Everything to know before the mission starts

Mysteria designs immersive outdoor quests: missions that turn a downtown, a territory or the memory of a place into an adventure to solve.

A mission is played from a phone: you follow directions to a place, solve a riddle there, then move on to the next step.

Organizations that want people to discover a place: chambers of commerce, municipalities and MRCs, and non-profits. Each mission is written with them, for their context and their audience.

For players, a mission is designed for solo participants, pairs or small groups: long-time residents, families, curious children and first-time visitors.

A route split into steps. Each step gives directions to a place shown on the map, then a riddle to solve there.

A solved riddle earns points. It can also open a “Did you know?” card that tells a piece of local history, sometimes with a picture.

No. The game runs on the web: it is played in the phone's browser, with no app to download.

In the Laurentians and in Lanaudière; Outaouais is coming soon.

Yes. The home page offers playable demos: a “Hidden word” riddle on a phone, the five kinds of riddle, and a player's progression.

They are illustrative demos: their riddles, pictures and points are a demo's, but they react the way the game does.

The site is available in French and English. The game itself is currently played in French.

It starts with the mission file: its type, its difficulty, its estimated duration, its number of steps and the points to earn. You accept the safety rules there, then start the mission.

Each step then follows the same rhythm: directions to the place, a riddle to solve there, then the reward — points and, when the step has one, a “Did you know?” card.

There are five.

• Hidden word: letter cells filled from a keyboard; after a guess, each letter is marked right place, in the word or absent.
• Hidden word + Picture: the same letter game, with a picture to study that opens full screen and can be zoomed.
• Find the picture: pick the right picture among several.
• Multiple choice: a question and lettered answers.
• Anagram: letter tiles to put back in order.

It depends on the mission: each one states its estimated duration, its number of steps and its difficulty — easy, intermediate or hard — before you start.

No riddle is timed. Playing time is still measured: it appears in your stats, counts toward some badges and, in an event's ranking, breaks a tie between two players with the same points.

A step can offer hints, for finding your way as well as for solving the riddle. Each hint's cost, in points, is shown before you reveal it; it is charged only once, and a score never drops below zero.

A wrong answer costs no points, and there is no limit on attempts. You do have to solve the riddle to move on to the next step.

Yes. A mission can be paused and resumed later where it was left: progress is saved on the server, at every step.

Because it is tied to your account, you find it again when you sign back in. For an event's mission, you can resume only until the event's end time.

Yes, while the mission is open — until the event ends, for an event's mission. A finished mission can be replayed, and your best result is the one that counts.

A mission in progress can also be restarted from the game menu: the run then starts over from zero.

Yes: a mission is designed for solo participants, pairs or small groups.

Each run is tied to one account. A group can therefore play together around a single phone; if everyone plays on their own phone, each has their own run and their own score.

A person under 18 may create an account or play a mission only with the agreement of a parent or guardian, who accepts the safety rules on their behalf.

Beyond that, each mission states its difficulty.

No. A mission is self-guided: the phone gives the directions, the riddles and the hints, and everyone moves at their own pace.

Each step gives its directions and shows the place on the map; a direction can also have hints of its own.

At the start, when the mission file gives a starting point, its link opens Google Maps — only if you choose it.

Yes, while the mission is in progress: the cards you have earned can be read again from the game menu, on the line “Relire les « Saviez-vous »” (the game's menus are in French).

On the first direction of a step, the back arrow also reopens the last card earned.

Yes, from the game menu: the map's style — 14 to choose from, among them “Nuit” (night), “Parchemin” (parchment) and “Satellite” — the game's sounds, and the map's animation.

These settings are kept in your browser.

A smartphone and its web browser, an Internet connection and a Mysteria account.

Also plan for good shoes and a well-charged battery: a mission is played outdoors.

Yes. The game checks every answer on our servers and loads the map as you go: the phone has to stay connected, over mobile data or Wi-Fi.

If the network drops for a moment, nothing is lost: progress is saved at every step.

No. Neither the site nor the game asks for your location.

The map shows where to go; you make your own way there, and it is the answer to the riddle that moves the mission forward.

The game does record the steps you clear, and when.

Nothing in the game depends on the season or the weather. A mission is played outdoors, though: it is up to you to judge the conditions, dress for them and stay careful.

An event, for its part, has a start date and an end date: its organizer decides them.

A mission is not a race. Some steps have you cross streets: take your time, obey the signs and signals, look around you, and look up from your phone when you are moving.

You accept these rules when you create your account, then at the start of every mission; they are part of the terms of use. You also confirm that you take part voluntarily, at your own pace and at your own risk.

Yes, some include steps travelled by car; their safety rules say so before you start.

Whoever is driving never looks at the phone: plan for a co-pilot, who reads the instructions and enters the answers.

It depends on the mission. Each one runs through real places — streets, parks, heritage sites — and their accessibility varies from one route to the next.

Ask the organization offering the mission. For a mission still to be created, the route is chosen with the organization, with its audience in mind.

Every solved riddle earns its points, set by the mission. A revealed hint takes its cost off, once.

A wrong answer costs nothing, and a score never drops below zero.

A finished mission gets up to three stars, from the share of points kept: three stars at 95% and up, two at 70% and up, one as long as some points remain.

In other words: fewer hints, more stars.

The points from your finished missions are XP: they raise your level, and some levels carry a title, from “Recrue” (recruit) to “Légende urbaine” (urban legend).

Your profile also keeps your stats, your history and your badges — for example “Premier Pas” (first step), for a first finished mission, or “Sans faute” (flawless), for a mission with no mistake and no hint.

An event can show its own ranking, reserved for its participants, if its organizer wants it. With equal points, the shorter playing time wins.

You can choose not to appear in it under your name, in your account settings.

The game awards points, stars, levels and badges. At an event, any prizes are up to its organizer.

An organization's missions can stay private: they appear in no public list and open from an invitation link.

An event has a start, an end and, when needed, a limited number of seats.

Open the invitation link sent by the organizer and tap “Rejoindre l'événement” (join the event): you create your account, or sign in, and you are registered.

Its missions are waiting for you on the event page.

The event page shows the time left before the start. At the set time, the missions open.

The organizer can also choose to open them earlier to registered guests.

At the end time, registration closes and the event's missions can no longer be played: an unfinished run cannot be continued.

A private event is reserved for the people invited to it: its link is meant for them and must not be shared publicly.

To invite someone, ask the organizer.

The game itself handles no payment.

The conditions for taking part in an event — registration, ticket or donation — are set by the organization holding it, and it is the organization that sends the invitation link.

In three stages: define the project, create the mission, prepare for launch.

You know your community; we create the adventure. It all starts with a conversation about your goals, the people you want to reach, and the places or partners to highlight.

Your organization sets its goals, shares its local stories and knowledge, reviews the content, then brings its partners on board and introduces the mission to its audiences.

Mysteria defines the format and scope with you, designs the story and the riddles, builds the quest into the game, helps get the mission live, then provides support and maintenance.

We agree on the timeline together, based on the route, the available content and the partners involved.

The site does not publish a price list: each mission is written for a context, an audience and an intended effect.

Tell us about the place, the timeline and the ambition behind the project: we will come back to you with a clear next step.

Downtown cores, retail streets, parks, heritage sites, village centres, cultural circuits and community attractions.

What matters is choosing places that deserve more attention and gain from being linked by one story.

Yes. A business or a partner location can become a step of the route; once the riddle is solved, the “Did you know?” card can present it, with a picture and a button to its website.

The aim is not to add a heavy promotional layer, but to bring local businesses and partners into a coherent story.

No. The approach is aimed at residents as much as visitors: a mission can strengthen foot traffic, discoverability, local pride and the rediscovery of everyday places.

Yes. A mission can stay private and open only through an event's invitation link, with its start, its end and, when needed, a limited number of seats.

Whoever holds the link is invited: send it only to the people concerned.

Yes. It shows the name of the event and of your organization, your logo, a cover image and your colour.

Yes. For each event, the game counts the people registered, the runs started and the runs finished, and keeps a ranking: points, missions finished and playing time.

These figures are read in Mysteria's administration, and stay there after the event as long as it is not deleted.

Yes. Mysteria provides support and maintenance: a direction, a riddle or a card can be corrected without waiting for a new version of the game.

Yes. You create it when you join an event, from its invitation link: you need an email address, a password of at least 8 characters and an agent name, which other players can see.

That account is what keeps your progress, your points and your badges.

Your account's — email address, password stored in hashed form, agent name and, if you add them, a city, a short bio and the address of a profile picture — and your progress: missions started and completed, steps cleared, right and wrong answers, hints used, points, playing time, the date of your last activity and the events you take part in.

Each acceptance of the safety rules is also kept, as proof, and each sign-in is recorded with its IP address, browser type and date, to protect your account.

No. We do not sell your personal information and use none of it for targeted advertising.

Some information may, however, be shared with providers who help us operate the site, manage forms, host data, analyze performance or communicate with you.

The public site's pages set none: visits to them are measured without cookies.

When you sign in to the game, three necessary cookies keep your session active and protect your actions; they are deleted when you sign out.

Our hosting and database providers store and process it outside Québec, notably in the United States. The site's images and the visit statistics are hosted in Canada.

From OpenStreetMap data. Their tiles are fetched by our servers: your browser does not connect to OpenStreetMap.

If you choose the “Satellite” view, its images are loaded directly from Esri, which then receives your IP address. The same is true of that view's thumbnail, shown when you open the map-style picker.

From your account: you can edit your name, your city, the address of your profile picture and your bio, change your password, and see the devices signed in, to end a session.

You can also delete your account there, confirming with your password: it is permanent and erases your profile, your runs, your registrations to events and your sessions. The security log of your account is kept for one year.

To get a copy of your information or have it corrected, write to us at info@missionmysteria.com.