A finished booklet may look like a story with a map and a few tasks. The work behind it begins long before you sit down at your desk. On average, it takes us about two months to create a new mystery. That time is not just spent writing a puzzle, but making sure that the location, tasks, story, and digital component all work together.
The mysteries in this guide
In this guide
First, we visit the location
We start by visiting the city or area where the mystery will take place. There, we look for settings, buildings, and details that can carry a story and work in the tasks. The location should not be a backdrop that could have been replaced by any other city.
We also need to understand how a walk can come together. An interesting detail is not automatically a good place to play if it does not work as part of the whole. That is why the work begins with looking at the area in person, not with writing a finished story and then trying to place it.
Then we build the story and the tasks
After the first visit, we research the city's history. This gives the mystery a local connection and helps us find things that are relevant to that particular area. At the same time, the murder mystery is a fictional story, not a claim that the events of the game have actually taken place.
The creation process itself takes about a month. We work on the story, suspects, clues, and tasks, and on how the group will move forward between the parts. The booklet and the Archive should support the same experience, not feel like two separate products.
The first draft is played on location
When a first draft is ready, we return and play through the mystery ourselves. Then we test how the route works together with the reading and the tasks. What seems obvious when you know the solution may not be clear to someone encountering the story for the first time.
Here we correct things such as the route, clues, difficulty, and the order of the story. A working game needs more than a clever idea. It must also be clear what you need to investigate, how the answer should be used, and why you move on to the next part.
The pilot rounds are part of the development
Several selected groups then play through the mystery in pilot rounds. We collect their feedback and correct what needs improvement before we release the game. From the first city visit to the finished experience, the process takes an average of about two months, although the different parts of the work can take different amounts of time.
That is why Gamla stan, Haga, Örebro city center, and Wadköping each have their own stories and location-based setups. If you want to understand how it works when you play, you can read the guide to the booklet and the Archive. There we describe what you do, from the starting point to the final theory, without revealing the puzzles themselves.
The mysteries in this guide
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to create a new mystery?
Development takes an average of about two months. The process includes site visits, historical research, creation, our own testing, and pilot rounds before we release the mystery.
Do you start with the story or with the city?
We start by visiting the city and looking for relevant locations. Then we research the city's history and build the story and the clues based on the environment.
How do you test a mystery before launch?
We play a first draft ourselves on site and correct it. Then selected groups conduct pilot rounds, and their feedback is used in the work before the launch.
How long is the creation phase itself?
The creative phase takes about one month. During this time, we work on the story, the clues, and how they should connect with the locations we have selected during the preliminary work.
What role does the city's history play in the creation?
We conduct historical research so that the mystery has a relevant connection to the city. Real environments and historical inspiration are used in a game; the murder case itself is still fiction.
What happens if the pilot groups find something unclear?
We use the feedback to correct things that do not work as intended. The mystery is only released once we have worked through the feedback from the tests.
