Self-Guided The Osnabrück Syndicate City Escape Game

Your team starts in the old centre of Osnabrück, at the foot of Dom St. Petrus, where the first task is already waiting. From there the trail bends past St. Katharinenkirche and across Vordemberge-Gildewart-Platz on its way to Schloss Osnabrück. The whole thing is an outdoor escape room in the sense that the puzzles are locked to real streets rather than to one building.

The city is compact and the stops sit close together, so families with children, friends and work groups all manage the walk comfortably. One ticket is a team of two to five people on a single phone, and every player receives a character with their own role in the mission, which keeps everyone involved rather than trailing behind. Groups larger than five buy an extra ticket and compete as separate teams. There is no guide and no fixed starting time.

How to play

Before the first puzzle in Osnabrück, four things need doing.

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

The man you are after is Magnus, and the stolen formulas he is carrying have left a trail through the lanes around Theater Osnabrück. Teams work on codes, puzzle out riddles and set up photo tasks, sharing what each character knows so the separate pieces fit together.

Run several teams at once and it becomes a straight competition between them, which is the reason it turns up on team building days. You can pause whenever it suits and continue later the same day. Either way the streets carry the whole game, and the finish leaves you back in the heart of Osnabrück.