Mainz Self-Guided Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery Game

The investigation starts on the Markt in Mainz, the open square in the middle of the old town, where the first notes are taken. From there the trail leads a few steps on to Liebfrauenplatz and then into the narrow lanes that run off it. Mainz is the setting for a self-guided walking tour with a case attached, and the city itself holds the evidence.

The route stays inside the old centre and covers no steep ground, which makes it manageable for families with children, groups of friends, couples and colleagues, and it works just as well for one person playing alone. A single ticket covers a team of up to four sharing one phone, and larger groups take extra tickets and split into separate teams. Nobody is waiting for a guide and there is no set departure time, so you can move with the pace of the shopping streets or step aside into a quiet corner to think.

How to play

Four steps stand between you and the first clue in Mainz.

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

The case is the murder of Balthasar. You crack coded messages, complete photo tasks and take statements from digital characters whose versions of the evening do not agree. On the stretch around Schillerplatz the questions turn more specific, and every puzzle solved cuts another name from the list of suspects.

When several teams are out at the same time the game becomes a contest, and comparing the results afterwards gives a teambuilding afternoon its own edge. You can stop for lunch, leave the case where it is and pick it up later the same day, closing it somewhere in the streets of Mainz.