Old City Philadelphia Self Guided Outdoor Mystery Game

Duration1h - 3h

Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before

Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away

TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted

LanguagesEnglish

Private tourOnly your group will participate

Overview

Escape the Park turns Old City Philadelphia into three self-guided outdoor mystery games, played on your own phone with no guide and no fixed schedule. Pick one — you are buying the game you choose, not all three.

The Bell's Lost Word is built for junior agents ages 6-12. Count clues hidden on real landmarks and use a Junior Agent Codebook to return the Bell's lost word.

The Shadow of Old City is the intermediate game. Gather a letter at eight real landmarks, from Washington Square to Elfreth's Alley to the President's House, and name the shadow that has followed the city since 1776.

The Spy Winter goes deepest - play a courier in Major John Clark's spy ring in British-occupied Philadelphia, 1777-78, and decode a cipher hidden in the city's monuments.

Each game stands alone and runs 1 to 2 hours at your own pace, on foot. Play one now and save the others for next time. Start anytime and walk the streets the founders walked.

Options

The Bell's Lost Word

Jr. Agents 6-12 - 7 stops: Seven stops, about 1 hour and 1 mile. Count at each stop, decode the numbers, unscramble the letters.

The Spy Winter

Deep Dive - 10 stops: Ten stops, about 2 hours and 2 miles. Run a spy ring through occupied Philadelphia. The hardest of the three.

The Shadow of Old City

Intermediate - 8 stops: Eight stops, about 1.5 hours and 1.5 miles. Eight words each surrender a letter; unscramble them into a name.

What's included

Seven to ten historic stops across Independence National Historical Park
The self-guided mystery game you book, played on your own phone
Digital access to your game (link is in this voucher)

What to expect

Independence Hall
10m

Solve clues at the exterior of the building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed. The game uses features you can see from the public square - no ticket or timed entry required.
Elfreth's Alley
10m

Walk the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the country and find the clue hidden in its doorways and markers. Free to walk at any hour.
Washington Square
15m

Two of the three games open here, at the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier and the memorial wall. An outdoor public square, open and free at all hours.
Second Bank of the United States
10m

Two of the games take a clue from this Greek Revival building. Everything needed is visible from the street, and there is no ticket or timed entry.
First Bank of the United States
10m

The oldest bank building in the country. Junior agents take one letter of the code from its exterior. Free and always visible from the street.
Christ Church Burial Ground
10m

A colonial burial ground whose graves and signage are readable from the sidewalk. Two clues come from this site, and both can be solved from outside the railing.
Betsy Ross House
10m

Both clues here are outdoors, one in the courtyard and one on Arch Street - no ticket is needed to solve them.
Franklin Court
10m

An open courtyard on the site of a founder's home, with a steel ghost-frame outline marking where the house stood. One of the games takes a clue from this site. All outdoors and free to reach.
The President's House
15m

The open-air memorial on the site of the executive mansion, where the nine people Washington enslaved here are named on the granite wall. All three games take a clue from this site. Free, outdoors, always open.
Powel House
10m

A Georgian townhouse on Third Street whose bronze tablet supplies clues in two of the games. Washington and Lafayette were frequent guests here. Read the tablet from the pavement.

Meeting and pickup

Meeting point

Begin at Washington Square, at the memorial in the center of the square. Open your game link on your phone and start Stop 1 - there is no in-person check-in. The junior-agent game, The Bell's Lost Word, starts two blocks away at Signers' Garden, 5th and Chestnut.

End point

Begin at Washington Square, at the memorial in the center of the square. Open your game link on your phone and start Stop 1 - there is no in-person check-in. The junior-agent game, The Bell's Lost Word, starts two blocks away at Signers' Garden, 5th and Chestnut.

Additional information

Service animals allowed
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.