The Cave of Origins
36,000 years — humanity's oldest message
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In the darkness of the Chauvet cave, hands drew lions, rhinoceroses, and horses of stunning beauty 36,000 years ago. These unknown artists created humanity's first masterpiece — long before writing, long before agriculture. What message did they intend to transmit across the millennia?
36,000 years ago, someone left a message — it's time to read it
The Chauvet cave, discovered in 1994 by three cavers, overturned everything we thought we knew about the origins of art. Its cave paintings, dated to 36,000 years ago, are twice as old as those of Lascaux. Cave lions in motion, woolly rhinoceroses, negative handprints blown in ochre — all executed with a technical mastery that defies imagination. The Chauvet 2 replica, the world's largest cave replica, brings you close to the mystery. Your quest begins at the threshold of the dawn of time.
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
« "I went down. And suddenly, I saw paintings. I shouted. It was as if time no longer existed." »— — Jean-Marie Chauvet, December 1994
Chauvet Cave — when art was born in darkness
On December 18, 1994, Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel, and Christian Hillaire were exploring a cliff above the Ardèche when a draft of air drew them toward a crevice. After a dizzying descent, they entered a vast chamber adorned with hundreds of prehistoric paintings and engravings. What they didn't yet know was that they had just discovered the oldest known cave paintings in the world.
Carbon-14 dating stunned the scientific community: the paintings were between 30,000 and 36,000 years old, nearly twice the age of Lascaux. But what fascinated most was their quality. The Aurignacian artists mastered perspective, shading, and movement. Cave lions seem to leap from the rock; rhinoceroses loom through a haze of ochre. These men and women of the Upper Paleolithic were not "primitives" — they were accomplished artists.
The original cave, sealed by a rockfall 23,000 years ago, will never be opened to the public to preserve the paintings. But the Chauvet 2 replica, inaugurated in 2015, reproduces 27 panels across 3,000 m² with millimetric accuracy. A few kilometers away, the Pont d'Arc — a 60-meter natural arch — has spanned the Ardèche for 500,000 years, and the dolmens of Labeaume testify to five thousand years of human occupation.
The Route
5 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?
36,000-year-old art
Get close to the oldest known cave paintings in the millimetric replica of Chauvet 2.
Natural Pont d'Arc
Discover the 60-meter natural arch the Chauvet artists gazed at every day.
Vanished fauna
Cave lions, woolly rhinos, mammoths — the Chauvet bestiary comes to life.
Megaliths and caves
From the Chauvet cave to the Labeaume dolmen, 30,000 years of human transmission.
Art was born in the night — and it has never stopped shining.
From the Chauvet cave to the Labeaume dolmen, 36,000 years of humanity await you.
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, WhatsApp, 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.
Avis des aventuriers
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Your turn to play
Plunge into the darkness of Chauvet 2, gaze at the Pont d'Arc, explore the gorges and dolmens — an outdoor escape game to meet humanity's first artists, 36,000 years ago.
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
🪙+15 TripCoins granted with your booking
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