Albany — Wampum Factory Secret
Uncover the hidden wampum factory in 18th-century Albany where Dutch overseers forced almshouse inmates to craft sacred beads for Iroquois treaties. Decode the clues to expose the conspiracy that turned currency into chains.
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In the shadowy heart of 18th-century Downtown Albany, a clandestine wampum factory operated within the almshouse walls
Albany — Wampum Factory Secret
You are Kiliaen van Rensselaer, patroon of Rensselaerwyck, arriving at Fort Orange in 1640 on a commercial mission in New Netherland.
Dive into the secret wampum trade that made Albany America's first financial center from 1624.
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
Fort Orange emerged in 1624 at the confluence of the Hudson and Beaver Creek, the first Dutch West India Company trading post in North America. Destroyed by the Mahicans in 1626, it was reborn in 1643 as the nerve center of wampum trade. These shells carved into cylindrical beads became the first inter-tribal exchange currency, controlled from Albany by Dutch merchants who understood their strategic value before anyone else.
Beverwijck flourished around the fort from 1652, a 1.5 km² trading colony with over 100 houses by 1664. Its warehouses overflowed with purple and white wampum, carved using Mahican techniques and redistributed to all Atlantic coast tribes. First Church in Albany, founded in 1642, gathered this community of Reformed merchants who built their fortune on these sacred beads transformed into economic currency.
Philip Schuyler inherited this commercial empire in 1762 when he built his mansion on Albany's heights. This revolutionary general and future senator perpetuated the wampum networks established by the Dutch, adapting ancestral trade to the needs of the new American republic. His home became temporary headquarters of the War Department in 1776, where Indian alliances paid in wampum were negotiated.
The Albany Institute of History & Art, founded in 1791 as America's first museum society, today preserves over 25,000 objects witnessing this revolutionary commercial era. Its colonial artifact collections include authentic wampums, the last tangible remnants of this currency that ruled North American economy for two centuries before the dollar's advent.
The New York State Capitol, built between 1867 and 1899 for $25 million, symbolically crowns this unique economic history. From its 42 floors, Albany still dominates the Hudson as in Fort Orange times, guardian of a commercial secret that transformed shells into the foundation of American economy. You leave with understanding of a revolutionary monetary system, born from the meeting of Mahican wisdom and Dutch pragmatism.
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?
Fur Trade
Dive into the economy that shaped New Netherland.
Iroquois Confederacy
Encounter the legacy of the five nations that dominated the region.
First Capital
Discover the foundations of a major historical and political city.
Reconstruct the threads of a forgotten history.
The wampum awaits deciphering.
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 secret wampum trade that made Albany America's first financial center from 1624.
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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