Call And Real-time Adventure
CARA
Ruins are just houses that have been patient.
A free adventure in your browser, and a phone line to the woman inside it. Arrow keys and Enter, or tap.
Chapters
Every chapter plays on its own, with its own save. Q and E change campaign.
Today’s Expedition
Learn with Cara
Light learning, just for fun: a week out of doors with Cara and a whiteboard at every stop. Apart from the adventure, and nothing to fail. Q and E change course.
The team
Who takes the field leg. Anyone but Cara, and she is on the radio.
Call Cara
Eight ways to be with her on the line. Your own key is always free; with Sat-Link minutes, the game’s line.
Call CaraJust talk, face to face: a plain dark background, yours to change
Call Cara on her boat NewInside Marginalia at golden hour: the kettle, the stove, Dad’s record, the cat. Tap anything
Call Cara at home NewHer old room in Tucson, kept as she left it: the stars on the ceiling, her rocks, her posters
Video call CaraStraight to her, where you left her
Face to face 21 gamesVideo call Cara and play together: rock, paper, scissors, charades, quizzes, stories
Classroom NewLearn anything with Dr Cara, or a friend: a blackboard, a level, a quiz
Sketchbook NewVideo call Cara with her sketchbook open: every drawing she knows, and a pen for you
Stories NewFilms of Cara: listen, or choose her path
Shop
Outfits for whoever takes the field leg (Team chooses who).
Trophies
Earned in every chapter, kept in this browser. Secret ones show a hint until you find them.
Field Guide Stars, ranks and today’s challenges ›Our scrapbook
Cara’s real notes and album photos. Flip through dates, or save a page as a PNG.
Field Guide
Everything Cara learns to do, with stars for getting good at it. Kept in this browser; nothing here is sold.
Trophies ›Know-how
What Cara knows about everyday things and how to do things. On a call, ask her how something works; in a chapter, ask her to show you.
Arcade
Quick games in Cara’s world. Call her from any of them and she watches and chats. Jade tokens banked: 0, one bank for all 18.
Run and jump
Cara RunsMarchetti’s wager: run, jump and roll through six of her places, and keep ahead of him.
Cara HopsAcross roads, rivers and rails, a row at a time, before the geese catch up.
Cara ClimbsHop up an endless cliff past the Sun temple and a snowy peak into the sky: ropes, zip lines, bouncy mushrooms and Marchetti’s balloon.
Rope SwingSwing branch to branch down an endless jungle gorge: time the let-go, flip, bounce off giant leaves and fly through waterfalls.
Fly and ride
Drone DashTap to fly her camera drone through the windows of old walls. Her face on the call, in the corner.
Kite RushFly Cara’s kite through golden rings as she runs the coast: ride the gusts, do tricks, and dodge gulls and rain clouds.
Cara KartBeach buggies round four tracks against Marchetti, Benny and the rest. Drift for the boost.
Cara DrivesThe long way round: a relaxing drive through hills, snow, coast, desert and jungle. Or a Fun drive, with jade and power-ups.
River RapidsPaddle a canoe down endless white water: dodge rocks, logs and whirlpools, shoot the drops and thread the slalom gates.
Sled RunOne button down an endless mountain: jump, hold to backflip, land it for speed, all the way into the aurora night.
Aim and skill
Archery RangeRead the wind and loose at the Sherwood butts, a kyūdō hall, the steppe and a castle wall: split apples, ring the gong, chase bullseyes in slow motion.
Golf Through RuinsEndless mini golf through temples and ruins: fly the ramps over the moat, time the stone doors and bank off bounce blocks.
Fishing TourDrop the lure through six waters, dodge the fish on the way down, catch them on the way up and photograph them as they leap. Every fish goes back.
Puzzles and rhythm
Stack the StonesDrop each stone square on the last: build a cairn, a pyramid, a temple and a lighthouse while Cara and friends cheer.
Cara PinsPull the pins in the right order: gold into the chest, water on the lava, sand on the snake. Twenty tombs in desert, ice and jungle, in 2D or 3D.
Relic MatchSwap coins, pots, gems and scarabs to brush away the sand: forty digs across Cara’s places, each hiding a mosaic.
Tile TempleTurn the stones, slide the blocks, wind the cranks: open the way and walk Cara through thirty floating temples.
Cara SaysSimon Says on a beat in San Aurelio: do what Cara calls, in time, but never what Marchetti says!
Made for the Arcade
🔦 Cave QuestRun, jump and climb through 24 caves by the light of Cara’s head torch, hunting for hidden relics.
🛕 Temple PinballReal pinball in three temples: flip, spell RELIC, start a two-ball Treasure Hunt and win the jade jackpot.
🫙 Treasure JarDrop finds in a museum jar. Two alike merge into the next, from a glass bead to the great Moonstone.
🎈 Balloon PostFly Cara’s hot-air balloon on the wind, choosing your height to steer, and land parcels softly on rooftops.
💧 AqueductLay stone channels ahead of the flowing spring and lead the water to the town fountain.
🧩 Mosaic PicrossSolve picture logic puzzles, and watch each one turn into a gleaming ancient mosaic.
🏒 Table HockeyNeon air hockey: take on Benny, Nkechi, Wren, Hira and Idris, then beat the flashy Marchetti.
💎 Gem PopFire polished gems into a ceiling of gems: match three to pop them and drop the rest into bonus buckets.
📦 Tomb BlocksPush carved stone blocks onto pressure plates to open tomb doors, from Egypt’s sands to Petra’s rose rock.
🀄 Relic MahjongMahjong solitaire with carved relics from Cara’s travels: lift matching pairs until the table is clear.
🃏 Expedition SolitaireKlondike, Spider and FreeCell on Cara’s camp table, with her finds as suits and her friends as the faces.
⛏️ Dig DownDig down through bright layers of earth: pop colours, dodge falling blocks and keep the canteen full.
Arcade cabinets and pocket games
🏯 Brick TempleKnock down the temple’s coloured bricks.
🍎 Garden SnakeEat the apples, grow long, and mind your tail.
☄️ Rock SweeperSweep the drifting rocks out of the sky.
🏛️ Temple DashGather every coin in the temple maze.
🟪 Tumble BlocksFit the falling blocks into full rows.
🥚 Egg CatchCatch the eggs rolling down four chutes before they break.
🦇 Boulder RunJump the boulders, duck the bats and snatch the coins.
🐙 Sunken TreasureWalk the sea bed for gold while the octopus is not looking.
🎪 Circus BounceBounce the acrobats three times into the wagon.
Quick games from the quests
🧺 Market CatchCatch the good things in the basket and let the odd ones fall by.
🦫 Quick HandsTap each one as it peeps out, before it ducks. Thirty seconds a round.
⭕ Hoopla StallAim, then strength: ten throws at the rings, and the middle is worth three.
🌊 Stone SkimmingLow and flat, then hard: five stones a round, and every skip counts.
🐾 Stepping StonesThe next stone drifts to and fro: jump when it is under the ring.
🛺 Lane DashThree lanes: pick up the good things and steer round the rest.
⚽ Keepy-uppyTap as it drops to the foot and kick it back up. How many can you do?
🐍 Snake TrailTurn left or right to reach the next thing, and grow by one each time.
🧱 Brick BounceBounce the ball off the paddle and knock out the bricks, wall after wall.
🏃 Hurdle RunThe runner never stops: jump whatever is in the way.
🗂️ Sort It OutOdd or even, land or sea: send each thing into the right bin.
🎉 Pop the BalloonsTap each balloon before it floats away, and leave the birds and bees alone.
🪐 OrbitRound and round two rings: swap rings to dodge and sweep up the stars.
Puzzles from the close-up tables
🖼️ Slide PuzzleSlide the painted tiles in their wooden tray back into the picture.
🌞 Sun TilesTurn the carved temple tiles until every sun shines.
🌷 Water ChannelsTurn the carved stone channels to bring the spring’s water to the garden.
🔐 Code ChestCrack the treasure chest’s code of carved symbols from the gold and silver clues.
🧵 The LoomWeave the hidden picture on a little loom from the number clues.
🏕️ Camp StorePush the supply crates onto their marked spots in the camp store tent.
🌈 Prism TableSplit a torch’s white beam with a glass prism, and steer each colour to its gem.
🎱 Tilting MazeTilt the wooden labyrinth to roll the steel ball past the holes to the finish.
📐 TangramSeven wooden pieces cut from one square: make the shadow’s shape from all seven.
⚙️ Gear BoardSet gears on the pegboard to carry the crank’s turn to the pointer, the right way round.
🫘 KalahA mancala board of pits and stones: sow them round, and play a game against Cara.
Studio pieces from the chapters
🔮 KaleidoscopeTurn a brass kaleidoscope and watch coloured glass tumble into flowers of light.
🪔 Kolam at DawnDraw a rice-flour kolam round a grid of dots at a doorstep, four ways at once.
🧶 Backstrap LoomWeave a patterned band on a backstrap loom in the hills above Cusco, row by row.
🍁 Gravel GardenRake a dry garden of pale gravel round its old stones, until a maple leaf drifts down.
🖌️ Brush and InkWrite Chinese characters with a soft brush over a grey model, and seal each sheet.
🎨 Amphora PainterPaint black slip round a turning amphora in Athens, then fire it in the kiln.
🏮 Shadow TheatreWork a leather shadow puppet behind a lamplit screen in Xi’an, and bring the scholar to bow.
From the Verdant Basin
🌳 Chicle CampTap the sapodilla with Don Aurelio, then boil the chicle until it pulls like toffee.
🌄 The Sun StonesSweep a torch low across worn carving to read which sun each stone belongs to.
From the Sat-Link console
Stories
Short films of Cara, made in her chapters, and books about her world. Watch with captions, or listen while she tells it to you live on a call; choose your path and decide what she does next; or read a book, or have it read to you.
Tutorials
Short films of Cara showing how to play: she does it for real, with the keys and the touch buttons on screen. Watch with captions for free, or have her explain it live on a call.
Extras
More to read, for anyone who wants it.
Bonus scenesShort films of Cara in every chapter: dances, lookouts, postcards and outtakes.
About CaraThe expedition, the campaigns, the team, her nerves, and three steps to a phone call.
How the call worksA real-time voice model with your own key, stored only in this browser.
Story archiveEarlier versions of the story, kept as they were written.
PricingThe game is free. Sat-Link minutes are what you buy.
Bonus scenes
Short films of Cara in every chapter, filmed where she stands. Each opens its chapter and plays; the start screen, the pause menu and the chapter’s end have them too.