Ariodante is offering ultra-wealthy clients the chance to play detective in a three-day treasure hunt across Paris, which promises access to secret venues never opened to the public and could even rewrite French history. Olivia Palamountain reports

Luxury travel creation agency Ariodante designs rare and private experiences rooted in art, history and culture for some of the wealthiest people on the planet. Its latest offering is no exception, giving ultra-wealthy clients the chance to play detective in a three-day treasure hunt across Paris, taking place this autumn.

Titled the "Queen's Lost Diamonds", the adventure is a real-time investigation into a centuries-old royal scandal that unfolds across dozens of off-limits locations including monuments, national libraries and military sites.

The experience spans three days and two nights of continuous gameplay, breaking the typical hour-long format of structured live-action games. Participants investigate historical venues, first-hand accounts and artefacts to progress, with successful players potentially disproving theories championed by leading scholars and cultural institutions."It took over ten months of intense work by our stellar team to create this player-led, multi-dimensional game," says Ricardo Araujo, founder and travel alchemist at Ariodante. "Finding a way to effectively blur the lines between fiction and reality – overlaying countless strands of parallel storylines – into a live-action game took years of trial and error."

Ariodante claims the game achieves multiple world firsts, including the highest actor-to-player ratio ever attempted – estimated at well above 25:1 – and access to venues so secret they have never been opened to non-custodians. The company has spent years securing exclusive access to famed and restricted locations across Paris for its ultra-wealthy clientele.

The game actively works against players, testing their bravery, morale and powers of persuasion through high-stakes challenges where participants must decide who among those they encounter are allies or enemies. Multiple storylines can unfold simultaneously, with different players or groups potentially crossing paths without knowing others are participating."The Queen's Lost Diamonds is by far the most intricate immersive game ever attempted and will be unlike any other that the players have or are likely to experience," says Araujo, who hand-picks participants to ensure they are suitable for the psychological demands of the experience.

Unlike escape rooms or murder mystery games designed to guide players toward solutions, this experience deliberately misdirects participants through a complex multi-dimensional narrative where certainty fades as fiction becomes reality. The game features more than 100 unique structural scenes, each lasting between 20 minutes and two hours.Tickets are not publicly available, with interested parties required to apply and undergo Araujo's selection process before being invited to book. Participants can choose to form teams or play solo, with the game continuing even when players sleep or take breaks.

Founded in 2015, Ariodante moves away from destination-focused travel, instead crafting experiences where locations serve carefully constructed narratives requiring months of research and planning.

The Queen's Lost Diamonds represents the company's most ambitious project, with Araujo comparing its complexity to film production. The game's structure includes planned and operational scenes with variations triggered or discarded based on player decisions, requiring the team to preempt choices and rewrite storylines in real time.
The experience targets clients accustomed to having access to anything money can buy, offering what the company describes as the ultimate luxury - complete freedom of choice within a parallel reality. For this demographic, the appeal lies not in material excess but in accessing experiences genuinely unavailable to others, regardless of wealth.

Araujo will provide behind-the-scenes glimpses of the game's creation and subtle location clues through his Instagram account @TheRealTravelAlchemist, marking the first time he has offered public insights into Ariodante's typically secretive operations.