How it works
In Kassel, your surroundings become the stage of a story. Everyone takes on a role on their own smartphone. Together you discover clues, solve puzzles and move the plot forward.
Step by step
Six steps, one team, one story: this is how a TaleAlley adventure plays out, from the first tap to looking back.
Choose an adventure and book it in the app or on the website. Your game code comes with your booking. For company and school events, you get it from the organizer.
Whoever started the adventure brings the others into the lobby. Everyone joins on their own smartphone and picks a name the team will see.
The app hands out the roles automatically. Each role has its own job: Command enters the answers, Compass leads the way on the map, Tracker and Specialist carry the tools.
After a short introduction, the briefing tells you the story and your task. Then you start the adventure together.
The story leads you through Kassel mission by mission. You look for places, discover clues and solve puzzles. Your surroundings, details of the story, evidence and the tools of your roles help you along the way.
In the finale, you put the clues together and find out how the story ends. Afterwards you find your time, distance, story and place guides again under “Previous adventures” on your device. Depending on the game mode, you also see your result and can appear in the Hall of Fame with your team name and a group photo if you like.
The roles
Every role has tasks of its own, and that is exactly what makes TaleAlley special. One person navigates, others use tools, and Command enters the answers. Share your clues and combine your skills. Together you puzzle your way to the goal.
4 devices: 1× Command, 1× Compass, 1× Tracker, 1× Specialist.
The only role that enters answers, and the one that holds the team together.
Sets destinations on the map and finds the way.
Makes hidden things visible and follows trails.
UV lamp
Infrared
Echo scannerTracks down signals and listens closely.
Direction finder
Directional microphone
Walkie-talkieOut on your own? Then you do it all yourself. As Solo Agent you carry every tool, and you enter the answers.
UV lampInfraredEcho scannerDirection finderDirectional microphoneWalkie-talkieIn the lobby, the app gives every device that joins a role. If a device drops out along the way, you can wait until it reconnects or reassign the role. Roles, tools and evidence are shared out to fit the number of people. The team leader can hand roles over if you would like a different split.
For every role: evidence. Each role also receives evidence from the story, which you talk through as a team. More on that under Backpack.
The Notebook
The Notebook goes with you through the whole adventure. Here you reread the briefing, write down what you agreed on and, depending on the story, follow your way to the solution.
NotebookAn example to try outThis list collects all the suspects in the case.
This list collects all the places that matter in the treasure hunt.
The symbol clues you discover over the course of the story are entered here. Together they spell the final solution word.
The symbol clues you discover over the course of the story are entered here. Together they make up the final solution code.
Since last night, the lantern from the Old Water Tower has been missing. Find out who has it before the town wakes up to the Festival of Lights.
The briefing stays here for you to reread throughout the adventure.
Meeting point after mission 3: at the fountain
Ben keeps an eye on the map
Year on the poster: 1867?
Greta has no alibi for 9 p.m.!
Only Command can write here. Everyone on the team with a Notebook sees the changes live.
SavedA case comes with a suspect list with profiles and alibis, a treasure hunt with a location list. Command marks each entry as “Hot lead” or “Excluded”. That’s how you work out together who did it or where to go next.
Symbol clues turn up over the course of the story and are entered in the Notebook. Piece by piece, they reveal the final solution word or the final solution code.
The tools
Which tools you use and when you get them depends on your story. With them you make hidden things visible, follow signals and discover clues that take you further.
Hold your phone as if you were taking a photo, keep the scan button pressed and point the UV beam at a wall, the ground or a pedestal. At the right spot, UV writing appears.
Needs: Camera. The location comes from an adult’s device.
Over the camera image, an arrow, the distance and the temperature show whether you are closing in on the heat trail. The warmer it gets, the closer you are to the hidden target.
Needs: Camera and compass. The location comes from an adult’s device.
Hold the scan button and slowly sweep your phone. Standing still doesn’t count, and if you move too fast the echo becomes unstable. Once it’s stable, the analysis unlocks.
Needs: Camera and motion sensor. The location comes from an adult’s device.
The Direction finder receives the signal of a hidden transmitter. The sonar dot moves toward the center the closer you get, and the arrow shows the direction. Your phone vibrates too, fast and strong when you are close to the target.
Needs: Compass and vibration. The location comes from an adult’s device.
At the mission location, press and hold “Listen” and turn your phone until the marker is at the top. Then the signal is decoded.
Needs: Compass. The location comes from an adult’s device. It doesn’t record anything.
Open the radio contact and choose “Use AI walkie-talkie”. Hold the talk button, speak and let go. A character from the story answers, voiced by an AI. Ask good questions, because radio time is limited.
Needs: Ages 18 and up. The microphone is only requested once you choose the AI conversation.
Backpack & evidence
In your Backpack you find your tools, evidence and the Notebook. The app lets you know when you have received something.
Digital items from the story that help you solve something. You open pictures full size and zoom in, and you play recordings and videos right there.
Talk to each other: Evidence is spread across all the roles. The others only find out what is in a Backpack if you tell them about it.
Game tips & help
Through “Game tips”, Command can ask for helpful hints when you cannot find a solution on your own. The hints come step by step, so you solve as much as possible on your own.
Try it out: uncover the hints one after another.
Points your eyes to the right spot.
Shows what matters there.
Gives away the answer or the destination so the story can go on.
Knowledge
While you play, you unlock place guides to real places in Kassel. With pictures and often an audio guide, you learn more about the places that become part of your story.
Getting ready
You don’t need much. But these six things make all the difference.
You need an iPhone with iOS 15 or later or an Android smartphone with version 7 or later. For the most puzzle fun, everyone aged 13 and up plays on their own smartphone and gets a role.
Download the app at home and have your code ready. Then you can get started right away on site.
The map, camera and GPS use power. The app warns you at 20 and 5 percent. A power bank doesn’t hurt.
TaleAlley needs an internet connection. The app bridges short dead spots and sends your answers once you are back online.
Location only on eligible adults’ devices, the camera for some tools and photos. The microphone is only requested if you explicitly choose an AI conversation, which is for ages 18 and up.
You’ll be out in the city on foot, so comfortable shoes and clothes for the weather make it more relaxed. And in traffic: look around first, then at your phone.
Questions & answers
The most common questions about how it works, your team and the app.
No. You enter your code and choose a name your team will see. There is no login or registration.
You get it with your booking, right in the app under “Choose an adventure” or here on the website once ticket sales start. For company and school events, you get it as part of an individual offer that you can request here.
Everyone joins with the same code. Whoever bought the adventure simply passes it on: by word of mouth, as a link or as a QR code the others scan in the lobby. You can join as long as the game has not started and the number of devices in the purchase has not been reached yet.
You can play solo or with up to 16 people in one team. For larger events, we adapt the game mode to you individually, so just ask us directly.
Not necessarily. For the full experience, TaleAlley is designed for everyone to play on their own smartphone and take on a role of their own. Children from 13 can play on their own device in a protected mode. Children under 13 puzzle along with the adults without a smartphone of their own. Others can join without a device too. With a role of your own, though, you are much more part of the story.
Yes. There is no time limit, and your roles stay put even when your screen is locked. When you open the app again, you pick up at the active mission.
Command opens the game tips. Each mission has up to three hints, and the last one gives away the solution. By the way, you can answer as often as you like.
Then Command reports it in the game tips. A photo is optional. The mission then ends right away and you carry on with the next one.
No, the map never gives away the destination. It’s hidden in the story, in evidence or in a tool. Compass sets the waypoint, and the map then shows the walking route there.
Location: The app uses your location for the map, mission locations and shared tools. It is only recorded on the devices of eligible adults who share it. Minors get tool hints without sharing their own location.
Camera: Some tools need the camera, but they do not record any images. You can attach a photo if you like, for example when you report a blocked path or want to publish your team in the Hall of Fame.
Microphone: The app only asks for microphone access when an adult explicitly chooses the optional AI walkie-talkie. With it, you talk to a character from the story who answers using AI. Your radio messages are stored as text. The directional microphone is a game tool and does not record any sound.
The app is available in German and English. The adventures are currently played in German.
Ready for your city adventure?
Choose your city adventure and set off.
