The player's guide

How to play Eggtrail,
from first scan to final score.

Find printed QR codes around you. Scan them to open cards on your phone, collect treasure and follow the quest. Every trail has its own story — this is how you play yours.

Start here I'm the host
  • One phone per team
  • Play in your browser
  • Free to play · no download
Illustrated adventure cards, treasure and equipment laid out on a woodland table.

01 / Your first code

Scan. Read. Make your move.

Your host places the printed codes around the venue. Each one opens a virtual card on the Eggtrail website. Leave the printed code where it is so the next team can find it.

  1. Join the trail

    Open your host's trail link or scan a printed code with your phone's camera and tap the link. A live trail can welcome you straight in as a guest. If a join screen appears, choose a team name. You need no email, password or app to play.

  2. Read the card

    The card shows what you found, what it offers and what you can do next. Read its instructions and any cost before acting. If it shows Hear this card, press play to hear its words read aloud. A scan opens the card; it does not collect it for you.

  3. Play it, then find the next code

    Use the action on the card to collect, answer, buy or take a challenge. Return to your board to see your rewards and quest progress. Tap Scan in the bar at the bottom of the screen, or use your phone's camera, to keep hunting.

02 / Your home base

Your board keeps the story together.

Return here between finds. Your team, score and collection belong to this trail. Another trail starts a new adventure.

An Eggtrail board: the team panel with points, coins, vitality, attack, defense and cards found, the next step of the quest, the collection, and a bar at the bottom with Scan.
Your board Points, coins and combat stats sit at the top. Your collection fills the board. Scan waits in the bar at the bottom.
Team & totals
Your team panel shows your points and how many of the trail's cards you have found. RPG trails also show coins, vitality, attack and defense. The label beside your team name says how you stand, from Playing to Quest complete. If you were given an automatic team name, you can choose your own on the leaderboard.
Your objective
Open the objective below your team panel to see what completes the quest and which cards you still need. Your host's description and instructions are under More.
Your collection
Collected cards show their art and names. Cards you have not found show their kind and whether they are available or locked. Opening a preview on the board does not replace finding its printed code.
Hints
Stuck? Tap an unfound, available card on your board. If the host wrote a hiding-place hint, it appears in the card preview and stays there until you find the code. A locked card shows what you need first; its hint appears after you unlock it.
The bar at the bottom
Board brings you back here. Ranks opens the leaderboard. Scan opens the camera; on a GPS trail, Map shows the stops your team can open now instead. Pack appears once your team picks a role. More holds your playing time, the story, the host's instructions and, where the trail has one, the marketplace.

Hunt together: one team shares one phone, one collection and one score. Take turns spotting codes, reading the story and playing the challenges.

03 / Each find has a move

Read the action, not just the artwork.

Your story and the host's settings decide which encounters appear. Basic trails focus on finding cards and scoring. RPG trails can add equipment and mini-games. The live card tells you the rules that apply.

Pip the rabbit's ally card, with the points, coins and vitality he gives and a note that the quest can finish without him.
Meet Pip, the Lantern Keeper Each card tells you what to do. Pip joins your team and adds vitality.

Find treasure or an ally

Collect the card for its shown rewards. Some RPG finds ask you to catch a moving target; an escape lets you try again. A timing challenge offers bonus coins — skipping or missing it still collects the ordinary reward.

Answer a question

Read the question and choose an answer. A correct answer earns the card's points and coins. A wrong answer costs coins, earns no points and leaves the question open for another try. Read the stated penalty before answering.

Visit a merchant

Read the shelf, price and gear gains before buying. Purchases spend coins and award no points. Finding the merchant and buying something from the shelf are separate actions.

Meet a trap or roll the dice

Check the coin stakes before choosing. At a trap, try to disarm it or pay the smaller stated cost to step around it; either choice collects the card. A dice roll can win or lose coins. These encounters affect your purse, not your vitality.

Reach a checkpoint or story event

Read the next part of the story and use the card's action. These finds can mark progress or unlock a later encounter. Follow any instructions your host has added.

Challenge an enemy

In RPG mode, an enemy starts a duel. Check its requirements and the cost of losing first. Finding better gear can help you win, but you still have to play the fight.

Explore every card kind in the rulebook →

04 / When your trail uses RPG mode

Build your kit. Then face the boss.

Equipment changes how the duel plays. Check your team's totals and the enemy's stakes before you start. A larger number alone never wins a fight.

The Stone Sentinel's monster card: its vitality, attack and defense, the points and coins a win pays, and the Leaf of Sun it guards.
Face the Stone Sentinel An enemy card shows its stats, what a win pays and what it guards. Win the duel to reach the Leaf of Sun.
Attack
Helps reduce the hits you need to win.
Defense
Helps protect you in a duel and reduce damage from a loss.
Vitality
Your health. Lost fights can reduce it to a knockout.

How to play a duel

  1. Read the required hits, your guard and the stated cost of losing. Collect any missing quest cards before starting.

  2. Start the duel. Watch the moving marker and the opening, then tap when they line up. With a keyboard, use Enter or Space.

  3. Land enough hits before your guard runs out. Tougher enemies can change direction or move the opening. Take time to read the pattern.

  4. Win to collect the enemy's card, points and coins. A loss can cost coins and vitality; the enemy stays there for another attempt.

Roles, packs and trading

If your trail offers roles, read the gear preference and pack size before choosing; the choice lasts for this trail. A full pack can leave new gear unequipped, so check what you are carrying. If the marketplace is open, you can buy and sell eligible cards with other teams. Quest keys cannot be sold, and buying or selling never adds points.

Try a practice duel

05 / Know what counts

Points win. Coins give you choices.

Score is what you earn

Successful finds, correct answers and won fights add the card's points to your score once per team. Spending, selling and penalties do not take earned points away. Repeated scans and purchases do not earn extra points.

Coins are what you can spend

Use coins for merchant stock, market purchases or a card's stated cost. Rewards add to your purse; purchases and penalties can reduce it. Spending coins keeps your score, but can affect a tie.

The leaderboard ranks highest score first, then most remaining coins, then shortest playing time.

Completing the quest and ending the trail

On an RPG trail, defeating the boss completes your team's quest. On a basic trail, collect the core cards named by your objective; optional scarce treasure may remain. Follow the objective on your board for this trail's exact goal.

Quest complete? You can keep collecting and scoring while the trail is open. Beating the boss does not end the trail for everyone. The host can finish the trail; a timed race also ends when its countdown runs out.

Self-paced
Your playing time starts when your team joins. Teams can arrive at different times. There is no first-find bonus.
Race
Teams share the host's starting clock. If the host sets a first-find bonus, being first to a code earns extra coins, not extra points. Watch the countdown if one is shown.

06 / Back on the trail

A little help between finds.

I cannot find the next code.

Return to your board and tap an unfound card marked Find its code. If the host added a hint, the card preview tells you where to look. A locked card keeps its hint hidden until you collect the cards it requires. Not every card has a hint, so ask the host if the preview has none.

My camera will not scan the code.

Give the code some light, keep the whole square in view and hold the phone still. If the in-page scanner asks, allow camera access. You can also use your phone's camera app or the scanner's photo option when available. Check that you are scanning a code from this trail.

The card will not load, or my team looks different.

Check your mobile data or Wi-Fi, then reload. Open the link in the same browser you used to join, rather than a messaging app's built-in browser. A different browser, cleared cookies or a closed private session can leave you outside your original guest team.

I found the code, but cannot collect the card.

Read the message on the card. You may need earlier cards, enough coins, a role choice, or the host to start the trail. The card may already be collected or have no copies left. A finished trail cannot accept new finds.

Do cards run out? Can I collect one twice?

Some cards have limited copies shared across teams; check the copies-left line. Leave the printed code in place even if its copies run out. Scanning a card again does not pay its points again, and a card you already hold cannot be collected twice.

Why is the trail asking for my location?

Your host may require you to be near a placed code before collecting it. Allow location access and stand near the code. If the phone cannot locate you accurately, try again where it has a clearer signal or ask the host.

The trail is full, finished or waiting to start.

The host controls when play opens and ends, and how teams join. Follow the message on the board and check with the host. Scanning more codes does not open a waiting or finished trail, or create a place in a full one.

07 / Behind the printed codes

Hosting? Set the scene for your players.

A story is the adventure and its cards. A trail is your playing of that story, at your place and time. Creating the trail generates its QR codes. Hosting uses an organizer account; players can join as guests.

  1. Choose a library story and create a trail from it. Select basic or RPG play where offered, and choose self-paced or race timing.

  2. Add any hints and answers for your hiding places. Read the cards, check the objective and tell players where the play area ends.

  3. Download the QR PDF, print it, cut out the labels and place them around your venue. Check phone signal and test that each printed code opens its card.

  4. Share the welcome code or trail link, explain how teams will play and start the trail. Use the leaderboard to follow scores, then finish the trail when play is over.

Bring a printer, paper and a way to mount the codes. Players need one phone per team and internet at every code. Keep printed labels in place for every team.

Pick an adventure Create a story with an assistant
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