Here are the most common questions you have asked us. Contact us if you have any other questions.
Yes. You can play either at home or in the city:
Moriarty’s Game: A Killer in the Hive – an interactive, immersive crime drama – is playable at home. Play on your phone, in teams of 1-5 players.
All city games remain playable during lockdown. The games take place outside. Optional breaks are included, where you can pick up takeaway winter warmers to keep you toasty on your journey – hot chocolate, tea and coffee – as well as access toilet facilities.
For Play in the City games, begin your game within the time slot, as indicated within the listing (e.g. if the game listing states 'Start time: Sun 12pm-3pm' then text 'begin' after 12pm, and by 3pm.) These games have limited availability to avoid overwhelming locations en route. You'll be asked to pick a date and time before playing.
The latest start time assumes you take no longer than the maximum duration. 90% of players complete the game within the maximum duration. If you want to play at a more leisurely pace, then begin at least an hour before the latest start time.
For Play at Home games there is no restriction on start time.
Reply to the SMS (welcome text) sent to your Team 1 captain by HiddenCity at registration. If you don’t receive a welcome text, sign in to your game on our website to check that you have configured your teams and that your mobile number is correct. If you still don't get a text, contact us.
Your welcome text will include your game number and password. On our website you will find the ‘sign in’ tab in the top right corner.
Yes - you can change your team captains and mobile numbers any time before you begin the game, by signing in to your game on our website. If you want to add an additional players or numbers, see FAQ 6.
If you’ve booked for the right number of players, but want to add other players' mobile numbers to receive clues too, just text the number you want to add in a reply to your welcome text. Send the number itself only without any text (e.g. “07900 123 123” instead of “my mate Jenny wants to play too and her number is 07900 123 123”).
If you need to add an additional player onto an existing team, sign in to your game using your Game ID and password (check your email). Go to your team and click Add Players. You'll be able to pay from here just as you did when you first booked.
To add an additional team, you'll need to quit your current game and book a new game with the correct number of teams. Contact us once you've done this and we'll refund your unused game.
Yes - you can change the date of your game by signing in on our website and clicking on the "update" next to the date or time window.
The guidelines for fair play are as follows:
Good luck!
Generally not - teams usually separate as they solve clues at different speeds. If you have more than one team the first message is specifically designed to allow you to stagger your teams. If you have 3 or more teams see FAQ 10.
If you're running an event for three or more teams, or it's just really important to you that you understand how everything works, then here are some top tips to get the best out of your game:
Prepare: Read the 'How to play' page. Send the link to all team captains to read before you play.
Put yourself down as the Team 1 captain. Only Team 1 can begin the game, so you’ll be in control.
Keep it a secret, if you want: If your event is a surprise, don’t worry – you don’t have to let all your captains know. If you have two or more teams, you’ll see an ‘It’s a secret’ tickbox - tick this so that teams 2+ will not receive emails or texts until the game has begun. Double-check that you’ve got the mobile number right for all team captains before you play - you can’t edit these once the game has begun.
If you’re concerned about your teams overlapping, then you can stagger them. For groups with 6 or more teams we would strongly recommend doing this. After the Team 1 captain commences the game (by sending 'begin'), the first message each team receives allows them to go when ready (by sending 'go'). We recommend that you allow a few minutes between each team. And don't worry about differences in timing. If you do decide to stagger, each team's time won't start until they text 'go' and begin their individual game, so each team will have an accurate time.
For Play in the City games - wear suitable clothes. Most of your game will take place outdoors.
If there's weather you don't want to be outdoors in, you can easily reschedule for another day. All games are fully flexible - sign in and change your date here.
For Play at Home games - you should be all set.
For Play in the City games, the final location is secret.
If you want to organise something after your game then contact us and we'll make sure you have the info you need to plan your onward festivities, travel, or whatever else you need to do in the city...
For Play at Home games, all gameplay takes place at home.
In the majority of cases, players using non-UK mobiles will experience significant delays in receiving messages and this can be frustrating when you're trying to play a game and immerse yourself in a narrative. Don't worry though. If nobody in your party has a UK mobile, you can acquire a UK Pay-As-You-Go SIM card before beginning the game. These are free with a minimum top up amount and some mobile phone shops will even give you a free 'burner' phone. One exception: Lycamobile will not work with the games.
You should receive most replies within a few seconds. If you are in an area with poor mobile phone reception, you can resend your answer or try adding another teammate's mobile number. See How to Play for more details.
Yes they can - they'll usually love the games - and can play on all games unless stated otherwise on the game's booking page. Any restrictions on Play in the City games are due to licensed premises that you visit whilst playing the game.
We find the games will excite most children over the age of about 7 or 8 - they love to get involved in the story! For Play in the City games, depending on the game, there can be up to 3 miles of walking so choose a game that has a suitable length for all children in your party. If you don't finish a game, fear not, you can continue the game on another day, up to 28 days after starting.
Under 10s can come along for free. Children aged 10 or over pay full price.
Supervising children is essential (no exceptions, it's the law, guys).
Our Play in the City games currently require the use of steps to access the answers to some locations and clues and so are not wheelchair friendly.
As for buggies - sorry, tiny ones out there! The Play in the City games are not suitable for buggies. Leave your little one with a friend, and instead embrace your own inner child.
The Play at Home games take place at home, so are as step-free as your home is.
Yes - none of our games require local knowledge.
Our games are written with native English speakers in mind, and we often use British idioms, slang and cultural references. Examples of slang include: tipple (alcoholic drink), wee (small) and pissing it down (raining).
You can always request help should you come across language you find particularly tricky - text ‘STUCK’ for help working out the answer or, on our Play in the City games, text ‘LOST' for directions to the next location in plain English.
Play in the City games involve heading into pubs to obtain clues, and most break and end locations are pubs, though we choose places where you can get coffees or teas too wherever possible. You can minimise the time spent in pubs by skipping the breaks, taking your breaks in a nearby cafe and/or leaving the end location once you've solved the final clue.
Play at Home games are based at home.
No - we select venues on the basis of their contribution to the overall experience.
Play in the City games involve locations with specific opening and closing times. The start time windows listed on the games ensure players can access these locations within the time it takes to complete the game. If you choose to take your own breaks from playing, bear in mind you risk being unable to complete the game. Each game is designed with built-in breaks to avoid this happening.
In Play at Home games, there are no restrictions on the start time.
At least one fully charged phone for each team - ideally for every team member, so they can follow the progress of game.
For Play in the City games, wear comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothes, as most of your game will take place outdoors.
You can pay on our website using Visa, Mastercard or American Express. All payments are up front. From when you start making a booking, you'll have 24 hours to complete payment.
We can create large-scale bespoke experiences tailored for brands, designed for 10,000+ people to take part in. Get in touch if you're a brand and are interested in working with us. Brands that we've worked with include The Guardian, Time Out, the City of London and Eastpak.
Text messages that you send are charged at your standard rate, or may be free if you have 'bundled texts' with your phone package. There is no charge to receive messages.
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Head over here: Sign up as game tester.
If we are hiring you'll find all the information here.
We've found, in most cases, that teams benefit from having a maximum size of five players, so that everyone gets involved in solving the clues.
If there are six of you or more then split up into teams and play head-to-head. We'd highly recommend giving this experience a go as you'll get to compare notes with each other in the breaks (you'll tend to overlap at these points), see which different routes you take, and then enjoy a comparative blow-by-blow break down at the end...
Yes, the games are fully flexible which means you can get a refund for any reason.
