Quill Almanac: Word Trails, a Sunny City Hunt

About Quill Almanac: Word Trails

Every summer the Quill Almanac, the city’s oldest street guide, runs a day-long scavenger hunt, and its author, the cartographer Mags Quill, walks the route first. She leaves a trail of torn receipts, ticket stubs and postcards behind her in every neighbourhood: a fishmonger’s receipt, a funicular stub, a pressed geranium.

At every stop of the hunt you get her landmarks in a shuffled list and the things she left behind, and every one of them tells you something true about the order she walked them: the Fish Market came before the Swing Bridge, the Harbour Clock was stop 3, the Ferry Steps came right after the Tide Kiosk. Tap two stops to swap them until your list keeps every receipt, then check the route. A check tells you how many stops are in the right place, and you have three.

The hunt map has four rows of spots, and the roads lead down and to the side, so every choice shapes the next: a stroll, a detour that is longer and worth half as much again, or a café where the owner gives you a local tip. Get a route right at the first check without a tip and a paper plane flies Mags’s route across the watercolour map while the neighbourhood’s stamp lands in your passport. Every stamp makes the Almanac Office, the last and longest route of the hunt, worth more. Choose Day tripper, Hunter or Almanac expert, tick the receipts your list keeps, or switch on large text and high contrast. There is no clock.

How to play

On the hunt map, pick a spot in each row: a stroll, a detour worth half as much again, or a café for a local tip.
At a route, read what Mags left behind: every receipt is true about the order she walked her stops.
Tap a stop, then another, to swap them (or press Space on one and move it with the up and down arrows).
Press Check the route (C): right at the first check scores 100 (150 on a detour), the second 60, the third 30.
Right at the first check without a tip stamps your passport; every stamp raises the Almanac Office’s points.

Controls

Tap a spot on the hunt map, or press 1 to 3 — walk there
Tap two stops — swap them; or Space on a stop, then the up and down arrows
C — check the route; T — a local tip
Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do the receipts help?

Each one says something true about the order Mags walked her stops: which came before which, which were next to each other, which number a stop was. Only one order keeps every receipt.

What does a check tell me?

How many stops are already in the right place. You have three checks per route; after the third, the right order is shown and the hunt goes on.

What are the stamps for?

A route right at the first check without a local tip stamps your passport. Every stamp adds a fifth to the points of the Almanac Office, the final route of the hunt.

Can I make it easier?

Choose Day tripper for shorter routes and two tips, or turn on the receipt ticks, which mark every receipt your list already keeps. Today’s hunt is always Hunter, the same for everyone.