What is the Chicago outdoor escape game?
The Chicago outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out along the lakefront: 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. Roughly 2 hours is enough time for the 5 km route, with 73 minutes of that spent walking.
Each puzzle belongs to a landmark such as the Art Institute, Cloud Gate or Buckingham Fountain, and stands on its own, so no storyline is needed to move forward. Stuck? Nobody has to abandon a puzzle, since up to three levels of hints can be unlocked. The museum campus and the parks by the water sit close enough together that the game feels like one long walk along the lake.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 73 min · 5 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, Spanish
What you do on the escape game
Solve
Crack the puzzle at every stop by observing the surroundings and reasoning it out. No knowledge of Chicago is needed.
Look up and around
The clues sit in sculptures, facades and the details of each site by the water.
Walk
Google Maps leads you from stop to stop, about 73 minutes of walking across roughly 5 km.
Take your time
There is no countdown. Use hints when you need them, pause for a coffee and carry on 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
Each puzzle gives everyone something to argue about before the next stop, and nobody has to know the city beforehand.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you stroll from landmark to landmark along the lake.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, which makes it a practical pick 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 Navy Pier to the Adler Planetarium
10 stops · about 73 min walking · start: Navy Pier · finish: Adler Planetarium
The first puzzle waits at Navy Pier and the last at the Adler Planetarium, with eight stops in between: the Outer Drive Bridge, Maggie Daley Park, Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, Buckingham Fountain, Queen's Landing, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Daylight makes the best start, because the puzzles are solved outdoors and wind or rain can slow everything down. Google Maps guides you between stops, the app lets you reorder them, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Navy PierStart
Navy Pier opened in 1916 as Municipal Pier, a lakefront dock that was later used to train naval personnel during the First World War, which gave it its present name. Today its Ferris wheel and the Crystal Gardens are among the first things visitors see along the pier.
2Outer Drive Bridge
This double-leaf bascule bridge was inaugurated in October 1937 to link the north and south sections of Lake Shore Drive. When it was completed it was described as the longest, widest and heaviest bascule bridge in the world, and it was officially named for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1982.
3Maggie Daley Park
Maggie Daley Park opened in 2014 in Grant Park and is named after Maggie Daley, wife of former mayor Richard Daley. Its winter ice-skating ribbon and play areas make it a destination for every age.
4Millennium Park
Millennium Park opened in 2004 on a former railway yard in Grant Park. Its best-known sculpture is Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor, nicknamed The Bean, whose polished steel mirrors the skyline, and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry, hosts free summer concerts.
5The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago opened in 1879 and is one of the largest art museums in the United States. Two bronze lions by Edward Kemeys, dating from 1894, guard the steps on Michigan Avenue, and inside hang Grant Wood's American Gothic and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.
6Buckingham Fountain
Buckingham Fountain was dedicated on 26 August 1927 as a gift from Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother Clarence. Its design by Edward Bennett draws on the Latona Fountain at Versailles, and its sea horses represent the four states bordering Lake Michigan.
7Queen's Landing
Queen's Landing is a concrete working pier on the lakefront, directly across Lake Shore Drive from Buckingham Fountain. It recalls the 1959 visit of Queen Elizabeth II, the first by a reigning British monarch to Chicago, when the royal yacht Britannia sailed through the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the city.
8Field Museum
The Field Museum was founded in 1893 with a gift from the merchant Marshall Field and moved into its white neoclassical building in 1921. Its Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, known as Sue, is one of the most complete ever found.
9Shedd Aquarium
The Shedd Aquarium opened in 1930 on the lakefront, financed by the merchant John Shedd. Its tanks bring together reefs, rivers and oceans from around the world, and its Beaux-Arts building is one of the city's great landmarks.
Read the full story →
10Adler PlanetariumFinish
The Adler Planetarium opened in 1930 as the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, on a point of land reaching into Lake Michigan. Its Sky Pavilion offers views across the lake and the skyline, and its shows explain the night sky.
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Anonymous (verified owner) –
Skyline puzzle quest! Super !