPad-based scavenger hunt organised by a company called Xtreme.ie.

Before we began, we were briefed by the activity organiser, Oddie. What you'd think would be a technical run-down on how to use the tablets actually turned out to be entertaining in its own right, as he clearly had a flare for the theatrical (he later revealed he'd played a small role in Game Of Thrones).

During the course of the briefing we were told to be wary of untrustworthy people who might encounter during the course of activity, which kinda made us a little worried about what this activity would actually entail. Turned out he just meant that you shouldn't let members of the public handle his iPads in case they swiped 'em, which was fair enough.

We were then mixed up and split into four teams of three people, each team with one person in charge of managing the tablet. On the screen was a map of Dublin with various checkpoints marked around the city centre.

Then we set off! And it ended up looking a bit like this (except perhaps a little less staged).

The game is afoot

For the next 90 minutes, you're racing against the clock to get to as many of the checkpoints on your map as possible (a good sturdy pair of runners are recommended). Once you've reached a target destination your missions will be unlocked: you'll search your surrounding area to answer questions for small points (about 20) while the photo challenges will give you bigger points (about 60).

When moving between checkpoints you also answer general knowledge questions worth about 10 or 20 points each, so if you're smart about it you can be constantly building your score.

The photo challenges are the main event here, however, and they're ripe for embarrassing moments.

What do they entail, you ask? Well, for starters, we were asked to do jigs in front of a crowd of bemused passers-by in Temple Bar.

Hug the Spire.

And propose to a stranger on a very busy Henry Street.

You'll soon discover that looking like a massive eejit is all part of the fun here.

If you're the competitive type, you need to know that strategy is what you'll need to win here. You'll never win this game by answering questions alone – the organiser revealed as much afterwards – only through photo challenges can you hope to make enough points.

So the more embarrassed you are, the more likely you are to be crowned champion.

You also get more points the further away you get from your starting point, so make your way to one of the most distant checkpoints on the map and work your way back through areas with the highest concentration of checkpoints.

Final thoughts

Our teams were randomly put together but everyone still seemed to have a fun time, it's a great way to break the ice. Just pray that you're paired with folks with excellent grasp of trivia who've no qualms about making an arse of themselves in public.

Xtreme.ie, who organised the hunt, can customise their trails to suit their needs of the group involved, so while ours was themed around Georgian Dublin, they can whip up a different route with new questions and activities within a few days. Unsurprisingly, they do a lot of work for hen parties and team-building days.

Sound like a bit of craic to you?