The Nautilus of Nantes
Captain Nemo's secret blueprints
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
Jules Verne was born in Nantes in 1828. Before becoming the father of science fiction, he hid the coded blueprints of the Nautilus in the streets of his hometown. Les Machines de l'Île brought his creations to life — but the greatest secret remains to be found.
Where a mechanical elephant walks, an imaginary submarine awaits
Facing the old shipyards where the world's greatest ocean liners once set sail, a giant 12-meter elephant walks slowly, spraying water on astonished passersby. It is here, on the Île de Nantes, that Jules Verne's universe took shape — among the titanic cranes and hangars where ships were built. Young Jules, growing up just a few streets away on Île Feydeau, watched those ships depart into the unknown and dreamed of underwater worlds.
« "Everything that is impossible remains to be accomplished." »— — Jules Verne, Facing the Flag, 1896
Jules Verne, the child of Nantes who invented the future
Jules Verne was born on February 8, 1828, on Île Feydeau, in the heart of Nantes. His father was a solicitor, his mother descended from a line of Nantes shipowners and navigators. From the windows of the family home, young Jules watched ships sailing up the Loire. At 11, he tried to stow away on a three-masted ship bound for India — his father caught him just in time at the port of Paimbœuf.
This Nantes childhood would mark his entire body of work. The shipyards of Île de Nantes, the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, the Passage Pommeraye with its automata — all would become fiction material. The Nautilus from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was inspired by the early experimental submarines he observed in the port. The elephant of Les Machines de l'Île, created in 2007 by François Delarozière, is a direct tribute to the mechanical elephant in The Steam House (1880).
Verne left Nantes for Paris at 20, but never forgot his city. In his notebooks, discovered after his death, entire passages describe the streets of Nantes transposed into fantastic worlds. Les Machines de l'Île made this vision a reality — and the Nautilus blueprints, they say, still sleep somewhere between the château and the garden.
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.
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?
Fantastic machines
Start your adventure facing the 12-meter Great Elephant, a living symbol of Jules Verne's universe.
Original science fiction
Dive into the universe of the father of science fiction, born right here in Nantes in 1828.
Exceptional heritage
From the Château des Ducs to the Passage Pommeraye, cross Nantes' architectural gems.
Vernian codes
Decipher puzzles inspired by the cryptographic systems Verne used in his novels.
Family-friendly
Moderate difficulty and fantastical universe — ideal for families and Verne enthusiasts.
Everything that is impossible remains to be accomplished.
Find the Nautilus blueprints in Jules Verne's hometown.
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 an app or a paper guide?
Neither. Everything plays in your browser (Safari, Chrome) after you tap your activation link. No PDF to print, no download. The trail lives in your phone, that's it.
Q02How far do you walk in Nantes · From Les Machines de l'Île to the Jardin des Plantes?
Usually 2 to 4 km of total walking, within 1.5 km as the crow flies from the start point. The route is designed to be walkable at a relaxed pace, no public transport needed.
Q03Can we play The Nautilus of Nantes as a couple?
Great two-person format. Narration is dramatic without overdoing it, puzzles are designed to spark conversation. Ideal for new relationships or anniversaries — you discover the city and coordinate on puzzles simultaneously.
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
From the giant elephant to the secret garden, follow Jules Verne's trail through a Nantes where fiction comes alive at every corner — and reconstruct the blueprints of literature's most famous submarine.
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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