Story trail

Each spot opens the next chapter of a story, read where it happened.

How it plays

On your phone, outdoors. Every spot is a sealed place on the map.

Join the game
Open the invitation link, type the eight-character code, or accept the invite in the app’s Games tab.
Read the clue
Clues come one at a time, in the order the story was written.
Follow the sonar
Walk. The sonar shows the way; on a hidden trail the spot appears only once you are within range.
Stand within 30 metres: open the chapter
The spot reveals its chapter, with the message and photos left there.
Reach the end
Walk it at your own pace. Finishing the story is the reward.

What the game itself enforces for a story trail. Nobody has to referee.

How spots open: One at a time, in the order the moderator set. Finding a spot reveals the next clue.
Chapters: Each spot can carry a chapter of up to 4,000 characters, revealed when it is found.
Finishing: Everyone who reaches the last spot completes the trail. The board ranks spots found, then time.

Opening a spot: Only within 30 metres of it, exactly like a memory.
Open or hidden trail: On an open trail the next spot shows on the sonar at any distance, rough until you are close. On a hidden trail players have only the clue until they are within 100 m, 250 m, 1 km or 1 mile (the moderator picks; 250 m by default).
Clue 3 of 7: Optional: the moderator decides whether players see how many spots there are.
What is recorded: Joining a game means each find stores the time you reached the spot. Your position is never stored.
The moderator: Plans and runs the game, and cannot play it. Spots are fixed once it starts, and all game text must suit all ages.
The end: The moderator ends the game, or it ends by itself once everyone has finished. Medals go to the top three, a finisher trophy to everyone who completed the trail.

For the moderator: plan it on a computer with a big map, or on your phone. Players cannot see a draft.

Start a new game
On trackingmemories.com, or in the app’s Games tab, choose New game and pick Story trail.
Plant the spots
On a computer, click the map. On the phone, long-press the map, or stand on the spot and add it there. Up to 100 spots.
Write the clues
The clue shows before a spot is found. The message, and up to six optional photos, open on arrival.
Invite the players
Share the link or the eight-character code, or invite people by @username.
Start, follow, end
Players are told when it starts. Follow the board as it fills, and end the game when you are ready.

Write a chapter for each spot
The part of the story that belongs to that place.
Put the spots in story order
Drag them into the order the chapters should be read.

A few examples. Play it however you like.

A walking story through a neighbourhood
Who lived here, what happened on that corner.
A local history walk
For a class, a club, or visitors.
A family story
The streets where your grandparents met, chapter by chapter.