1741 · about 25 minutes · 3 steps

The Knucker of Lyminster

A pie, a beast in a real Sussex pond, and a tide that does not wait for anybody.

Play it now, freeFreefor the whole group
~25 minfor a group that talks1 to 6players, one linkNo appany phone or laptopApproachable

Latchkeys › Escape rooms › The Knucker of Lyminster

The situation

You are holding a pie dish with a cloth over it, and the horse you were told to hold has gone. The knight who hired you this morning to carry his dinner (yes! doordashers existed in that era) went down the path to the Knucker Hole to finish the knucker before the evening tide, and he has not come back up it. When the tide turns at Littlehampton bar the flood starts up the Arun, three hours after that it is in the dyke and the knucker comes up the dyke to feed, and the marsh road home is under a foot of water. You are the baker's apprentice. You can bake, read, count and carry, and you cannot swim.

OBJECTIVE  Stop the knucker before the flood.
CLOCK      The tide turns at the bar this evening. The flood is up the dyke three hours after.
PRIZE      The village's evening, and your dish back.
  • marsh
  • 1741
  • an apothecary's bill
  • Lyminster, Sussex
  • three steps
  • online escape room
A worn leather saddlebag open on the grass beside a dark reed-fringed pond at dusk, small clay jars spilled out of it and a pie on a cloth, a squat flint church tower across the marshFlat brook meadows cut by winding water-filled dykes under a pale evening sky, a heron standing in a ditch, a flint church tower on the left and a castle on a wooded hill in the distanceSix bell ropes with striped sallies hanging in a stone ringing chamber at dusk, a lantern on the bench and marsh light through a narrow window

Play it with your group

Freefor the whole groupPlay it now, free

You get a link. It works for everyone in your group, on any device, and it does not expire.

  • About 25 minutes
  • 1 to 6 players, free for the group
  • Phone or laptop, nothing to install
  • No account, nothing tracked
  • A key on every step if you get stuck
  • The link does not expire

Questions people ask

Can we play it together over Zoom or a call?

Yes. The one link works for everyone in your group at once. Share your screen or all open it; there is nothing to sync, because the puzzle is the pages and the answers you work out together.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. It was built for a phone first: every lock is a text box or buttons you tap, nothing needs a keyboard, a mouse or a printer.

How long does it take?

About 25 minutes for a group that talks; longer if you like arguing. There is no timer and nothing is scored.

What if we get stuck?

Every step has its own key: a nudge first, then a harder nudge, and the answer only if you ask for it. Wrong answers say something in the story rather than just no.

Do we need an account or an app?

No. The link opens in any browser and nothing is installed. Nothing is tracked while you play, either.

Is it suitable for children?

The stories are eerie and never cruel; nobody dies on the page. The puzzles need reading and a little arithmetic, so about twelve and up on their own, younger with an adult.

Can I play it alone?

Yes. It was written in the second person, so it works for one as well as for six.