Self-Guided The Almere Syndicate City Escape Game

The game opens in Almere at the Stadspark on the Stadhuispromenade, a short walk from the Stadhuisplein. From the park the route turns into the modern centre, where the blocks are set out on more than one level and the shortest way between two points is rarely the obvious one. It is a city escape game played entirely outdoors, and the layout of Almere is part of what makes it awkward.

Almere was built from nothing on reclaimed ground, and its centre reads more like a puzzle of ramps and squares than like an old town, which suits a game of this kind. A team is two to five people sharing one phone, and every player is handed a character with a role the others depend on. Groups above five run as separate teams. Nobody guides you and no start time is imposed.

How to play

Four steps and the first puzzle is open.

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

Magnus is the one who took the formulas, and the trail he left is made of codes, riddles and photo tasks that only make sense in sequence. Each character in the team is told something the others are not, so progress depends on saying it out loud. A stretch of the search circles back over the Stadhuisplein.

Two or more teams turn the same route into a race against each other, which is why it gets used as a team building escape game. Break off whenever you like and pick the story back up afterwards. It closes in the centre of Almere, not far from where it began.