Santa Monica Pier's History Unveiled In New ‘Secret Story Tour'

Press release from Santa Monica Pier:

Nov. 1, 2020

The historic Santa Monica Pier has reimagined the way guests can experience the Pier with ‘Secret Story Tour,’ the new, immersive digital quest that travels back in time to discover the most legendary secret stories from the landmark’s 110 year legacy.

Created by renowned game design duo, The Wild Optimists, and developed in partnership with the Santa Monica Pier Corporation, Secret Story Tour is a family-friendly, location-based digital tour where guests solve a total of 12 puzzles on their quest, each revealing a fun fact or untold story from the Pier’s rich history. Each puzzle game unlocks the next when solved, creating an engaging immersive experience that invites guests to discover multiple points throughout the Pier. For added fun, each of the clues offers a photo filter before moving to the next clue to capture and share the experience along the way.
“We can't think of a better time to bring this digital/physical hybrid experience to life,” said Negin Singh, Executive Director of the Santa Monica Pier Corporation. “We know that everyone, especially families, are looking for safe and fun activities, and we are lucky to have puzzle masters like the Wild Optimists, and an open-air space to make it happen!"

This digital tour is an adventure for all ages and can be used in household groups or individually and accessed through any smart mobile device. The location-based tour can be downloaded in the app store and can only be experienced while visiting the Pier, allowing guests to explore the Pier and solve the quest at their leisure and from safe distances. Secret Story Tour launches October 15, 2020 for $19.99 and is available now for download on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Santa Monica Pier is also launching a new Pier Prize Card September 28 - November 8, offering guests an opportunity to win prizes for making purchases at participating Pier businesses. For every separate purchase over $10, guests will receive a Pier Prize Card stamp; collect all three stamps and enter to win the weekly raffle. Winners are chosen every Friday with prizes including Santa Monica hotel stays, restaurant gift cards, exclusive merchandise and much more. Pier Prize Cards are available at participating businesses; for a full list of businesses and prizes, please visit santamonicapier.org/prizecard.

Take a break from exploration and adventure to enjoy a meal, outdoor fitness class or simply take in the fresh air and incredible ocean views from restaurants on the Pier that have expanded their outdoor dining space. The new Pier Deck Park offers large, physically distanced spaces to dine outdoors or participate in a fitness class from some of Santa Monica's favorite fitness studios including Pure Barre and Circuit Works.

The Santa Monica Pier remains committed to ensuring the health and safety of the community, visitors, and staff. The Pier is open daily with limited operations and capacity. Face coverings are required on the Santa Monica Pier and all guests are encouraged to practice physical distancing.

For more information on health and safety guidelines as well as details on what to expect when visiting the Pier, please visit santamonicapier.org.

Santa Monica Shines is the community-partnered outreach effort for Santa Monica’s economic recovery that provides resources to residents, employees and businesses throughout the city at SantaMonicaShines.com.

This press release was produced by Santa Monica Pier. The views expressed here are the author's own.