The World Travelers Society

Some might call it an escape game in a box, but it’s greater than that, you’ll escape to 1930s Shanghai, when the city was called the Paris of the Orient — to solve a mystery that deepens day by day.

The World Travelers Society is more than a game, it’s an invitation to Travel…

Your adventure will start with a vintage wooden box and padlocks with Chinese characters guarding the doors of the World Travelers Society’s secret box. After opening the main compartment, you’ll feel you traveled back in time when you discover the myriad of authentic artifacts and documents — only the missing layer of dust on the box might bring you back to reality.

Little is known about the World Travelers Society and its members. We only heard rumors here in Shanghai, but they all point to the same fact — the last we heard about the society was in 1946, the very same day that saw the end of the Shanghai Treaty port, the extraterritoriality and immunity it offered to foreign residents.

It was only rumors until one day, when I came upon this article mentioning a mysterious wooden box was found hidden in the Cathay Hotel — and rumors turned to reality when I decided to follow the lead (check the Prequel below to tag along).

It isn’t just a box, it’s a peek in the 1930s when Shanghai was in its heyday. You’ll go through authentic materials and lives of true and flamboyant people, explore real events and buildings that still stand high today — searching for traces in the past to help you solve a mystery in today's world and finally discover the World Travelers Society’s secret.

In this adventure you make progress by...

• Reading and exploring a myriad of documents and other ephemera
• Identifying unique interactions between objects
• Touching and playing with different artifacts
• Detecting messages hidden in plain sight
• Browsing existing archives online
• Piecing stories together
• Making deductions
• Fact checking
• Breaking codes
• Solving puzzles
• Cracking riddles

Getting lost is a bonus

Did you ever have these feelings when you were visiting a place, close or far — getting lost and coming across amazing things? We want you to have this feeling when you play our games — getting lost and discovering interesting things while our game’s mechanics are always there to bring you back on track if you wish to.

Remark: please keep in mind these are pictures of the prototype game, so while all listed artifacts (physical items) listed in the pledges will be present, some of the ephemera (printed documents) might be changed for others. Also, colors and some of the elements on the artifacts such as the hinges, handles, lock hasp, etc on the wooden boxes and notebook might be altered for better results.

Play, Pack and Pass it

You don't need to alter or destroy anything while playing this game, this is an investigation after all, you don’t want to destroy the evidence, right!?

So, you could just repack the box as it was and offer it to someone or you could keep it (see Replay Value below).

All Reward Tiers will have the same basic clues and puzzles. That said, some artifacts will enhance the Explorer and Adventurer tiers experience, so you might need to break some wax seals to open a few packages and a few extra sensory experiences like enjoying a unique tea. That’s why the Explorer and Adventurer tiers come with “Reset Set” to match the below tier — so if you pass the game along, you can keep all the extras your tier level offers.

Replay Value

Our games are all different, you can play them independently, but they are all based on True Events, so there is always a connection between the Past, the Present and the Future. On top of that, most of them are set in China and around the East meets West theme - so they could be connected to each other (we love to do that). Thus, if you decide to keep the game, you might discover a metapuzzle that will make sense in the future.

Or, you can keep the wooden boxes to store your valuables and/or create your own treasure hunts.

Can you find the box location?

The World Travelers Society secret box didn’t come out of thin air. After a few weeks of an investigation that took us around Shanghai, we did find the box’s location.

You too can relive this investigation and find out where the box is (was) hidden by playing the Prequel during this campaign. Or, you can just tag along, follow the story, watch the immersive videos and browse the different materials.

Travel to present-day Shanghai

This game is based on True Events, People and Places, and you’ll be able to find all the information you need on actual websites and archives or here and now, scattered around Shanghai, clues and artifacts to help you solve this mystery.

So, let me be your eyes on the ground, and through videos and pictures that I will send, you’ll feel we are roaming the streets of Shanghai together searching for the Box.

Timeline

• May 12, Kickstarter ends
• June - Finalize design and pre-production
• July - Manufacturing
• August - Freight begins
• September - All games shipped out

We’re allocating 2 months for games to reach their respective fulfillment centers due to worldwide port congestion and shipping delays.

Olivier, your storyteller

One of my favorite thing is to design tabletop adventures and treasure hunts based on true events (mostly around the "East meets West" theme) where players need to get out in the real world wandering the streets of the city, browsing the internet, going through old newspapers and books, touching objects — just about anything to help you find true traces and artifacts from the past to help you solve clues in today’s world.

About Tangible Narrative

It's all in the name. We offer adventures that you can touch. Games with a strong Narrative that are Tangible — you can touch them (yes, with your hands) and they also make sense (based on True Events).

If you have the chance to play the Prequel during this campaign, you’ll know we are very serious in making the narrative and immersion real. The Mystery Box will be even better! When you’ll get the box in your hands you’ll understand the meaning of our company name — Tangible Narrative.