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The basic building block. In the character’s speech bubble or neutral as narrator. Almost every door starts with it.
Every door is made of three parts: a clue (what you see), a lock (how you open it) and a reward (what you get). On top of that, there are collections that fill up over several days, and tools you print out and hold in your hands. You can try everything below right away.
The basic building block. In the character’s speech bubble or neutral as narrator. Almost every door starts with it.
Shows a photo at full size. Good for “Where is this?”, “Who is this?” or as part of a picture puzzle. Photos are shrunk when uploaded.
A voice message, a sound, a song. Played backwards, a sentence becomes a puzzle you can decode with the phone’s recorder app.
The text sits in blue beneath dense red scribbles. The noise appears on the phone – nothing to print. Hold a red film (craft shop or a red transparent folder) in front of the screen and the red vanishes, revealing the text. A classic that amazes every time.
The text is mirrored. Short words can be read in your head, longer texts need a mirror – which can be handed over as a tool.
You write the plain text, the calendar encrypts it. Caesar and Vigenère go with the cipher wheel, pigpen with the printed key; Morse and binary can be cracked with a bit of searching online.
A word whose letters are shown shuffled on tiles. Short and simple, good for names and places. The solution goes into the “Type the answer” lock.
The universal lock. Several correct answers possible; capitals, accents and spaces don’t matter. After a wrong answer the character comments.
A combination lock with wheels. The digits come from earlier doors, from tools carrying a code digit or from a puzzle in the clue. Ideal for the finale.
Multiple choice with two to six answers. Quick to build, good for in-jokes (“Where were we in July?”).
Each field has its own label and its own answers – for example one field per tool or per collected word. Good for bringing everything together at the end.
You print the code (solution sheet) and hide it. Find it, scan it with the phone camera – and the door opens. Found too early? It’s saved and counts on the right day.
You photograph a picture on the wall, a postcard, some packaging; the builder turns it into a recognition target. Point the camera at it and your message appears – and the door opens. Needs internet and camera permission.
A picture (or numbers) as a 3×3 or 4×4 sliding puzzle. It gets shuffled and has to be put back in order. Especially nice with a photo of the two of you.
The photo is heavily pixelated, and each hint makes it sharper. Hints come via a button, after wrong answers or one a day. The photo stays encrypted until it is solved.
A memory game with emojis or short words, each card twice. Six pairs are pleasant, ten a real challenge.
Events, places, names – shown shuffled, swapped with a tap. Once the order is right, the door opens. Lovely for shared memories in chronological order.
For days without a puzzle: a greeting, a photo, a piece of the story. Even a calendar needs a breather.
What the character says once the door is open. This is where the story continues or the next hiding spot is revealed.
A picture that only appears once solved – a keepsake photo, a voucher, a clue for the next door.
Over several doors, the person receiving it collects the words of a sentence, the letters of a solution word or notes. Everything appears in the collection book – and is needed for the finale.
A short text, encrypted (e.g. Vigenère), that sits in the collection book as a “PS”. The key comes on another day – only then can it be read.
For the finale: a text fades in line by line, the last one large. This is the moment the gift is revealed.
Confetti bursts up from below, snow drifts across the screen. As the crowning moment of the finale or just because.
Once solved, a treasure map shows the hiding spot – as a sentence, a little puzzle or a photo of the place. That’s where the real gift or the next clue is waiting. The hiding spot is also on your cheat sheet.
Each door gives a word. In the collection book, the sentence’s gaps fill up bit by bit – until it’s complete and leads to the finale.
The letters land in their place in the collection book, the gaps stay visible. A good guesser knows the word before the last day – the finale asks for it.
The collection book as a notepad: every door can add an entry – suspects, places, numbers for a lock. Good for mysteries and puzzles that take several days.
A piece of red colour film from a craft shop or a red transparent folder – bought, not printed. Needed for “Red-film noise”. Under “Print” there’s a film test to check the shade; a printout can carry a code digit, hidden among decoys.
You write notes (e.g. a shopping list), and the stencil shows only the letters in its windows – which spell the solution word. Print template with a check that all notes fit.
Two discs to cut out and pin together. They let you decode secret codes by hand – it feels like spy work.
A small mirror, handed over as a tool. No print template – any pocket mirror will do.
A table that assigns a symbol to each letter. Printed and hidden – it lets you decode the pigpen cipher.