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Sure, you already know that ’90s gameshow ‘The Crystal Maze’ is returning as an immersive live-action experience. But here are some thing that you might not know about the campaign – which has raised over £730,000 in crowdfunding in 30 days (and counting).
You might be able to get married there
Think you’re a ‘Maze’ super-geek for signing yourself up for a £45 ticket to enjoy the Aztec Zone in real life? You’ve got nothing on the happy couple who contacted ‘The Crystal Maze’ organisers to see if they could tie the knot there. ‘“Crystal Maze” weddings are definitely on the cards,’ says Tom. ‘I’m looking into getting ordained so I can perform the ceremonies myself!’ He’s joking. At least, we think he is.
It’ll be just like the TV show…
Four teams of eight will be let into the Maze at any one time, to compete across four zones: Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Futuristic. Each zone will feature eight games and the whole thing lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes. The first game to be announced is CM classic ‘Eggy Swamp,’ in which players will have to catapult dinosaur eggs into four giant nests to create stepping stones in order to reach the crystal prize. ‘It’s totally ridiculous, and that’s why we love it,’ says artistic director Tom Lionetti-Maguire.
...except for getting ‘locked in’
In the original show, if you screwed up a challenge, the door locked behind you and your teammates had to choose whether to buy you out or not. But the creators promised that if they raised £675,000, they’d construct a special prison with games people can play to escape, and they easily smashed that target. As executive producer Dean Rodgers points out: ‘It’s a bit unfair to pay for a ticket and then get locked in because your friends don’t want to waste a crystal.’ Funny, though.
Richard O’Brien’s involvement is a mystery
We know that everyone’s fave maze master (sorry Ed Tudor-Pole!) will be involved. But exactly how, we’re not sure. ‘Richard may live in New Zealand, but we’d always planned to have him welcome people to the maze,’ says Tom. ‘We’d initially thought of using a video, but we’re now looking at the possibility of something more technological and modern.’ Like what? A hologram? A teleporter? A ROBOT? Whatever, we’re excited.
Tickets will soon be gone...
Once ‘The Crystal Maze’ Indiegogo campaign closes at midnight on Saturday July 18, there’ll be no chance of getting a ticket for some time. But there’s still one way to get in. You can enter our competition to win a whole team’s worth of places which opens the morning after the campaign closes. Otherwise you’ll need to wait until the first wave of investors have passed through the maze. ‘Hopefully it won’t be any more than two months,’ says Dean. ‘Or three. Two or three.’
To win eight tickets to ‘The Crystal Maze’, check back to the Time Out London blog on the morning of Sunday July 19.
Find out how you can donate to the campaign.
Illustration: Rob Dobi