1961 · about 25 minutes · 3 pages

The Parcel Office At Sonnborn

Three pages of a records file, a consignment book that lies, and a railway that hangs from the sky.

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 Parcel Office At Sonnborn

The situation

You are standing in the parcel office at Sonnborn at three in the afternoon with the consignment book open on the counter, the last page of it under your hand, and the clerk's key on a nail by the door. Eight consignments went out of this office in its last year to eight people nobody can find, and what was in the parcels is what you are here to find before the carters clear the room at six. At six the shelves come down, the book goes into the Board's case, the parcel nobody signed for goes on the cart with the rest, and what was in the parcels is never known. You are the Board's auditor; the Board sent you to wind the office up, and the book will not add.

OBJECTIVE  Find what was in the parcels before the carters clear the office at six.
CLOCK      The carters clear the office at six. It is three.
PRIZE      What was in the parcels, and what the clerk spent a year writing down.
  • parcel office
  • 1961
  • a consignment book
  • Wuppertal
  • three pages
  • online escape room
The parcel office counter at Sonnborn in the flat inks of a screen-printed poster: a thick consignment book lying open on a wooden counter, a rubber stamp and a pencil beside it, four empty shelves on the wall behind, and through the window the iron trestle of the suspended railway against an afternoon sky. Nobody in the room.The suspended railway seen from a platform in flat poster shapes: a carriage hung beneath the iron track, the river running under it between stone walls, the trestle legs marching away along the valley, and the bare platform under a pale evening sky. Nobody on it.An unsigned-for parcel on the office counter, in the flat violet, orange and black inks of a 1960s poster: an open wooden crate with a blank white label, a row of white enamel strips laid side by side next to it, a black dial telephone, and the office clock on the wall. Nobody in the room.

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.