Play · Escape room
Unlock the Wartburg
Five locks, five short puzzles, one password at the gate. Play it on a phone, or print it for a group. No clock. Nobody gets locked out for a wrong answer.
Spring, 1522. You are a messenger from Wittenberg with a letter for a man who is not supposed to exist. He is hiding in the Wartburg castle under a false name, and the gatekeeper has orders: nobody gets in who can't prove they're a friend.
Each lock you open gives you one letter. Put the five letters in the right order at the gate, and the door opens. Everything you need is in the puzzles themselves, or one tap away on Luther's Trail.
Running this with a group
One phone per team, or on paper. About 25 minutes.
Read the opening out loud. Split into teams of three or four, one phone each, and let them work the five locks in any order. There is no timer, so the pressure comes from the other teams, not the clock. When a team has five letters, they come to you, the gatekeeper, and say the password.
"Print the group version" prints the five puzzles on paper with a separate answer key page for you. Teams write their letters on the sheet and bring it to the gate. Tape a picture of a castle door to the wall and let them knock.
Afterward, one question is enough: which lock taught you something you didn't know? The Wartburg stop on the trail has the full story.