Grand Archive of Everything: a free decoding and search game

What is Grand Archive of Everything?

Every document is filed by the clerk's mood, the smell of the room and the clerk's star sign. Decode the request slip with the index card, then walk wing, aisle and shelf. Every wrong turn raises the dust.

Grand Archive of Everything is a free satire game: every document is filed by the clerk's mood (the wing), the smell of the room (the aisle) and the clerk's star sign (the shelf).

The request slip only tells a story: who filed it, when and what had just happened to them. Decode it with the index card, then walk wing, aisle and shelf before the dust gets too thick.

At a glance

Category

Absurd Bureaucracy

Difficulty

Hard

Play time

14 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Find

+30 per right turn, +100 per document found.

Dust

Too many wrong turns and the archivist sends you home.

Three levels

Beginner, Intermediate or Expert, picked before you play: the content and the clock change, and each level keeps its own best score.

Satire

Absurd and warm: every country, office, planet and form is made up, and every run ends on a real admin skill.

Scoring

+30 per right turn (wing, aisle or shelf) and +100 per document found.

Win by finding every document before the dust runs out.

What it trains

Deduction

Turning clues into categories.

Filing systems

Why a consistent system makes things findable.

Strategy and tips

One clue per step

The mood clue gives the wing, the time or place gives the smell, the birthday gives the sign.

Check the dates

Star signs start around the 20th of each month: compare the birthday with the start dates.

Ignore red herrings

On Expert, socks, cake and the lift have nothing to do with it.

Why play Grand Archive of Everything?

Files at home and at work are only as findable as the system used to file them. One clear system, written down and used every time, makes anything findable.

Frequently asked questions