Ottawa Mystery Quest: Self-Guided Detective Adventure
Description
Step into the shoes of a private investigator and uncover the secrets hidden in Ottawa’s historic heart. This thrilling quest lets you explore Canada’s capital like never before through puzzles, clues, and an unfolding mystery. With just your phone, you’ll navigate through 10–15 interactive challenges that guide you to City Hall, the Senate of Canada, and other iconic and lesser-known landmarks. As you solve clues, a gripping detective story unfolds, revealing the fascinating characters and moments that shaped the city. Each puzzle unlocks hidden stories, curious facts, and new directions, no guide or map needed. What makes this tour unique? It’s an immersive experience that blends storytelling, history, and outdoor escape-game mechanics to turn downtown Ottawa into a living mystery adventure. Perfect for curious travelers, couples, families, and amateur sleuths looking to explore the city in a fun and interactive way.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You will begin at the Algonquin Land Acknowledgement. Here you will be given your first clue to solve the challenge that awaits you, which will unlock the next part of the story and give you the directions to the next stop.
Here you will find your first clue to solve the challenge that awaits you, which will unlock the next part of the story and give you the directions to the next stop.
Study your next clue on National Arts Center.
To unlock the next part of the story you will be given your next clue to solve the challenge that awaits you.
Look up your next clue to unlock the next part of the story and give you the correct directions.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Parliament. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
Receive your next clue. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
Enjoy the view and continue exploring at your own pace.
Enjoy the view and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will finish at Tessouat sculpture. Here is where both the story and the city exploration games end.
Explore at your own pace while admiring the Museum of History around you.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(12)
Good, but we wasted time finding the starting point that's useless.
Merci pour votre retour ! Je suis content que le jeu vous ait plu dans l'ensemble, mais je suis désolé que vous ayez eu le sentiment de perdre du temps à chercher le point de départ. Je souhaite apporter une petite précision à ce sujet. Se rendre au point de départ n'est en fait pas inutile : c'est même une étape essentielle ! Notre application utilise votre position GPS pour déclencher la première étape de l'histoire et s'assurer que le reste de votre parcours et de vos énigmes se déroule dans le bon ordre. Cela dit, nous voulons que le début de l'aventure soit aussi simple et rapide que possible. Pour vos prochaines explorations, n'hésitez pas à utiliser notre support client disponible 24h/24 et 7j/7 directement dans l'application si vous avez du mal à trouver le lieu exact du départ. Nous serions ravis de vous aider en temps réel pour que vous puissiez commencer à jouer immédiatement !
we indicate to go to an address on departure for pick-up. No precise time and no one on site when we could just start the puzzle. the address was not easy to find. Why not simplify by saying city hall. The number of kilometres to cover would have been good information to know for someone like me who is mobility impaired. When I saw that the end ended on the side of gatineau. We did the part that was getting closer to the byward market and we finished it there.
Merci beaucoup pour votre retour. Vous avez tout à fait raison — les instructions de départ auraient pu être plus claires. Nous les avons depuis mises à jour pour indiquer clairement que le jeu peut commencer de façon autonome, sans rendez-vous sur place. Nous avons également ajouté la distance totale à parcourir afin que chacun puisse mieux planifier, notamment les personnes à mobilité réduite. Merci d’avoir joué près du marché ByWard et de nous avoir aidés à améliorer l’expérience pour tous.
It was my first experience. Quite interesting alternative to a regular walking city tour. The capital of Canada is worth a try.
Thank you for giving your first quest a try with us in Ottawa! We’re glad you enjoyed this different way of exploring the city, and we agree—the capital is definitely worth it. Hope to see you on another adventure soon!
It was fun, questions were a little tough but enjoyed them and the history of Ottawa was interesting. It would have been better if you ended up where you started. Going from the start point to the end point walking wasn’t awful but then you have to get back to the beginning which is quite a walk after doing this quest! My family and I had a good time despite this and it was great getting exercise and education while still having fun!
Thank you for your thoughtful review! We're glad you and your family had a fun time exploring and learning. We appreciate the feedback on the route and will take it into account for future updates.
My teenage grandchildren somewhat enjoyed the game but found it went back forth instead of having site synchronized.Example going to the plaque on the bridge and the having to go back to the Rideau canal and then on to the Canadian history museum in Gatineau. Rather than walk all the way back we quit the game on number 8. My grandchildren enjoyed figuring out the cues!
Thank you for your feedback. We're glad to hear that your grandchildren enjoyed figuring out the cues! We understand that the back-and-forth nature of the game can be challenging. We're always looking for ways to improve, and your comments will help us enhance the experience. We hope you'll give us another try in the future!
The information provided on Viator indicated that this experience would take up to 1 hour 20 minutes to complete. As first time visitors to Ottawa we had no idea of the distances between clue locations. We had planned the short time we had in Ottawa meticulously, allowing up to an hour and a half for this experience, so were disappointed when we downloaded the App on the day and learned that the route was actually 6.2 kms long and designed for bicycles/E-scooters! Knowing that we had no hope of completing the game on foot In the time we had available, and with no time to hire bikes, we attempted to do the trail by car. This proved impossible, as not only was it a complete nightmare navigating from clue to clue in busy traffic, there was nowhere to pull over or park at the clue locations. We therefore had no choice but to give up after only two clues. So, sadly for us, the £24 spent was a total waste of money. We suggest revising the information provided on your site so that others don’t make the same mistakes we did, and subsequently waste precious time.
We're truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We understand the frustration of not being able to complete the game as expected due to the distance and mode of transportation required. Rest assured, we'll discuss this with the creator of the game to ensure that the information provided accurately reflects the experience. We're committed to improving our offerings to provide a better experience for our players in the future. Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.
Our family had a great time doing this! Our kids are 6, 11 and 14 and it was a perfect outdoor family activity. We stopped to explore the landmarks along the way and it took us about 2.5 hours. You can do it in 1.5 hours if you don't stop to explore. We parked at City Hall and walked the whole game. We had a great time and really got to explore the Ottawa downtown/Parliament area through the game!
Thanks a bunch for the fantastic review! Thrilled to hear that your family had a great time exploring Ottawa through the game. It sounds like the perfect outdoor family activity. Kudos on taking the time to explore landmarks along the way. Can't wait to have your family on more adventures!
Would have been way better yet if the investigation had more of a connection to the clues and the history we learned.
It's great to hear you enjoyed the experience! Your feedback is appreciated, and we're continuously refining our adventures to create more cohesive and immersive connections between the investigation, clues, and historical knowledge. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Very nice family experience we even intend to do the other games in the other cities
We're delighted you had a great time as a family! We appreciate your support and hope you'll enjoy our games in other towns too. Happy exploring!
Great adventure. Some challenges are challenging but easily done with provided optional hints. Plenty of historical facts can be easily skipped. Advertisement is in other languages in Trip Advisor but app only available in English. It is possible to make the quest by walking within 2 hours but app recommends by bike. I recommend it. Have fun exploring!
Thanks for the great review! We're thrilled you enjoyed the adventure. Sorry to hear you did not have the option to change the language, for the time being the game is available only in English. Walking or biking, it's a manageable quest. Thanks for recommending Questo. Happy exploring! :)
