Gouda's Great Cheese Rolling Race city game at EUR 8 a phone: 2.8 km and 12 stops, past the longest church in the Netherlands, free for under-18s

A Saturday in the autumn break: the family takes the train to Gouda's old town. The children have no interest in "seeing a church" but are instantly keen to help a small mouse win a cheese race; the adults need to work out how many phones, how many tickets, and which day avoids a closed door.

This is a city puzzle game on your phone: you play Barnaby Brie, a little mouse racing to win the Infinite Gouda before the villainous Gorgonzola Gang springs its traps. The route starts at 't Slot in the centre and runs 2.8 km past 12 stops in about 90 minutes; at each stop you look for a clue in the street, solve a puzzle and collect a virtual artefact in the app. The game description says it passes historic mills and the Sint-Janskerk and covers medieval city rights and the early printer Gherard Leeu. That Sint-Jan is the longest church in the Netherlands and holds 72 stained-glass windows from the 16th century onwards, the Goudse Glazen; the church says nowhere else in the world has kept so much sixteenth-century stained glass.

Finishing the puzzles is the moment to go inside: at the entrance Sint-Jan lends children a big die and a floor plan to hunt for six wooden chests with jigsaws and search tasks, and children who have just been solving clues outside will happily play on for another half hour. Bear in mind that the game is in English only, so younger children who cannot read English need an adult alongside, and the whole route is outdoors, where rain makes screens and paper hard to use.

• Work out the family cost: phones x EUR 8, plus adults without a Museumkaart x EUR 11 for Sint-Jan. Two adults and two children on two phones come to 16 + 22 = EUR 38; if both adults have a Museumkaart it is EUR 16. Under-18s enter the church free.
• Is one phone enough: one ticket works on one phone, and the organiser suggests a ticket per player. With young children one phone usually works, an adult reading and the children hunting clues; once several people want the screen, a second ticket is worth it.
• Pick the day: the game can start at any hour, but Sint-Jan is open to visitors only Monday to Saturday, with Sundays reserved for services; on 14 and 15 October the whole church is closed for an event, so avoid those days in the autumn break.

Where

Start at Punt 17, 2801 PZ Gouda

When

Start any time, 24/7・about 90 minutes

Price

EUR 8 per phone・Sint-Jan adult EUR 11

Ages

All ages・under-12s with an adult

Note

Game in English only・Sint-Jan closed to visitors on Sundays・whole church closed 14 and 15 October

Hokimi tip: play up to the Sint-Jan stop, go in and ask at the entrance for the children's dice route, then come out and finish the remaining stops; with about 90 minutes for the route and half an hour inside, allow two and a half hours. Prices, opening hours and game details checked on Fever and the Sint-Jan site on 30 September 2026. This article uses an affiliate link; your price stays the same. Sources: source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4.