What is the Boston outdoor escape game?
The Boston outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out into the historic center: you play on your smartphone, and at each of the 10 stops a puzzle waits that you crack by studying the surroundings and thinking it through logically. Expect 29 minutes of walking and 2.1 km of city, all inside a window of roughly 2 hours.
Each puzzle hangs on a landmark such as the Old State House, the Granary Burying Ground or the Bill Russell statue, and stands on its own, so no storyline is needed to move forward. Stuck? You may reach for as many as three successive hint levels before you move on. The route is compact, so the stops add up to a relaxed stroll through colonial and revolutionary Boston.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 29 min · 2.1 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
What you do on the escape game
Solve
Crack the puzzle at every stop by observing the surroundings and reasoning it out. No prior knowledge of Boston is needed.
Look closer
The clues sit in headstones, facades and the details of each square and street corner.
Walk
Follow Google Maps from one stop to the next: about 29 minutes of walking across roughly 2.1 km.
Take your time
There is no countdown. Use hints when you need them, pause for a coffee and come back later or another day.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who it suits
Friends on a day out
Every puzzle gives the group something to debate at the next stop, and nobody has to know the city beforehand.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you stroll the Common and the waterfront, with no clock ticking.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, which makes it a practical choice for colleagues.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- Best started in daylight, so you can see the details the puzzles ask about.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
Puzzle route: from the Public Garden to the Waterfront Park
10 stops · about 29 min walking · start: Public Garden · finish: Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park
The first puzzle waits at the Public Garden and the last at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, with eight stops in between: Boston Common, Park Street Church, the Granary Burying Ground, the Benjamin Franklin Statue at the former Boston Latin School site, the Old State House, the Boston Massacre Site, the Bill Russell Statue on City Hall Plaza and Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Daylight makes the best start, because the puzzles are solved outdoors and rain or wind slow everything down. Google Maps guides you between stops, the app lets you reorder them, and the puzzles need no entry tickets.
Open the route map ↗
1Public GardenStart
The Boston Public Garden, opened in 1837, is considered the first public botanical garden in America. Swan boats have glided across its pond since 1877, and at its centre stands the equestrian statue of George Washington by Thomas Ball.
2Boston Common
Boston Common, first laid out in 1634, is the oldest public park in the United States. Cows once grazed here, and the site served for militia training and public executions before it became parkland.
3Park Street Church
Park Street Church was completed in 1810, and its steeple rises above the Common. In 1831 the hymn America, also called My Country, 'Tis of Thee, was first sung here at a children's celebration.
4Granary Burying Ground
The Granary Burying Ground was established in 1660 and is the resting place of patriots including Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Its weathered slate headstones carry skulls and inscriptions from the colonial era.
5Benjamin Franklin Statue
Boston Latin School, founded in 1635, is one of the oldest public schools in the United States. A bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin, a work by Richard Saltonstall Greenough and unveiled in 1856, recalls the former pupil, who attended the school for only a short time.
6Old State House
The Old State House, built in 1713, is the oldest surviving public building in Boston. From its balcony the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to the citizens in 1776.
7Boston Massacre Site
A ring of cobblestones in the street marks the Boston Massacre site, where British soldiers fired into a crowd on 5 March 1770 and killed five colonists. The event became a rallying point for the American Revolution.
8Bill Russell Statue on City Hall Plaza
This statue of Celtics centre Bill Russell, the work of Ann Hirsch, was unveiled on City Hall Plaza on 1 November 2013. Eleven green granite bases surround it, one for each of his eleven NBA championships, and each carries a keyword and a quotation.
9Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 as a market and meeting hall and hosted many speeches of the revolutionary era. Beside it, Quincy Market from 1826 was restored in the 1970s as a marketplace of shops and food stalls.
10Christopher Columbus Waterfront ParkFinish
Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park was designed in 1974 by Sasaki, Dawson and DeMay on filled land between Commercial Wharf and Long Wharf. A shade structure of laminated timber is draped in wisteria, and the Rose Kennedy Garden is one of its central features.
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Anonymous (verified owner) –
Excellent way to explore the city !