LONDON.- Unlock our capital’s turbulent past with a new HiddenCity mobile phone trail through the colourful galleries of the Museum of London. For the first time ever, families will be able to explore a museum in the UK with an interactive text message trail. The Museum of London Discovery trail - a trail of clues by text message exploring the Museum’s galleries - launches on Thursday 20 October 2011, just in time for the autumn half-term break. The trail has been created by HiddenCity, the trails-by-text company, for families, or anyone game for an indoor adventure.

The Discovery Trail takes families on a journey of exploration through London’s turbulent history. Using text messages and a map of the Museum, players are guided through a trail of clues, each leading them to a new location within the Museum where they use their ingenuity to deduce answers from their surroundings. Players who successfully complete the trail win a coveted ‘Certified Londoner’ badge by showing the Museum hosts their final congratulatory text message.

To take part, participants sign up in advance by visiting the HiddenCity website, head to the Museum, send us the message ‘start’ and get cracking. The trail takes approximately two hours to complete, including a break. It is ideally played by several teams and costs £16 per team. You can have as many people as you like on a team. We think that two to four people per team is ideal for a sociable experience that gets everyone involved. Entry to the Museum of London is free.

Those who take up the challenge will step through time and can expect to see, touch, hear and even smell exhibits spanning prehistoric, Roman and medieval London, right up to the 20th century and present day city.

Vicky Lee, Marketing Manager at the Museum said: “The HiddenCity trail is a new way for families to experience the Museum of London. You’ll discover parts of the galleries that you may not have otherwise found and learn about London's history on the way. We had great fun playing it ourselves and it certainly brought out our competitive side!”

Amber Thomas, 10 from Epsom in Surrey, tried the trail with her twin sister Jade and five friends aged 9, 10, 11 and 12 and said, “I enjoyed using my brain to solve the questions!”

Rob Reason, founder of HiddenCity said: “We’ve had fantastic feedback from past hunters in our previous trails, which we designed for adults. A common request was to create an experience that the whole family can take part in, and we’ve created the Museum of London Discovery Trail to do just that.”

The trail is suitable for all ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult and those under eight years of age may need assistance with the clues.