# Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE — Timed-Release AR Puzzle Hunt > Location-based AR puzzle hunt with journal pages, mini-games, and treasure seeking. (iPhone/iPad app by Hidden Secret Studios.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hidden-secrets-escape-prelude/id1297851386 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Hidden Secret Studios](https://appshunter.io/developer/1297851385) - Category: Games, Entertainment, Adventure, Puzzle - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 3.80/5 from 27 App Store ratings · 21 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 17+ - Requires: iOS 9.0 · 1.3 GB - Languages: American English - Released: 2019-08-18 - Data updated: 2026-06-01 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hidden-secrets-escape-prelude/id1297851386/reviews.md ## What is Hidden Secrets? The past is past ... or is it? Enter a story from outside of time in this location-based AR game. Follow a trail of scattered journal page pieces, master fun mini-games, decode puzzles, and seek the final treasure! Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE is a NEW and UNIQUE type of game - something like a dynamic puzzle book, mobile Escape Room, Armchair Treasure Hunt! Immerse yourself in a mystery as you try to pinpoint the hidden treasure location. NOTE: ESCAPE PRELUDE is a pre-story to a larger adventure, Hidden Secrets: Escape In Time - launching soon and awarding cash prizes! Gameplay: You find a timeworn journal containing just one curious page. Pages are scattered throughout your neighborhood for you to find: * Go outside to seek the missing journal page pieces. * Play interactive games to capture them - like Collect Gems, Run the Maze, Pick the Lock. * Piece together the journal page pieces. * Follow the mysterious story - a hand-illustrated and scripted journal. * Solve the journal puzzle. You'll need a pen and paper to help solve the cryptogram, cipher, number, word, or logic style puzzles. The journal pages contain clues to the location of the final treasure - look for numbers, letters, and/or images that appear strange or out-of-place. Only after you’ve solved the final (7th) journal page and unlocked the virtual world map may you make your best treasure location guess(es). Fun for everyone! * Modern Detectives - Do you consider yourself a new-fashioned Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, or Nancy Drew? Bring your mental genius and your traveling shoes to become a sleuth in your own neighborhood (or wherever you may be) to track down the missing journal page pieces and solve the mystery! * Escape Room Gamers - Looking for a challenge? Using your wits and your wily, master the AR games and solve the cryptic puzzles to unlock the final treasure location! * Treasure Hunters and Geocachers - Get lost someplace in time ... Follow the trail, decipher the mystery, decode the clues, and locate the final treasure location! * Families Who Game Together - Work together to solve the puzzles and decipher the clues. An interactive learning experience to improve critical thinking, puzzle and math skills! The Story: You'll enter the world of our hero through a window in time. A dreamer, inventor, thinker - the son of a master clockmaker mother and renowned scientist father. Life is disrupted by an insidious Society that desire his father's secrets of time travel and reveals just how far they will go to obtain them . . . PRELUDE is just a short version of our game - a slice of story that hints at much more to come. Expect the tale to continue in the full game, Hidden Secrets: Escape In Time, launching soon with expanded games, new puzzles, and larger treasures! When was the last time you had an adventure? From our small team at Hidden Secrets, this has been a labor of love and fun, and we thank you so much for playing! We hope you enjoy it! ## Key features - Location-based AR gameplay - Collect scattered journal pages - Solve mini-games and puzzles - Decode cryptograms and ciphers - Follow an illustrated story - Seek a virtual treasure location ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Remove Ads | $1.99 | one-time | | 5,000 Coins | $3.99 | one-time | | 7,000 Coins | $4.99 | one-time | | 10,000 Coins | $6.99 | one-time | | 15,000 Coins | $9.99 | one-time | | Bonus Offer | $2.99 | one-time | | Super Bonus Offer | $4.99 | one-time | | Double Coins | $0.99 | one-time | | Maximum Bonus Offer | $5.99 | one-time | | Ultimate Offer | $2.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 21) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hidden-secrets-escape-prelude/id1297851386/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Exciting concept! *2020-03-14, version 1.01* This game has been really fun to play, I am so looking forward to the next chapter release! ### 2/5 — Very slow, *2019-08-29, version 1.01* Unfortunately, as I downloaded this app, I was getting exited at how you could win money for just solving some puzzles. Puzzles are extremely hard, takes to long to save up coins for a hint. Unless you don’t have a life and have all the time in the world, then you are wasting your time. :( ### 1/5 — Great concept, okay execution *2019-08-26, version 1.01* I played during the 1 week prelude period and thought the game itself was hit and miss. The hits: The pages with the actual puzzles, hints, coin collecting via gps, and the world map final puzzle. The misses: the repetitive mini-games, the ads, and the fact that only one person actually wins anything. If this game can somehow do daily winners where multiple prizes are awarded (similar to The X), I think it will be much more successful. ### 5/5 — Really challenging! *2019-08-24, version 1.01* Great app with awesome clues. Loving this! ### 5/5 — Fantastic Concept *2019-08-22, version 1.01* This is a really great game. The story is engaging and the puzzles fun. I’m writing this on day 5 and so far the puzzles have been fairly straight forward, but they are steadily getting more challenging which is adding to the anticipation of the final cash prize puzzle. The graphics are good and fit the concept of the story well. The physical activity required to go out in the local area and find page pieces is very much like a geo-caching experience and I love it. It feels like REAL treasure hunting! If you don’t want to do that you can collect page pieces by watching ads, which is a nice alternative. Yes there have been a few bugs but I’ve been feeding back to the developers and they are very keen to iron everything out before the 30 day game. Overall this is a fantastic concept delivered in a professional package. I can’t wait to see how this project develops. Well done Hidden Studios, keep up the good work. ### 5/5 — Hooked on hidden secrets! *2019-08-22, version 1.01* This is hands down the best armchair hunt I’ve ever done! I’ve worked on over 30 hunts through the years. This tops them all, from the graphics, gameplay, puzzles, music, not to mention the fact that no person gets an advantage or an edge. It’s winnable for anyone up to the end. The creators have broken boundaries never before attempted. I’m so lucky to be a part of this piece of history. ### 2/5 — Too bad for all the crashes *2019-08-22, version 1.01* I like everything about this game except for the fact it keeps crashing. I was even willing to accept 1 or 2 crashes for every mini-challenge. Eventually though i got stuck on a ball maze challenge that it couldn’t get through or even started without crashing. I tried un-installing and re-installing giving up my 2 pages but when I started again the ball maze on the first page wouldn’t even work for me. I’ll give the full challenge a try when it comes out, and hopefully these bugs will be worked out. ### 5/5 — So far so good *2019-08-22, version 1.01* I haven’t had any issues and the game is fun. Puzzles and artwork are very good. Can’t wait to see the final big puzzle. ### 5/5 — Really enjoying the game *2019-08-22, version 1.01* This is a brilliant game to play, I like the adverts to help you advance if you are unable to get to where the map pieces are, and to get extra coins if you get stuck. There have been a few bugs, like with any new game, however the team behind this app have been really helpful and sorted out the problems I was having really fast. The communications was excellent. The puzzles / riddles themselves are clever and thought provoking and have piqued my interest so much that the second the notification tells me there is a new page to the journal, I am there to collect and solve. I like that there is a story behind the journal pages and that makes it more interesting to find out where it leads. Overall excellent game play experience and really enjoying this app, looking forward to the new chapters in its developments :) ### 5/5 — Filled me with all the wonderment of childhood! *2019-08-21, version 1.01* Truly having a blast playing this game and I can’t wait to see what else is in store! Hidden secrets won’t be a hidden secret for long! ## Frequently asked questions about Hidden Secrets ### What is Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE? Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE is a location-based augmented reality game that challenges players to find scattered journal pages, solve various puzzles and mini-games, and decode clues to pinpoint the location of a virtual treasure. It's designed to be a unique blend of a puzzle book, mobile escape room, and armchair treasure hunt. ### How do I play Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE? Gameplay involves going outside to find missing journal page pieces scattered in your neighborhood. You'll play interactive mini-games to collect them, then piece them together to follow a hand-illustrated story. Solving the journal puzzles, which may require pen and paper, will reveal clues to the final treasure's location. ### Is Hidden Secrets: Escape PRELUDE free to play? The game is free to download and play, but it does offer in-app purchases. These purchases may enhance the gameplay experience or provide additional content, though the core puzzle-solving and treasure-hunting mechanics are accessible without them. ### What kind of puzzles can I expect in the game? The game features a variety of puzzle types, including cryptograms, ciphers, number puzzles, word puzzles, and logic puzzles. You will need to use critical thinking and potentially pen and paper to solve these challenges and uncover the clues leading to the treasure. ### Who is this game suitable for? This game is fun for a wide audience, including aspiring detectives, escape room enthusiasts, treasure hunters, geocachers, and families looking for an interactive learning experience. It's designed to improve critical thinking, puzzle-solving, and even math skills. ## Version history (last 3 releases) ### 1.05 — 2020-05-28 This version addresses bugs and minor fixes. When the first version of this game launched on August 25, 2019, it had timed-released journal pages over 7-days. Once the 7th journal page was released, players had the chance to be the first to locate the final hidden treasure for a chance to win the $1000 cash prize. That prize was found shortly after the 7th day. Even though the cash prize has been claimed, you can still play the game all the way through without the time-release play. Please send us your feedback as you play through the game! Thanks! ### 1.01 — 2019-08-17 Our first public release. Please send us your feedback as you play through the game! ### 1.0 — 2019-05-20 No release notes. ## Apps similar to Hidden Secrets | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Lost Lands 9](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lost-lands-9/id6472705183) | 4.7 (719) | Free | Games | | [All For One - Treasure Hunt](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/all-for-one-treasure-hunt/id6449323973) | 4.3 (12) | Free | Games | | [ReDrawn: The Tower (Adventure)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/redrawn-the-tower-adventure/id1660756509) | 4.7 (3,367) | Free | Games | | [3D Escape Room Detective Story](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/3d-escape-room-detective-story/id6459699779) | 4.5 (5,653) | Free | Games | | [Detective Max: Murder Mystery](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/detective-max-murder-mystery/id1504107222) | 4.4 (816) | Free | Games | | [Escape Room:Mysterious train](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/escape-roommysterious-train/id6444753768) | 4.5 (5,144) | Free | Games | --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-01.*