It was a dark and stormy night as the investigation team came together to receive their mission. They were cold and hungry. Hungry for justice that is. All they knew was that there was a crime involved, a crime that needed solving. Could this team be the one to do it? Maybe just maybe…
Just kidding. It was a beautiful morning in south Mississippi as the families and friends gathered to play a game. A game of mystery-filled fun. Some came as they were. Some dressed to impress in mystery-themed costumes. Costumes ranging from detectives, FBI agents, clue characters, and even the Scooby Doo gang showed up. Whatever the garb they were all happy to be there. Happy and curious about how the CluedUpp game would go.
This was a new experience for our team, we were not sure what to expect of the app-based game. According to the website, CluedUpp hails from across the pond in Britain. The award-winning studio creates outdoor adventure games. Games are designed to get folks outside to explore their cities on foot while playing alongside other teams in a unique city-wide experience.
Our team arrived early at the start location, the Hancock Bank building in downtown Gulfport. Once there, courtesy of the app, we received our beginning instructions. While listening to the narrative, our team quickly jotted down notes pertaining to the crime we would solve. Today we were solving a murder mystery and we now had two hours to do it. We set out to interview our witnesses. We did this by walking to a different location around town where once in the correct place we would receive more narrative from the app. In the end, our team walked several miles around downtown Gulfport speaking to several witnesses. We strolled by fishbone alley, we stopped and went over the details we had collected near Pop Brothers. We walked extra slow near Coast Roast because if I am there, I am getting a chai latte (if you haven’t had one, please stop reading and go get one right now, you will not regret it, trust me). In the end, we walked about three miles and solved the mystery within the time limit.
Not only was this a fun outing for our group it was a unique one. It combined our love of games and being outdoors. CluedUpp will again be in our area with a Crime Investigator game in February 2022. Tickets are on sale now and teams can be up to six people. If you are looking for something fun and unique to do with your group, put on your walking shoes, enjoy a stroll through our beautiful downtown Gulfport and solve a mystery. Who knows you might come in first place? Maybe just maybe…
