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There seem to me to be two types of people in the world: those who love cryptic crosswords and those who don’t. If you find fiendish word play and topsy-turvy word association a fun way to spend a few hours then you might enjoy the new game from Hidden City – a treasure hunt through the city that takes place via text messages in which you’re attempting to unearth the whereabouts of Sherlock’s famous nemesis Moriarty.
In teams of up to four, players are given a starting point not far from Sherlock’s Baker Street stomping ground. Things started off easy and me and my teammates breezed through part one with a satisfying back and forth of answers and clues. But it wasn’t long before we found ourselves trying to wrap our brains around more fiendish puzzles and wishing that one of our group was a regular completer of The Times’ cryptic crossword. On more than one occasion we resorted to the ‘hint function’ option, while at one depressing point a gaggle of teenage girls zipped past us. By midway through we had realised Sherlock wouldn’t be recruiting any of us any time soon.
On the day we were playing, things bottlednecked at the final destination and it wasn’t quite the finale we were hoping for – without giving things away we were at the very least expecting a stiff drink to reward our efforts, but the game fizzled out rather than choosing to end with a bang.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a piece of immersive theatre: it’s a straight up treasure hunt with only a slip of narrative. But it uses the city wonderfully: you’re taken to pretty pubs, down empty mews lanes and through museum attractions that you might otherwise overlook. And if you’re an ace at cryptic crosswords you’ll enjoy it even more.