The Haunting File: Sydney, What The Rocks Kept
Sydney, Saturday 21.Find the ghosts before the other teams do.Your friends are not going to believewhat is under Sydney.Halloween packed up.Sydney's dead didn't.A date night,with ghosts.What the plaquesleave out.Not a tour.A ghost hunt you play.The ghost nightlocals actually do.The stories Sydneydoes not lead with.You three, one phone,one case.Saturday's plan,sorted.Rated by thousandsof players in Sydney.
Saturday 21 November, 7pm. A night out on foot with your friends: the haunted places of Sydney, the true stories behind them, and every other team racing you on one scoreboard.
- 90 min · 2 km
- Teams of 2 to 5
- First Fleet Park
- $21.99 each
3 teams already coming.
7pm at First Fleet Park. Teams of two to five. Check in on your phones and the story opens.
13 stops, 2 km, about 90 minutes. Each stop is a story and a clue. Fast and right beats slow and right.
Every team lands on one scoreboard. It closes at 10pm. The top three win a free Questo game for every player. The rest take the pub.
What players say.
★ 4.5 from 992 Questo players in Sydney
Absolutely amazing! As a local, I had no idea that my city had so many interesting ghost stories.
A player, played in Thorshavn
Great way to see the city. We learned things we never knew, and we’ve lived in Glasgow our whole lives. We bar hopped while playing, which made it even better!
A player, played in Glasgow
A really lovely game, and it left us with some surprising memories. We will look at some of the places we walked past differently now.
A player, played in Cluj-Napoca (translated from Romanian)
Meet at 7pm.
- Hunt the streets.
- Top the board.
- Then the pub.
Everyone starts together at First Fleet Park. Then your team is on its own: 13 stops through Sydney, a story at each one, clues you have to find on the street, and a city-wide scoreboard watching the clock.
No guide to follow. The game runs in the Questo app: check in at First Fleet Park at 7pm, the story opens on your phones, and off you go. Keep mobile data on.
It is a ghost story you walk through, not a haunted house. Nothing jumps out. Your mates will, though.
Not a ghost tour. Nobody talks at you for 90 minutes: your team plays the story, and every team in Sydney is on the same scoreboard.
The case
The Haunting File: Sydney, What The Rocks Kept
The city feels older tonight. Heavier. Like something has been waiting a very long time for someone to come asking.
You've been recruited by the Bureau of Otherworldly Observation, and Agent Howl is handing you your first case: a district full of the dead, and a file nobody has ever managed to close.
Thirteen stops. Thirteen things this city would rather you didn't look at too closely. Some of them are waiting for you.
Pick your night.
The night. The whole city out, every team on the scoreboard. 3 teams already coming.
★ 4.5 from 992 Questo players in Sydney
Players at night.
Questo players in Sydney.
After the hunt.
- When the board closes, the teams meet at the Mercantile Hotel (George Street, The Rocks), near the finish in Sydney. A drink, the scores, and the other teams at the next table, if you feel like it.
- Somewhere quieter? The Orient Hotel is close by too.
- Drinks are not included in the ticket. You pay at the bar, like any night out.
Bring this.
- A phone per player with the Questo app, charged.
- Comfortable shoes. It is about 90 minutes and 2 km on foot.
- A team of 2 to 5. Solo works too, the scoreboard does not mind.
- A team photo at the finish, if you like. The best one across all cities wins a year of Questo games.
- Some stories are dark. None are gory.
Where it starts.
1F Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000, AustraliaOpen in Maps
Real events. Old legends. Your streets.
Every stop is a real place with a story that happened there, or has long been told there. We wrote the night from what the city remembers and dramatised it for the hunt. A few of the 13 stops; the rest you find on the street.
See the stops
- StartFirst Fleet Park
- Stop 3 of 13Nurses Walk
Sydney's first hospital stood here from 1788, nursed by untrained convicts.
- Stop 6 of 13Foundation Park
Sergeant Bartholomew Higgins faced an 1891 Royal Commission over his Rocks properties.
- Stop 8 of 13The Hero of Waterloo Hotel
Built in 1844, its cellars carry a legend of men shanghaied through a tunnel.
- Stop 11 of 13Cadman's Cottage
In 1844 John Videll tried to have his victim's body rowed away from here.
- FinishCampbells Cove
Can't make it?
Leave your email and you hear first when the next haunted night in Sydney opens.
Before you buy
Will I actually be scared?
A bit. It is a ghost story told in the streets it happened in. Nothing jumps out, nobody in a costume chases you. The streets do the rest.
Are the stories true?
The stories are inspired by true events and local legends of The Rocks, dramatised for the game, and every stop is a real place. Convict gangs began the Argyle Cut by hand in 1843, and their pick marks remain.
Is it ok for kids?
Some stories are dark. None are gory. Teens love it. For younger kids it depends on the child.
Is there a guide?
No. The game runs in the Questo app on your phones. Everyone checks in at First Fleet Park at 7pm, then each team goes at its own pace.
What if it rains?
It runs in rain. If the city issues a weather warning we move you to the other night or refund you, your call.
Can we turn up late?
The start window is half an hour. After 7.30pm you can still play, but the clock started at 7pm for everyone and the scoreboard does not wait.
One ticket each?
Yes. Every player has the story on their own phone and their own part to play. A team shares one place on the scoreboard.
Do we need to finish by 10pm?
For the scoreboard, yes. The story stays open for you until the end of the night.
Can I get a refund?
In full, up to 24 hours before the start. After that we can move you to the other night if there is space.
Why are places limited?
Because it is one night, played together. Enough teams for a real race and new people to meet at the finish. Few enough that every team finds its own clues, and everyone fits at the Mercantile Hotel (George Street, The Rocks) after.
Is this a one-off?
Every night is its own story, played in Sydney only on the dates above. Leave your email in the box above and you hear first when the next one opens.