Rhyolite — Uncover the Lost Gold Hoard
Decipher the clues left by Shorty Harris to expose the hidden gold cache that doomed Rhyolite. Outwit the desert's curse and claim the vanished fortune before it vanishes forever.
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In 1904, prospectors Shorty Harris and Ed Cross struck gold in the Bullfrog Hills, igniting a frenzy that birthed Rhyolite—a glittering boomtown of banks, casinos, and bottle houses rising from the Ne
Rhyolite — Uncover the Lost Gold Hoard
You are a prospector, having just heard whispers of gold in the Bullfrog Hills, 1904, eager to secure your own share.
Your mission: uncover Rhyolite
Delve into the heart of Nevada and follow the golden footsteps of prospectors who built Rhyolite, the most iconic ghost town of the 1904-1911 gold rush.
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 quest begins in the heart of the Rhyolite ghost town, in front of the ruins of the Cook Bank Building. Built in 1906, this three-story building was a symbol of the town's ephemeral prosperity during the mining boom. Its stone vestiges, still visible today, bear witness to the ambition of a city that boasted between 8,000 and 10,000 inhabitants at its peak in 1907-1908. It was here that fortunes were made and lost, before the exhaustion of gold veins led to its gradual abandonment after 1911. The Cook Bank, located in the center of the ruins, is the ideal starting point to understand the rise and fall of Rhyolite, a Nevada ghost town.
A short walk away, the Tom Kelly Bottle House awaits, a unique structure built in 1906 by Tom Kelly from 50,000 recycled glass bottles. This house was the only intact structure in Rhyolite to be inhabited until 1925, then restored and opened as a tourist attraction since the 1920s. It offers a striking contrast to the surrounding ruins and is less than 500 meters from the central vestiges. Here you will discover the ingenuity of the inhabitants of this Rhyolite mining town, faced with the scarcity of traditional building materials, a concrete testament to daily life during the gold rush.
Continue east to discover the Rhyolite Train Depot, also built in 1906. This railway station was vital for connecting Rhyolite to the Las Vegas network via the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad line, facilitating the transport of gold ore to refineries. Its ruins, still visible near Highway 374, tell the story of an essential connection for the Bullfrog Mining District. The abandonment of the station after 1911 reflects the rapid decline of the town. The 1.5 km route takes you through these vestiges, allowing you to grasp the logistical importance of this station for Rhyolite's development.
Your itinerary will then lead you to the remains of the Montgomery Shoshone Mine Office, the office of Rhyolite's main mine, operational from February 1905 with ore valued at $16,000 per ton. This mine, operated by the Montgomery Shoshone Mining Company, reached its production peak in 1906-1907, following the initial discovery of gold in 1904 by Frank Harris and Ernest Cross. The foundations of the Porter Bros. Store, one of the main businesses supplying thousands of inhabitants around 1906-1907, and the walls of the Rhyolite Jail, built around 1906 to maintain order, complete this immersion in Rhyolite's commercial and social past.
By exploring the ruins of the Rhyolite School, built in 1907 for miners' children, and the remains of the eastern residential district, you complete your exploration of Rhyolite. These sites, abandoned after the 1907 economic crisis and the post-1911 decline, are silent witnesses to an era where hope and fortune coexisted in Nevada. Your GPS scavenger hunt will have led you in the footsteps of pioneers, revealing the history of Rhyolite, a ghost town that continues to fascinate. You will take with you not only the secrets of lost gold, but also an understanding of a bygone era, that of the gold rush and Nevada's heritage.
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?
The Gold Rush Fever
Immerse yourself in the frantic gold rush era that shaped Rhyolite's ephemeral destiny.
Eloquent Ruins
Explore spectacular architectural remains, silent witnesses to past grandeur in the heart of the desert.
The Riddle of Time
Decipher why this flourishing city faded within a decade, leaving behind a mystery to solve.
The wind's echo whispers forgotten secrets.
Uncover what the desert sought to bury.
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
Delve into the heart of Nevada and follow the golden footsteps of prospectors who built Rhyolite, the most iconic ghost town of the 1904-1911 gold rush.
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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