Adventure Challenge Book Review

We dove head first into The Adventure Challenge Book: Couple’s Edition, the scratch-off experience/adventure/date journal.

So far, we’ve completed over twenty of the fifty dates and wanted to share our honest Adventure Challenge Book review and experience.

In this article, we answer what the dates are like, if they’re quality and unique, if getting the camera is worth it, and how The Adventure Challenge Book stacks up against other date night games we’ve done.

After researching relationships for the better part of a decade (and dating for over a decade), we have a high bar when it comes to date nights. How does The Adventure Challenge stack up? Here’s our honest review.

adventure challenge book review: is it worth it?

Ryan and I test a lot of products for couples (like subscription boxes and massage courses for couples, for example). Man, so many of the products we test are unbelievably lame and cheesy. Therefore we only recommend a small handful of quality products.

The Adventure Challenge is excellent, and we absolutely recommend it. In fact, for 2+ years, it ranked #1 on our running list of the best subscription boxes for couples. It was recently beat out by Completing the Puzzle. 

It all started when we heard about the popularity of The Adventure Challenge Book. The company went from a failed Kickstarter to a $100 million business (with 100 employees) in a few years! Clearly they developed a seriously awesome product.

Plus, with 700 reviews and a 4.9 rating, it was pretty compelling.The common theme in the reviews was that everyone loved that they didn’t need to plan their next year of date nights — it was already done!

That’s great and all, but we wanted to see for ourselves. Many of the people who reviewed The Adventure Challenge Book had only completed one or two dates. We wanted to do at least half of them before putting in our two cents.

As you’ll read in more detail below, we genuinely thought that The Adventure Challenge: Couple’s Edition is great. The dates are thoughtful and cover a mix of sentimental, adventurous, whacky, and low-key dates that fit any vibe.

Most of the dates are fantastic, a few are fine, but a few are seriously exceptional. None suck. This journal is absolutely worth it.

What is The Adventure Challenge Book?

The Adventure Challenge is a quality, hardcover journal with 50 scratch-off activities for date nights and date days.

The premise is fun: you don’t know what your date night will be until you scratch it off. And once you do, you’re committed and have to do it!

While he Adventure Challenge date book is great for couples, you don’t need to be a couple to do The Adventure Challenge.

As of January 2023, there are six different journals to choose from:

• Couples Edition
• Family Edition (for kids)
• Solo Edition
• Friends Edition
• …In Bed Edition
• Dinner Dates Edition

There are also a series of other products that all use scratch-offs, including:

• Blind Date Cards
• Lunchbox Cards (for kids)
• Bedtime Adventure Book (for kids)
• Advent Calendar
• Mini Dates (cards)
• Monthly Subscription Box
• Adventure Guide (weekly texts in the US only)

We have The Adventure Challenge: Couples Edition along with their instant camera to snap photo evidence of the memories we made.

How to use The Adventure Challenge Book

There are 50 mystery activities to choose from in the journal. That’s right, you literally can’t know what they are until you scratch them off.

Don’t worry, we’ll share some Adventure Challenge examples in our review to give you an idea of what to expect. 

Each Adventure Challenge is set up for the perfect date night or date day.

To figure out if it’s a good fit, there are little icons that give some indication about what you need to do before you scratch it off. These helpful icons let you know how much time you need and if the activity

• Involves a meal
• Requires supplies to buy
• Needs a babysitter
• Takes place at home or outside

The dates are somewhat grouped into themes and have titles that also give hints. “Food with Bae – Recipe for Disaster” and “Creative Couple – Chalk Dirty to Me,” for example, are two date nights.

Once you pick one, that’s it! You scratch it off and the rule is you have to do it. Afterward, you’ll snap a photo and write down a few sentences to commemorate the night.

This rule is our favorite. No picking and choosing, you just have to do it!

How Quality is The Adventure Challenge Book?

Opening up our box, we were impressed.

The journal is the size of a large notebook and is incredibly high quality. With thick pages and a cute design, we had no complaints. This would make a great gift.

We also ordered the Adventure Challenge camera, the Lomo’Instant.

Like a polaroid, it snaps and prints a photo immediately, which adds a ton of fun. The film and CR2 batteries for the camera weren’t included, but we picked them up from Amazon.

The camera is one of the most fun things about this, and we highly recommend getting one.

Of course, you could print a photo from your phone but you’d have to make sure it’s sized correctly since there’s only a small space in the journal where you tape it in. Plus, there’s something special about it being instantaneous on a date night.

So, yes, you should get the camera.

The Adventure Challenge Book Review: Our First Dates

Twenty-one dates into our Adventure Challenge Book review, here are our thoughts.

Without spilling the beans and spoiling the adventures for you, I wanted to share briefly about our first three dates.

Tour de Food

For our first date, we chose: “Food with Bae – Dates that Involve Meals” and went with the “Tour de Food.” Scratching it off, we learned that we were to go out to dinner at three different restaurants — one place each for an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

At each restaurant, we needed to have a different identity: name, accent, and backstory!

Okay, the accent thing was hilarious, and we got pretty into it. (And, I’m embarrassingly HORRIBLE at accents, but who cares! The waitstaff probably thought we were insane.) Still, we attempted a Boston accent for appetizers, an Irish accent for the entree, and a Minnesotan accent for dessert.

It was so random, but fun. We also paired it with three restaurants we had never been to before. I’d rate this date 8/10.

Speak My Language

On our second date, we were even lazier and chose a scratch-off advertising a free date that took an hour called “Speak My Language.”

The date entailed us taking the 5 Love Language quiz, discussing the results, and planning a relevant date for within the week.

To us, this is the perfect date! The Adventure Challenge book for couples nailed it!

While not as spontaneous as others, we know that The 5 Love Languages work (and it’s an excellent book). After researching couple’s happiness for the past half-decade, this date is a home run. 10/10

Jack and Rose

For our third date, we were ready to tackle something more aggressive and chose “Jack and Rose.” In it, we were to buy body paint, spread out a drop cloth, and paint each other however we wanted.

We already had washable body paint thanks to our baby, so knocked this one right out of the park. It was so, so, so very fun!!! We painted each other without mirrors so it was a complete surprise after. 10/10

Adventure Challenge Book Review Takeaways

In addition to these three dates, we’ve done eighteen others. The dates are all incredibly well-thought-out. Some are more exciting than others, but we liked the mix of low-key, sentimental dates with unexpectedly creative and active dates.

Overall, we’d say that 50% of the dates are exceptional, 40% are great and fun, and 10% are average but still nice to do.

How High-Maintenance and Intense Are The Dates?

In general, there’s a good mix of dates from active to low-key. All of the dates are affordable, with the most expensive perhaps requiring you to go out to dinner.

The dates also include a variety that have thought-provoking questions to discuss (like your Love Language, childhood memories, etc.) with others that are pretty silly and hilarious (record your lip sync battle).

Out of the 21 dates of 50 that we’ve done so far, none have been disappointing or duds. All of them are cute and the scratch-off novelty of the surprise is seriously fun.

Based on our experience, we highly recommend The Adventure Challenge for couples. 

How Much Does The Adventure Challenge Book cost?

The Adventure Challenge is blowing up in popularity and can be purchased at multiple stores (Amazon, Target, etc.) but their website maintains the best prices.

On their website, the price for The Adventure Challenge journal is $49.99, and they also offer deals — like 10% off now with RYANANDALEX.

(This is in USD, but The Adventure Challenge offers global shipping.)

If you buy The Adventure Challenge, you should buy it off their website, because even with added shipping, it’s cheaper than Amazon which charges $10 more.

The free shipping kicks in when you buy $150 or more of stuff. If you bundle an Adventure Challenge book with the Lomography Lomo’Instant Automat camera (listed at $160 – which is the same if you were to buy it elsewhere), then you’ll meet this.

Don’t worry, The Adventure Challenge website has bundle deals to help you save, include combinations with the camera and with multiple journals.

Regardless, we’d recommend getting started with the journal, and if you can swing it, the camera is worth it.

Is The Adventure Challenge Worth It?

Our Adventure Challenge Book review: Yes, yes, yes.

The National Marriage Project found that the secret to a happy relationship is strong communication, novelty, romance, commitment, and the ability to de-stress.

The Adventure Challenge ticks off every box.

If you get this journal, your entire next year of dates is planned out. We’ve tested half the dates so far, and there are some very special dates in there, and none of them were duds.

The novelty of the scratch-off is seriously the best part, making date night exciting and spontantaneous.

It also pushes you to do things you might normally not (write a poem, dance at a night club, paint a portrait) and also do the things that every couple should (take the 5 Love Language quiz, learn about each other’s families).

The Adventure Challenge Books

In this Adventure Challenge Book review, we only tested the Couples Edition. Based on our experience, we’re ready for more. The Family and Friends Edition both look intriguing to us. 

While The Adventure Challenge company is expanding rapidly, below is a summary of their core books you have to choose from.

Along with a description of each, we’ll include Adventure Challenge spoilers or examples. 

The Adventure Challenge – Family & Kids Edition

The Family Edition journal showcases 50 scratch-off adventures to do together with kids. This one knocks it out of the park, with a perfect 5.0 rating with over 200 reviews.

With our daughter, we’re seeing how fast time flies — and also how addicting screens are already becoming. An adventure journal like this with fun photos at the end is incredibly special and bonding.

Here are some example adventures:

• The Texas Snowball Fight: Battle it out with socks filled with flour
• Setting up a string laser maze in your hallway (prize: cookies!)
• Creating a life-sized board game and you’re the pieces

This journal is recommended for kids aged 4-15, although in the reviews some parents say that you can adapt it for younger kids.

The ideally-sized family is with 4-8 people, and the reviews sounded like it would be tough for just 2 people but manageable with 3.

The Adventure Challenge – Dating & Friends Edition

Ready for an epic year with your friends?

Seriously, where was this journal when I was in high school when a fun night out consisted of a trip to the new Target? (Sad, but true story.)

The Friends Edition has 50 scratch-off challenges to do with your friends. All of them are low budget and are the perfect solution to wondering what to do on another Friday night.

Here are a few memorable examples:

• Where’s Waldo in a Walmart
• A competition to see who can eat food hanging from a string the fastest
• Ad lib meal – let five strangers at the grocery store pick a random food and eat it for dinner

The Friends Edition journal is good for all ages, but we think it’s a home run for high school and college students.

The Adventure Challenge – Solo Edition

You’re the only person you need for an adventure, and it’s always important to care for #1 and date yourself.

Whether you’ve moved to a new city or simply want to give some TLC to yourself without bingeing on Netflix, this is a gem. Not for the first time, I wish I had this a few years ago!

The Adventure Challenge: Solo Edition includes fun challenges like

• Building a pillow fort in your living room and watch a childhood movie
• Driving to the pet store, taking photos of yourself with a bunch of pets, name them, and write a short story adventure involving all of you together
• Floating on an air mattress with your favorite drink and audiobook on an outdoor lake or pool

Learn more about yourself, feel like a kid again, and have fun!

The Adventure Challenge: In Bed Edition

“It is the best thing I ever bought” – One reviewer for The Adventure Challenge: In Bed edition.

Well, okay then! What we love about The Adventure Challenge: In Bed edition is that the journal creates novelty, spontaneity, and a deeper connection.

Here are a few Adventure Challenge: In Bed spoilers:

• Playful jenga
• Paint each other’s bodies
• Establish your sexy-time code word

The adventures are playful and funny, and guaranteed to keep things new and exciting.

Closing Thoughts on The Adventure Challenge

So, our Adventure Challenge Book review is complete. We love it! The scratch off journals are seriously creative. They’re an excellent tool for couples who want to improve communication in their relationship and spice up their marriage. 

There’s a good reason the Adventure Challenge went from a failed Kickstarter to a $100 million company (with 100 employees) in a few years. This product has blown up and become wildly popular — give it a try and see for yourself!

If you have questions that we haven’t answered in our Adventure Challenge Book review, please ask in the comments section. Or, feel free to share your own experience to help other readers decide if it’s worth it.

For more resources for couples, such as the best couples massage course or the most fun and helpful quizzes for couples to take together, head over to our Healthy Couples page.