Mazagan — The Forgotten Manuscript
Uncover a lost manuscript hidden in the Portuguese citadel before rival forces claim its secrets.
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In the final days of Portuguese rule over Mazagan, a scholar within the citadel secretly compiled a manuscript detailing hidden routes, underground passages, and the location of a concealed archive of
Mazagan — The Forgotten Manuscript
You are a Portuguese royal archivist on a secret mission to El Jadida in 1541.
Your task is to locate the manuscript hidden by Vasco Gil Sodré in a secret vault within
Follow the trail of Vasco Gil Sodré, Portuguese commander who hid a secret manuscript in Mazagan's ramparts in 1541 during the Arab siege.
The story that haunts this land
El Jadida welcomes you at the Sea Gate, built in 1541 as the main entrance to the Portuguese city of Mazagan. This fortified gate served as the departure point for Portuguese ships in the 16th century and showcases military architecture adapted to the era's cannons. Vasco Gil Sodré passed through this very gate during his defensive rounds, scanning the Atlantic horizon for Arab sails. Your phone reveals the first clues carved in stone: Portuguese coats of arms and symbols that only a royal archivist could decipher.
The ramparts of the Portuguese Citadel lead you along 2 km of fortifications erected between 1514 and 1541 to resist repeated Arab sieges. These curtain walls and bastions, UNESCO-listed in 2004, constitute the unique example of Portuguese military architecture in Africa. Here Vasco Gil Sodré hid ammunition and documents in a secret vault during the 1541 siege. Every stone tells of Portuguese resistance: loopholes adapted for artillery, angles calculated for crossfire, secret passages that your mission gradually reveals.
The Portuguese Cistern from 1514 unveils its 625 m² and 17 octagonal Gothic pillars beneath a 7-meter-high vault. This garrison water reservoir was converted into a church after 1558, creating unique light effects through 4 openings. In this underground cathedral, echoes amplify every step: Vasco Gil Sodré held his secret meetings here, away from prying ears. Your phone projects onto the pillars the coded messages he carved there, mixing Latin and Templar symbols inherited from African conquests.
The former Church of the Assumption, built in the 16th century for the Portuguese Catholic community, was converted into a mosque after Mazagan's capture by the Saadians in 1769. Its architecture blends Portuguese Gothic with local influences, creating unique architectural syncretism in Morocco. The Saint-Antoine and Saint-Sebastian bastions, built around 1540-1541, offer panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. Saint-Antoine, protector of the Portuguese, and Saint-Sebastian, patron of soldiers, symbolically watched over Mazagan's garrison during repeated assaults.
Your quest ends at the Market Square, beating heart of the Portuguese Citadel in the 16th century, surrounded by buildings witnessing five centuries of Luso-Moroccan history. Vasco Gil Sodré's manuscript reveals defensive strategies, secret alliances, and hidden treasures of Mazagan. You leave El Jadida with the certainty of having lived history from within, understanding why this city resisted assaults for so long and why UNESCO protects it today as world 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.
The game downloads to your phone on start. Once the "✓ Downloaded" indicator appears, everything works without data — narration, AR, GPS and puzzles. Perfect abroad without a data plan.
Want to go deeper?
Places tied to your adventure — optional entries, totally up to you · per person
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?
Ancient Manuscript
Gather clues to reconstruct a secret logbook from the Portuguese era.
Secret Sea Routes
Uncover the mysteries of transatlantic trade and the discreet exchanges that made Mazagan wealthy.
Military Architecture
Discover the secrets of the ramparts and bastions, witnesses to the city's defensive power.
« Seek truth in the whispers of the past. »
Every stone has a story to tell, every shadow a secret to reveal.
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
Q01Is Mazagan — The Forgotten Manuscript similar to a treasure hunt?
Same spirit: search, deduce, find. But here the "treasure" is a full story to piece together in eight stops. Each stop gives you a fragment of the final code. Eight fragments later, you've cracked it.
Q02Can we split Mazagan — The Forgotten Manuscript across two days?
Yes — your code stays active and progress is saved. You can start Saturday afternoon, finish Sunday morning. Some players actually prefer this format to make the most of a full weekend on site.
Q03Can we do Mazagan — The Forgotten Manuscript as a family with kids?
Yes, from age 6 with an adult reading puzzles aloud, and from age 12 on their own. Kids love the "find the camera clue" part — it's very visual, gets them genuinely involved.
Q04Do we need 4G data to play?
Intermittent 4G is plenty. Maps are cached at startup. Narration and clues load per stop, so a so-so signal between stops is fine. GPS itself uses no data.
Avis des aventuriers
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Your turn to play
Follow the trail of Vasco Gil Sodré, Portuguese commander who hid a secret manuscript in Mazagan's ramparts in 1541 during the Arab siege.
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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