City Conquest

20 factions

Each team picks a faction: a group with its own story, strengths and characters.

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  Spaarne Brewers

  “Brewed by the river”

  In the 1500s Haarlem had more than a hundred breweries along the Spaarne, and a church is a brewery again today. Hops, barrels and patience.

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  Teylers Scholars

  “Curiosity first”

  Teylers is the oldest museum in the Netherlands (1784): fossils, minerals and a giant electricity machine. Its scholars want to know how everything works.

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  Hals Painters

  “One brushstroke, one laugh”

  Frans Hals painted Haarlem laughing: quick, loose strokes, militia feasts and merry drinkers. His painters' guild of St Luke ran the art market.

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  Tulip Growers

  “Every bulb a fortune”

  Around Haarlem the bulb fields colour the land; in 1637 tulip bulbs were traded in Haarlem's inns for the price of a house.

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  Defenders of 1573

  “Courage beats force”

  For seven months in 1572-73 Haarlem held out against a huge Spanish army. The city's motto still says it: courage overcomes violence.

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  Kenau's Company

  “We hold the wall”

  Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, a timber trader, became the legend of the siege: the women of Haarlem who carried, repaired and defended the walls.

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  Coster's Printers

  “We print it first”

  Haarlem tells that Laurens Janszoon Coster invented printing here, and his statue on the Grote Markt still holds a letter block.

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• Linen Bleachers

  “Whiter than the dunes”

  'Haarlem white': linen from all over Europe was bleached in the dune fields around the city, spread out in long rows in the sun.

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• Hofje Keepers

  “Quiet gardens, strong hearts”

  Haarlem hides more than twenty hofjes: courtyards of little houses around a garden, like the Hofje van Bakenes (1395), the oldest in the country.

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  Organists of St Bavo

  “Pull out all the stops”

  The Müller organ in the Grote Kerk was once the largest in the world; a ten-year-old Mozart played it in 1766.

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  Spaarne Skippers

  “Always on time”

  From 1631 the trekschuit, a barge pulled by a horse, sailed on the clock from Haarlem to Amsterdam and Leiden: the first public transport timetable.

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  Millers of De Adriaan

  “We turn with the wind”

  Molen De Adriaan has stood on the Spaarne since 1779; it burnt in 1932 and Haarlem rebuilt it in 2002. Millers read the wind.

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  Lake Drainers

  “We drink the lake dry”

  The Haarlemmermeer, a lake that ate villages, was pumped dry in 1849-52 by the giant steam engines of Cruquius and Leeghwater.

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  Comic City Artists

  “Every wall a speech bubble”

  Haarlem calls itself 'Stripstad', comic city: cartoonists designed the stained-glass windows of the Bakenesserkerk.

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  Civic Guard of St George

  “Feast after every watch”

  Frans Hals painted Haarlem's civic guards at their famous banquets. They kept watch over the city and celebrated afterwards.

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  Haarlem Oil Peddlers

  “One drop cures all”

  Since 1696 'Haarlemmer olie' has been sold as a cure for everything, carried across Europe in tiny bottles by travelling peddlers.

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• Curfew Bell Ringers

  “We ring the city to bed”

  Every evening the Damiaatjes bells in the Grote Kerk tower ring at nine: once it meant the city gates closed.

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  Vishal Fishmongers

  “Fresh from the sea”

  The Vishal on the Grote Markt was Haarlem's fish hall: herring from the coast, sold by loud and quick traders.

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  Flower Parade Makers

  “Petal by petal”

  Every spring the Bloemencorso parades floats covered in millions of flowers from the bulb fields to Haarlem.

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  Haarlemmerhout Promenaders

  “Slow down, look up”

  The Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park in the Netherlands; in the 1700s everyone came to stroll, see and be seen.

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Two ways to play

Without a game master

You play on your own. The organiser opens the game master page, chooses the default language and the playing time, and starts the game. From then on everything runs by itself on every phone: the zones, the chests, the merchant and the final count.

Often chosen by companies

With a game master

Someone leads the game from the game master page: follows every team live with its points and zones, sends messages to all teams, adds 15 minutes or stops the game, gives a team a power-up or puts a chest right next to it, and looks at the photos and videos. The game master never sees the answers.

€199.00 including 5 teams, €19.95 per extra team

The organiser sets up the game on the game master page (the default language and the playing time) and starts it for all teams.

Every player can pick and switch the language on their own phone.