Lanzarote Self-Guided Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery Game

This case starts at the Templete de música in Arrecife, the bandstand on the seafront, and works its way through the centre of the town. The route takes you over the Puente de las Bolas to the Castillo de San Gabriel on its rock, and back along the Charco de San Ginés. It is a self-guided walking tour built as a detective game, played entirely from your phone on Lanzarote.

Distances in Arrecife are short and the ground is level, so the game suits families with children, groups of friends, couples and colleagues, and a single player can run it alone. A team is up to four people on one phone; bigger groups split into teams and buy a ticket each. Nobody is waiting to lead you around and there is no set departure, so you can open the Lanzarote case in the cool of the morning or late in the afternoon.

How to play

Getting started takes little more than a download.

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

Balthasar has been murdered, and that is the case you take on. You collect statements from digital characters, break codes and complete photo tasks, and the answers turn up in ordinary places: the benches of the Parque Islas Canarias, the front of the Museo Arqueologico Lanzarote, the walls of the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz. Every correct answer cuts the list of suspects down further.

When several teams are out at once the game turns into a competition, with results to compare afterwards, which makes it a practical teambuilding option as well as a family afternoon. Stop for lunch, resume when you feel like it, and close the case back in Arrecife, on Lanzarote, whenever it suits you.