An urban exploration game is an experience that turns a real city into the game board: you walk to geolocated checkpoints, solve questions and puzzles on your phone, and earn points as you progress. There is no guide, no group, and no fixed schedule — you play from your phone's browser, at your own pace. This guide brings together what Discover The City is, how a game works step by step, and every common question before you play for the first time.
The basics
What is Discover The City?
Discover The City is a platform for urban exploration games: gamified self-guided tours you play in your phone's browser, with no app to download. Today every published game on it is free. There's no group, no schedule and no guide: you decide when to start, how fast to go and when to stop. Besides its own games, the platform is open to independent creators, such as tour guides or escape room designers, who publish their own experiences there.
What is an urban exploration game?
An urban exploration game is a self-guided experience where you explore a real city by completing geolocated checkpoints, answering questions, and solving puzzles from your phone's browser. It combines three elements: a physical route through streets and squares, a game layer (points, hints, puzzles), and a story that ties the route together. Your phone's GPS detects when you reach each checkpoint and unlocks the next challenge.
How is it different from an escape room?
The main difference is the setting: an escape room happens in a closed, decorated room, while an urban exploration game happens outdoors and the city itself is the set. Both share the mechanic of solving puzzles and opening locks, but on the street there is no strict time limit, no game master watching you, and the walk between locations is part of the experience. Many players describe it as "an open-air escape room."
How is it different from a traditional scavenger hunt?
An urban exploration game is a digital, self-running scavenger hunt: it needs no organizer on site, no actors, and no hidden envelopes. The game automatically validates your answers, your GPS position, and your score. A classic scavenger hunt depends on someone preparing and refereeing it; here all the content, hints, and validation live inside the game.
What kinds of games are there?
Three families, and each game page says which one it belongs to:
- Mysteries: a case or a story ties the stops together and each one adds a piece of the investigation. Example: Those Who Never Left: Paseo del Prado by Night.
- Urban escape rooms: escape-room logic taken to the street, with locks you open using what you find around you. Example: The Cervantes Code.
- Virtual guides: walks built around a neighbourhood's history, with narration and questions that make you look at the details. Example: Gran Vía: Fifteen Streets Under Your Feet.
What kinds of puzzles will I find?
The most common challenges are questions about what you see at each location and digital locks you must open: combination locks (numbers), word locks, and directional locks (arrow sequences). The answer is almost always in your surroundings — a date on a facade, the number of balconies on a building, an inscription on a statue. That is why the game makes you look at the city more closely than any ordinary visit.
A game, step by step
- Pick a game from the catalogue, filtering by city. Its page shows the area, the type of game, the estimated duration and the available languages.
- Open it in your phone's browser. It's a progressive web app (PWA): it works on iPhone and Android without going through any app store. You can add it to your home screen if you like, but it's optional.
- Choose your language from the ones that game has been translated into.
- Start a session with a name for yourself or your team. That name stores your progress and score; there's no email or password sign-up.
- Allow location access. Without GPS the game can't tell when you reach each stop. Your position is used for the game mechanics and nothing else.
- Follow the map to the first checkpoint. When you enter its radius, the game detects it and unlocks the content: a story, a question or a puzzle.
- Solve and score. Getting it right first time scores more than after several attempts, so it pays to think before guessing.
- Finish by clearing the last checkpoint and see your final result. If you stop for a drink halfway, the session waits for you.
Before you play
What do I need to play?
You only need a phone with a browser, an internet connection, and GPS enabled. There is nothing to install: Discover The City games run as a web app (PWA) directly in Chrome, Safari, or any modern browser. Recommended extras: a charged battery (or a power bank), comfortable shoes, and water on hot days.
Do I have to download an app?
No, there is nothing to download from an app store. You open a link in your browser, type your team name, and start playing. Because it is a PWA, the experience matches a native app — interactive map, audio, saved progress — without taking up space on your phone.
Do I need to create an account?
No. To play you just type a player or team name when you start. No email or password is required.
Do I need to book a time slot?
No, self-guided games generally require no booking: they are available at any hour, any day. You decide when to start. That sets them apart from guided tours and escape rooms, which depend on schedules and available slots.
Which languages are available?
Games are available in Spanish, English, French, and German, depending on the specific game. You pick the language when you start, and the whole experience — stories, questions, hints — is shown in that language. This makes it a good fit for international groups: everyone can play in the team's shared language.
How long does a game take?
Most games take between 60 and 120 minutes, depending on the route and your pace. Since there is no mandatory timer and no group waiting for you, you can stretch it with photo stops, a coffee, or a terrace break halfway through. The estimated duration is shown on each game's page before you start.
Is it suitable for kids and families?
Yes, it is one of the best family plans there is: kids walk, hunt for clues, and compete for points instead of getting bored on a conventional visit. For children under 8-10, play as a team with an adult who reads the puzzles aloud. Check each game's description: some have mystery themes aimed at adults, while others suit all ages.
Does it work for large groups and team building?
Yes, urban exploration games work especially well for groups and team building: split the group into teams of 3-5 people, each team plays from one phone, and the final score decides the winner. Combining walking, collaboration, and competition makes it a popular format for company events, parties, and celebrations. For private or branded events, contact the team.
While you play
How do I know where to go?
The game includes an interactive map showing your live position and the next checkpoint. You walk to the marked point, and when GPS detects you have arrived, that location's content unlocks: the story, the question, or the puzzle. You do not need Google Maps or any prior knowledge of the city.
Can I play at my own pace or pause the game?
Yes, you play entirely at your own pace and can pause whenever you like. Your progress is saved in your session: if you stop for lunch or continue in the evening, you pick up exactly where you left off. There is no guide waiting and no time limit that kicks you out.
What happens if I get an answer wrong or get stuck?
Nothing serious: you can try again, and every puzzle includes hints to unblock you. Wrong answers or hints may cost points, so there is an incentive to think, but you are never permanently stuck. The goal is to have fun, not to pass an exam.
Can I play in the rain or at night?
You can play in light rain or at night, but the experience is best in daylight and good weather. The whole game takes place outdoors, so in heavy rain it is better to postpone — and since there is no booking, changing the day costs you nothing. At night, keep in mind that some puzzles ask you to observe details on facades or monuments that are harder to see in the dark. The exception is games designed for the night, like Those Who Never Left, which starts at nine and needs the facades lit up and the buildings closed.
What if I lose signal?
You don't lose the game: your session is saved on the server and picks up again when the connection comes back. What you do need is data at the key moments, when you validate an answer and when you move to the next checkpoint. If one spot gives you trouble, walk a few metres and try again.
Any tips to enjoy it more?
- Battery: head out fully charged or with a power bank; GPS and the screen drain it.
- Data: you don't need much speed, but you do need a stable connection. If you're visiting from outside the EU, check your roaming before you start.
- Team: 2 to 5 people per phone is the sweet spot. One handles the map, one reads the clues, one hunts for details.
- No rush: it isn't a race. Stopping to look is part of the design.
Is it accessible for people with reduced mobility?
It depends on the route: games run through public streets, so accessibility matches the route itself (slopes, cobblestones, stairs). Because it is self-guided, you can take all the time you need and choose alternative paths between checkpoints. If accessibility is critical for you, check the route area on the game's page before starting.
Pricing and booking
How much does an urban exploration game cost?
Nothing. Today every published game on Discover The City is free: no ticket, no paywall halfway through, no per-person price. You open the game and play it to the end.
How do I pay?
There is nothing to pay: no card is asked for, and there is no ticket booth, cash or paperwork. If a game ever becomes paid, its page will say so before you start.
Can I gift a game or play one again?
You can play any game on the platform whenever you want, and gifting the experience is as simple as sharing the link. Replaying the same game is less fun (you already know the solutions), but most cities offer several games with different routes and themes.
Still have a question? The best way to answer it is to try: pick a game, name your team, and head out to play. And if you're still deciding between going on your own or with a guide, we have an honest comparison of self-guided and guided tours.