Como Self-Guided Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery Game

The case in Como begins at Porta Torre, the old gate at the southern end of the walled town. From there the route runs up towards the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and the Basilica di San Fedele, then out to the water. It is a murder mystery walking tour in which the centre of Como supplies the clues.

The old town sits on flat ground between the walls and the lake, so the walking is undemanding and everything is within a few hundred metres. Families with children, groups of friends, couples and colleagues all play the same case, and it holds up for a single player. A team is at most four people sharing one phone, and a larger group buys additional tickets and plays as separate teams. There is no guide and no fixed start time.

How to play

Setting up before you walk out to Porta Torre takes four steps.

1. Book the City Game
2. Check the instructions email
3. Download the Loquiz app
4. Start playing whenever you like

It is the murder of Balthasar that you are asked to solve. Codes are broken, photographs taken and digital characters questioned until their accounts stop matching. The Teatro Sociale and the Tempio Voltiano both hold something the investigation needs, and along the Lungolago di Como, near the Life Electric on its pier, the last pieces fall into place. A stop at the Pinacoteca Civica adds one more.

More than one team on the same case turns it into a race, which is why it doubles as a teambuilding activity. Stop for an ice cream on the lakefront, take the trail up again afterwards, and close the case in Como whenever you like.