The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience allows you and your friends to experience the thrill of being a contestant in the wonderfully camp 1990s TV gameshow The Crystal Maze…
Contents
What is the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience?
Crystal Maze LIVE Experience: the Good Stuff
Crystal Maze LIVE Experience: the Bad Stuff
A Brief History of The Crystal Maze
Things to Know Before Playing the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
Current Status of the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
What is the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience?
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience is a playable recreation of the 1990s TV show The Crystal Maze, which allows anyone to take part in a low stakes (but still glorious) recreation of the program.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, The Crystal Maze was a gameshow wherein a team of six ordinary people were tasked with completing a series of challenges as they moved through a massive, elaborate maze known as The Crystal Maze.
Winning a challenge secured the team a crystal, which could then be traded for time in The Crystal Dome (a giant money blower shaped like a crystal) at the end of the episode. Deliberately naff prizes were awarded based on the team’s performance in the Dome.
The Crystal Maze was a great deal of ridiculous fun, with much of the joy coming from:
- Watching players fail catastrophically at what seemed like simple tasks
- Trying to figure out riddles and puzzle games before the players could
- The antics of the gloriously-eccentric presenters (Richard O’Brien and Edward Tudor-Pole)
Crystal Maze LIVE Experience: the Good Stuff
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience is a lot of fun. There’s running around, large-scale games, cheering and jeering, scrambling through tubes, failing at simple tasks, and all the other things that you’d expect from an immersive experience based on the TV show.
It’s also impressive both for its scale and its authenticity. The maze is bigger than it looks from the outside, and lavishly decorated. They definitely haven’t cheaped out on the design.
Fans of the original TV show will recognise the vibe of the Aztec, Medieval and Industrial Zones. The Futuristic Zone has been given a bit of an update, reimagined for the 21st Century with lots of clean white lines and smooth surfaces. It’s not a match for the original TV show, but it does capture the spirit of it.
Plus there are some real fan-pleasing moments. The Dome itselt is a great photoshoot, enhanced by the provision of branded bomber jackets. And there’s a lovely video greeting at the start from a familiar face for anyone who watched the original Crystal Maze TV show.
The hosts are brilliant. Each has a unique personality. They’re not trying to be Richard O’ Brien, but they do a good job of being someone who feels a bit like hanging out with him. They also bring a huge amount of energy to the experience, and are a large part of why the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience works so well.
Crystal Maze LIVE Experience: the Bad Stuff
You’ll be in a team of up to eight people – two more than usually compete in the TV show. Because of this, you’ll likely only actually play one or two games. For the pricetag, you actually end up doing very little.
At the same time, you’re not just standing around like a lemon the rest of the time. You’re cheering on teammates, providing advice, and scampering from zone to zone. It’s still an engaging experience… but smaller teams would have made it even more so.
The games are generally well-built and challenging… but at times they feel wonky in the same way those on the TV show did. The one game you end up playing might feel unwinnable for reasons beyond your control – which can be frustrating if it’s the only game you get to play.
A Brief History of The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience is based on the original 1990s television gameshow The Crystal Maze. This series was launched in 1990, and discontinued in 1995. Even after its cancellation, it remained a popular cultural touchstone in the UK.
In 2016, the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience opened in London after a successful crowdfunding campaign. It was based on the original show, with a few updates to the look and feel. Given how nostalgic everyone was for the original Crystal Maze, it went down really well.
In 2016, a special charity fundraiser was filmed inside the immersive experience to raise funds for the charity Stand Up To Cancer. It was hosted by Stephen Merchant, and featured a team of celebrity contestants.
The special was originally planned as a one-off… but the positive reception it got laid the groundwork for a new, modern series of the Crystal Maze TV show. A brand new set was constructed in Bristol for a revived version of the show that ran from 2016 to 2020.
In the meantime, the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience has continued to thrive as a mostly separate endeavour.
Things to Know Before Playing the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
Dress lightly. You’ll be doing a lot of running around, and might end up playing a physical game. It gets hot in there. Wear light clothing. There are lockers for you to stow bags, coats and extra layers in.
Unless you have a full team of eight people you may be matched with some strangers to play. You generally won’t be split up from the people you came with, though!
Some of the games can be physically demanding or require a high degree of dexterity. Decide in advance if this isn’t for you, and tell your team captain that you’d prefer to play a Skill, Mental or Mystery game.
Don’t take the games too seriously. Remember: there are no prizes – not even naff ones. You’re playing for the experience!
There’s a bar at the end of the experience, and in theory anyone who wants to come along but not participate can just hang out in the bar. Almost nobody does this, though.
Current Status of the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in open and operating. It has one venue in London at 22-32 Shaftsbury Avenue, W1D 7EU (close to Picadilly Circus tube station) and one venue in Manchester at St Johns, Lower Byrom Street, M3 4FP (next to the Museum of Science & Industry).
Tickets cost around £50 in London and around £40 in Manchester, and can be booked via the website. You may need to book at least a few days in advance at busier times of year.