Lisbon 1755 — Six Minutes and a City
The day All Saints' Day shook modern Europe
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
Three shocks, a tsunami, a firestorm — 60,000 dead in a single morning
On 1 November 1755 at 9:40 am, Lisbon vanishes in six minutes
That morning, the richest, most Catholic and most self-assured part of Europe is at All Saints' Mass. The earth trembles once — the bells ring by themselves. Then the second shock brings the roofs down on the faithful. Twenty minutes later, the Tagus withdraws and returns as a fifteen-metre wave. The festival's thousands of candles ignite a fire that will burn for five days. Eight markers traced through the Baixa rebuilt by Pombal keep the memory of the city that was.
« "What is to be done, Sire? — Bury the dead and feed the living." »— — Attributed answer of the Marquis of Pombal to King José I
Pombal, six minutes, six months
On 1 November 1755 at 9:40 am, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 struck Lisbon. Three shocks in six minutes collapsed 17,000 houses, 30 churches and 60 palaces. Twenty minutes later, three successive waves rolled up the Tagus and drowned what still stood. Finally, All Saints' candles started a fire that burned for five days. Between 40,000 and 60,000 people died — one in five inhabitants. Voltaire drew from it the Poem on the Lisbon Disaster, Kant a theory of earthquakes, and all Europe doubted for the first time in a just world.
King José I took refuge at Belém and granted full powers to his minister Sebastião de Carvalho, the future Marquis of Pombal. In six months, Pombal rebuilt the Baixa on a perfect orthogonal grid, invented Europe's first anti-seismic buildings — the "gaiola pombalina", a wooden frame tested by regiments marching in step — and made Lisbon the continent's first modern city. He then expelled the Jesuits, abolished slavery in metropolitan Portugal, and ruled as an enlightened despot until 1777.
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 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?
Tagus tsunami
Find in the paving the trace of the three waves that ran up the river.
Five-day firestorm
All Saints' candles, the ashes and the Lisbon of before.
Pombaline Baixa
Europe's first anti-seismic city, rebuilt in six months.
Bury the dead, feed the living
The sentence that turned a minister into Lisbon's refounder
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.
Avis des aventuriers
Soyez le premier à partager votre expérience.
Did you play lisbonne 1755? Check the email you received after your game to leave a verified review.
Your turn to play
Rebuild the six minutes that erased a capital — and the six months that rebuilt it.
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
Other escape games in Baixa Pombalina and Terreiro do Paço
See all games in Baixa Pombalina and Terreiro do Paço→More ideas for self-guided walking tours, scavenger hunts & city quests in the same city
Departure from Belém
Vasco da Gama opens the route to India
Albuquerque — Three Oceans
Goa, Malacca, Hormuz — the empire built by 20,000 men
The Moors of Alfama
Lisbon's last Arab quarter
Pessoa and His Heteronyms
One man, four poets, one city
Pombal, Enlightened Despot
The minister who bent Portugal by reason
Egas Moniz — The First Nobel
The neurologist who opened skulls and angiographies
Explore other cities in Portugal
Sintra
Byron's "glorious Eden" — romantic palace and Moorish castle
Cascais
The fishing village where the Portuguese monarchy ended
Setúbal
Port of Fernão Mendes Pinto — first European in Japan
Óbidos
The fortress-town given as a dowry — white ramparts and ginjinha
Alentejo
Lands of cork oaks, flavors and ancient history
Évora
Roman temple, bone chapel and Jesuit university in the heart of the Alentejo