Dusseldorf Self-Guided Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery Game

Grabbeplatz in Dusseldorf is the meeting point, with the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen on one side of the square. From there the trail slips into the Altstadt and comes back out at the Ratinger Tor, the old gate on the northern side. It is a detective game you guide yourself, and the streets of Dusseldorf are where it is played.

The centre of Dusseldorf is flat and closely packed, which keeps the walking short between clues and makes the game workable for families with children, groups of friends, couples and colleagues. Solo play is possible as well. Teams are up to four people sharing a phone, and a larger party breaks into several teams. There is no guide and no fixed start, which helps in an Altstadt that gets crowded once the evening comes.

How to play

Starting in Dusseldorf takes four steps.

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

The murder of Balthasar is the case. Clues come as codes to decipher, photographs to take at particular corners, and testimony from digital characters that rarely holds up under comparison. The Hofgarten and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein both lie on the route, and every puzzle you finish rules another suspect out.

Two or more teams playing together turns it into a race, which is the reason it doubles as a teambuilding activity. Take a break, resume at your leisure, and wrap up the case somewhere in Dusseldorf before the evening.