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MYSTERY · BIG GAME / MARATHON
Under the Big Top
Murder behind the curtain. The circus must go on
90 min (Big Game) or 25-45 min play time across 1-5 days (Marathon) · 5-10,000 players (5-8 per team)
Pay by card at booking · Confirmed in 2 hours
GETTING IN
Easy to join, no setup needed
Three things to know before your team plays.
Any device
Laptop, desktop, tablet, or phone — same experience across screens.
Recommended browsers
Chrome or Safari for stable performance. Disable VPN if you experience connectivity issues.
THE STORY
What awaits your team
You are the newest detectives at the local precinct, and your first call out is a homicide. The Great Mirabelli has been killed in the middle ring of the old circus. The troupe is locked down for questioning, the show is contracted to go up again tomorrow night, and you have one shift.
Three questions have to be answered before you can close it: who, how, and why. Examine every object, shadow and sound, interview the witnesses and the suspects, and solve what the evidence points to. Tarot cards hidden around the circus open up the performers' pasts, and the team shares ten lives across the whole case — so there is no upside to rushing.
The Mirabelli troupe all smile the same way and all have something behind it: the eyewitnesses, the suspects, and the murdered magician himself. The tarot deck is your best informant — each card matches a guest or a worker at this very strange establishment.
Find the killer before the curtain goes up. Or watch the wrong person take the bow.
GAME STAGES
Inside the experience — 3 stages
Stage 1
Scene Under the Big Top
It starts at the gate, and you need a ticket before you can even get in. Work the hall, and start talking to eyewitnesses and suspects straight away — every word and every gesture is a lead. Tarot cards are hidden through the pavilions; each one you find fills in a piece of somebody's past.
Stage 2
Behind the Curtain
Sometimes personal belongings talk more than people do. Go through each performer's dressing room and look at what they keep out of sight. Keep collecting tarot cards, keep solving what they unlock, and expect every new lead to move your suspect list rather than confirm it.
Stage 3
The Dangerous Trick
Somewhere in the back corridors there is a door that shouldn't be there, and behind it a set of long-abandoned rooms. A cache is hidden in them and the route to it is full of obstacles — this is where the shared ten lives start to sting. Work out how to open it, pull the key evidence, and answer all three questions: who killed Mirabelli, how, and why.
Two ways to play Under the Big Top
Pick how your team experiences the activity. Each format has its own flow.
LIVE FORMAT
Big Game
Pick this if your team has a single moment to gather.
- Length
- 70–90 minutes
- Players
- Up to 10,000 in one live session
- Setup
- Single Zoom + live host + in-game chat
- Best for
- Quarterly all-hands · Holiday parties · Kickoffs
How it unfolds
Connection
Schedule + custom landing page with join button.
Intro & teams
Host welcomes, divides into teams. ~5 min.
Gameplay
Players solve puzzles in the 2D world via in-game chat.
Wrap-up & analytics
Top teams celebrated. HR receives detailed analytics on team performance.
ASYNC FORMAT
Game Marathon
Pick this if your team is distributed across time zones.
- Length
- 1–5 days window
- Players
- Up to 10,000 — team or solo play
- Setup
- Self-onboarded via platform + in-game chat
- Best for
- Distributed teams · Onboarding cohorts · Multi-region offices
How it unfolds
Setup
Schedule window + custom landing page with join link.
Self-onboarding
Pick avatar, play solo or create a team room.
Async play
Progress at own pace. 20-40 min play time per player.
Final scoreboard & analytics
Scoreboard publishes rankings. HR receives detailed analytics.
MAKE IT YOURS
Customize Under the Big Top for your team
Three add-ons, $500 each. Take any, take all three.
TYPE 1
Your team as the on-call detectives
Each squad gets a real detective ID — actual name, photo, badge number. The case file is briefed to your team specifically, with notes that reference your real working styles.
TYPE 2
Your office as case HQ
The investigation map back at HQ is your real conference room or war room. Whiteboards, evidence pinboards, and the office coffee machine all show up in the briefing scenes.
TYPE 3
Your team legends as suspect backstories
Internal team stories — that famous all-nighter, the project nobody talks about, the legendary off-site — get woven into suspect alibis. Whoever made the decision behind one of those moments now has a motive.
Most popular for: company anniversaries · Christmas corporate · major team celebrations
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about this game
What HR leads usually ask before booking Under the Big Top.
Book Under the Big Top
Pick format, team size, and date — price updates instantly.
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Pick your date, we'll handle the rest.
Pay by card at booking · Confirmation within 2 business hours
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