Objectives and Hints

An objective is a puzzle or task players solve. It’s the backbone of a game: ARC tracks each objective’s completion, the hints attached to it, and any device that proves it’s been solved. The Objectives tab is where you build that flow.

Open the Editor, choose your game, and go to the Objectives tab.

Screenshot to capture The Objectives tab with a list of objectives on the left and the editor for the selected objective on the right.

Create an objective

On the Objectives tab, add a new objective.
Give it a clear name staff will recognize, like "Open the safe" or "Find the key."
Set the details below that matter for this puzzle — its solution, what it unlocks, its icon, and its group.
Add the hints staff can send if a team gets stuck.
Save.

Each objective can carry the following details.

Field	What it’s for
Name	The label shown to staff on the control page.
Solution / Code	The answer or code for the puzzle — shown to staff, and optionally sendable to a display.
Unlocks	What solving this objective opens up, for tracking the puzzle flow.
Contents	A description of what’s involved, for staff reference.
Icon	A small icon so the objective is easy to spot in a list.
Group	The objective group this belongs to (see below).
Target displays	Which displays this objective’s hints go to by default.

Screenshot to capture The objective editor showing the name, solution, unlocks, icon, group, and target-display fields.

Objective groups

An objective group is a named container for objectives within a game — a way to organize a long puzzle flow into sections. Groups give the control page tabs and a progress stepper, so staff running a multi-stage room can see which section the team is in.

Use groups to mirror the structure of your room: “Act 1,” “Act 2,” and “Finale,” or one group per physical area.

Screenshot to capture The Objectives tab showing several objective groups, each containing a few objectives.

Saved hints

Each objective can carry saved hints — clues you write ahead of time so staff can send the right help with one tap. A hint can be any of these types:

Hint type	What players get
Text	A line of text on the display.
Image	An image pushed to the display.
Video	A video clip.
Audio	An audio clip.
Text to Speech	Text read aloud by a synthesized voice.
Verbal	A script staff read aloud themselves, with a “Mark as sent” step on the control page.

For each hint you set its name, type, content (or the media file from your game or shared library), and the display it targets.

Hints and the General tab work together

Hint limits, manual hints, and help requests are switched on for the whole game on the General tab. Here on each objective you write the hints those settings govern.

Screenshot to capture An objective's hints list with several hints of different types — Text, Image, and Text to Speech — and the hint editor open.

Auto-complete from a device

You can link an objective to a device so it completes itself the instant the puzzle is solved in the room. With objective auto-complete, you point the objective at a device’s solved state — when the reed switch closes, the keypad reads the right code, or the relay reports “open,” ARC marks the objective complete on its own.

This keeps the control page in step with the room without a staff member watching for every solve.

Screenshot to capture The auto-complete setting on an objective, with a device and its solved state selected.

Override and bypass

Two staff actions on the control page need setup here:

Override — staff can manually complete an objective, or trigger a device action through it, with the override button. If you set an override device, staff can send that device’s command straight from the objective card.
Allow bypass — when on, staff can mark an objective as skipped without solving it, to keep a stuck team moving. Turn this off for objectives that must be solved.

Bypass keeps a game moving

Allow bypass on puzzles where a team being truly stuck shouldn’t end the experience. Staff can skip the objective and carry on, and the bypass is logged in the timeline.

Staff notes and solution images

Two extras help staff help players:

Staff notes — private notes only staff see, explaining how a puzzle works or how to reset it. They appear behind a “View notes” action on the control page.
Solution images — images of the solved state, so staff can confirm a puzzle quickly or guide a team. Where allowed, staff can also send the solution text to a display.

Screenshot to capture An objective with staff notes and a solution image attached, as previewed in the editor.

Where to go next

General settings — turn on hint limits, manual hints, and help requests.
Media — upload the images, audio, and video your hints point to.
Devices — set up the device an objective auto-completes from.
Hints and objectives on the control page — how staff send these hints during a game.