Barva's Cipher — Uncover the Lost Coffee Conspiracy
Decrypt a centuries-old conspiracy hidden in Barva's colonial streets. Uncover coded messages left by Spanish settlers and indigenous traders to expose a fortune in lost coffee wealth and betrayal.
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In the 1700s, Barva emerged as a thriving colonial settlement on the fertile slopes of Barva Volcano, where Spanish settlers and indigenous peoples formed an uneasy alliance around a revolutionary cro
Barva's Cipher — Uncover the Lost Coffee Conspiracy
You are Arturo Mendez, a historian from the Universidad Nacional, in Barva, Costa Rica, tasked with deciphering an ancient plot linked to Costa Rican coffee.
Your mission begins at Barva's
Dive into the heart of Barva, a 16th-century historic town, to thwart a conspiracy threatening Heredia's coffee heritage.
A game, a guided tour and a heritage guide — all in one
You're not just buying an escape game. You're carrying a living guide — historical anecdotes, forgotten legends, key monuments, hidden architecture — unfolding as you go.
At each stop, places ordinary guides miss — secret façades, sculpted crests, alleys steeped in history.
Every riddle is rooted in a real historical fact or local legend. You leave with dozens of stories to tell.
Learn to read buildings — flamboyant Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco — like a real art historian, while having fun.
Walk through the city like a novel's character — every alley becomes a stage, every square a theatre.
A voice walks with you at every step, tells the story of each place, reads clues, adds a cinematic feel.
Keep access to the guide & game for 1 year. Come back any time, share it with friends.
« You will not leave this city the way you entered it. »
How does it work?
Explore the city on foot solving puzzles based on real historical facts. No locked room — the city is your playground.
No app to download. Play directly from your browser. Guided step by step, at your own pace.
One purchase per phone is enough. Play with family, friends or as a couple — everyone participates.
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears and speaks to you in your language. Golden letters magically write themselves on the wall to reveal the puzzle answer.
Stuck? Progressive personalised hints. The character repeats the puzzle on demand — at your own pace.
French, English, German, Spanish, Italian + 27 other languages auto-translated by AI.
Want to go deeper?
Places tied to your adventure — optional entries, totally up to you · per person
The story that haunts this land
Your investigation begins at Barva's Parque Central, the nerve center of the town founded in the 16th century. This public space, surrounded by the colonial architecture that characterizes Heredia, has always been a gathering place. It is here, in this history-rich square, that the first rumors of a plot against the precious 1890 coffee heritage began to circulate. You must examine the surroundings for initial clues, searching for marks or symbols that could reveal the extent of the conspiracy.
Proceed to the Iglesia de San Bartolomé Apóstol, a colonial edifice mentioned in Barva's historic downtown tours. This church, linked to local religious heritage, serves as a backdrop for walking explorations and conceals fragments of the truth. Not far, the Casa Cural de Barva, a historic religious building, is also a key point on your journey. These places, silent witnesses to Barva's evolution, force you to decipher messages hidden in their architecture, revealing information about influential families and their role in the coffee trade.
Your itinerary then leads you to the Barva Basilica, built in 1767. With its courtyard and grotto dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes, this edifice is a national historic monument accessible on foot from the Parque Central. Ancient records and engravings within the basilica might contain crucial names or dates. As you cross Calle Real, a historic colonial street in Barva, you walk in the footsteps of coffee merchants and colonists, directly connecting your quest to the rich coffee heritage and cobblestone streets of the city center.
Barva's Plaza del Agricultor, dedicated to agriculture and consistent with the coffee heritage, is your next stop. This central location, near historic sites, symbolizes the agricultural wealth of the Heredia region. Finally, you reach the Beneficio de Café de Barva, a coffee processing site preserved intact since 1890. This historic industrial building produced 40% of Costa Rican export coffee at its peak. This is the heart of the enigma, where the secrets of the lost coffee are buried, from ancient documents to silent machinery.
This 1.5 km journey through Barva is not just a simple visit. It's a total immersion in Costa Rican history, where every step, every clue, brings you closer to the truth about this coffee heritage. By exploring Barva's national monuments and its colonial streets, you unravel the threads of a forgotten story. The owners of Adventure Park Barva, Ingrid y Arturo, have often spoken about the importance of preserving these narratives. Your success in this investigation ensures that the “Legado Oculto de Barva” — the 1890 coffee heritage — will never be lost to the city of Heredia.
The Route
8 stages through the city
The gameplay: AR, camera, hidden clues
At each stop, open your phone camera: an augmented reality character appears on the façade and speaks your language. Hunt the clue — it materializes as golden letters on the real wall or floats in front of you. When you find it, the phone vibrates, an AR chest opens and reveals your answer fragment. 8 stops, 8 clues to find with the camera, 1 final code.
The stops on your route are a surprise. You'll discover them one by one, guided by your phone, starting from the meeting point.
How does it work with a group?
One phone = one team. Pick the number at checkout (1 to 10).
Solo, or a group sharing the screen. One team, one code.
Family, couple, or 2-3 teams competing. Each phone has its own code and its own score.
Friends, bachelor/bachelorette, small office outing — each their own code, each plays at their own pace. Tiered pricing then €6 flat per phone from the 6th.
- ✓All codes are independent — play at the same time OR separately, each team advances at its own pace.
- ✓Leaderboard between your teams + global game leaderboard — each score appears in the public ranking.
- ✓More than 10 phones or need a personalized quest? Discover custom tours.
Ready to live this adventure?
Get my code · 12€No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒 Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
Practical info
Why this route?
Legendary coffee
Delve into the history of Costa Rican coffee and uncover the secret of an ancestral recipe.
Forgotten manuscript
Gather clues to reconstruct a family register that will reveal a hidden legacy.
Colonial architecture
Explore the cobblestone streets and historic facades of a preserved village.
Untangle the threads of the past, find the hidden legacy of Barva's coffee.
Only the sharpest minds will be able to decipher the Maestro's testament.
9 features nobody else has
OddballTrip combines gamified play, augmented reality and AI. All our competitors deliver 1 or 2 of these angles. We deliver all 5.
AR treasure chest
A golden chest floats in front of the monument. Tap → opening animation → reveals a secret message.
AR narrator character
Point your phone at the façade: a knight, witch, monk, sailor, detective or ghost appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language with their dedicated ElevenLabs voice (each character has their own unique voice) — your living guide.
Magic golden letters
At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's the puzzle answer. An unforgettable visual effect.
Written + audio narration
Every puzzle available as text AND voice-over: read at your own pace or listen eyes-free while walking. Great in groups and for accessibility.
360° radar + vibration
A mini-radar shows the target even behind you, and the phone vibrates when you aim in the right direction.
Heritage storytelling
Every puzzle weaves in real historical facts (architecture, era, anecdotes). You learn by playing — like a gamified audioguide.
Progressive AI hints
3 levels of AI-generated help: vibe → where to look → answer format. You're never stuck.
AR selfie memento
At the end of the game, capture a selfie with OddballTrip banner + mascot, shareable on Instagram, TikTok.
Zero app to install
PWA technology: open the link, it plays in your browser. Same quality as an app, no App Store hassle.
Frequently asked questions
Q01Do I need to download an app?
No, never. You get a link, you click, it plays in your browser. That's the point of a PWA: same as an app, without the hassle.
Q02Does it work offline?
GPS yes (handled by your phone). Maps yes (tiles cached). AI and hints need an intermittent 4G connection.
Q03How long does a game take?
1 h 30 to 2 h 30 depending on your pace. The timer runs but only for the leaderboard — you play at your own tempo.
Q04What happens if I'm stuck?
You get 3 levels of hints per puzzle (increasing penalty). If truly stuck, you can skip the step (45-min penalty but you keep going).
Q05What's the age range?
From 12 without an adult, from 6 with an adult reading puzzles. Works for families, couples, friend groups, companies.
Q06What if my city isn't in the catalogue?
Pre-register or contact us — we'll email you as soon as your city is live.
Q07What is augmented reality exactly?
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language. At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's your answer. After each puzzle solved, a treasure chest floats in front of you. Seeing is believing.
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Your turn to play
Dive into the heart of Barva, a 16th-century historic town, to thwart a conspiracy threatening Heredia's coffee heritage.
1 purchase = 1 phone. Play several on the same device.
No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
🪙+24 TripCoins granted with your booking
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