JO
I was lucky enough to be a 'Crystal Tester' on the first run on Monday night in Islington. It's based near Angel tube station on White Lion Street. If you intend to go you might not want to read this, if you want things to be a total surprise.
It wasn't 100% up and running with the full launch being a couple of weeks away, the bar and viewing wasn't in place etc. I'm planning on writing a more detailed review in due course because it's such a significant thing if you're a fan of the show.
When I first saw the building I was sceptical....
But what they've done with the space is absolutely amazing. The game rooms were very authentic and well designed. The crystal dome is magnificent, with speakers inside playing the music and lighting in time with that music. The zones have been built in such a way that they feel like the right size, despite the awkward geography of the building. Future world seems to be across both the ground and first floor, it feels like a much more contemporary interpretation of a space ship. The industrial zone is also a lot richer than the original. The Medieval set feels like the original just a bit bigger. Only Aztec doesn't really feel big enough, it is very well observed in terms of the features and colours etc but it's across three rooms, the set is lovely but it's not the vast space we see in the concept art below.
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/images/original/93100.png
I was going to be one of the more difficult fans to please and really wanted the geographically and the transitions to be respected, they haven't 100% due to set up but what they've done has really made up for it. Industrial does have the pipe used for the Aztec transition but it goes into Futuristic where you drop into an individual pod and drop down into the spaceship for example. Futuristic also seems to use two or maybe three levels of the building. Pretty much everything just felt right.
There where no phsyical timers yet, don't know if this is intentional to allow timings to kept across all zones so everyone moves at the right time.
Every team member got at least two or three games and you feel very involved in most games played by others, this in addition to the dome of course. It seems the maze master will also do their best to make sure everyone gets a fair crack at the whip.
Dome set up needed to be a bit more polished and tightened up that'll come I'd hope with time. The four teams come together to just collect gold tokens, with the winning team being the one with the most, after their time in the dome. No silvers to worry about.
It could definitely be roled out to at least 4 or 5 venues nationally as a franchise model.
Very pleased I backed the original campaign if you are going you are in for a treat I can't see anyone not enjoying it. Seems to be fully booked up till November now.
If you've got any questions, I'll see if I can answer them.
It wasn't 100% up and running with the full launch being a couple of weeks away, the bar and viewing wasn't in place etc. I'm planning on writing a more detailed review in due course because it's such a significant thing if you're a fan of the show.
When I first saw the building I was sceptical....
But what they've done with the space is absolutely amazing. The game rooms were very authentic and well designed. The crystal dome is magnificent, with speakers inside playing the music and lighting in time with that music. The zones have been built in such a way that they feel like the right size, despite the awkward geography of the building. Future world seems to be across both the ground and first floor, it feels like a much more contemporary interpretation of a space ship. The industrial zone is also a lot richer than the original. The Medieval set feels like the original just a bit bigger. Only Aztec doesn't really feel big enough, it is very well observed in terms of the features and colours etc but it's across three rooms, the set is lovely but it's not the vast space we see in the concept art below.
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/images/original/93100.png
I was going to be one of the more difficult fans to please and really wanted the geographically and the transitions to be respected, they haven't 100% due to set up but what they've done has really made up for it. Industrial does have the pipe used for the Aztec transition but it goes into Futuristic where you drop into an individual pod and drop down into the spaceship for example. Futuristic also seems to use two or maybe three levels of the building. Pretty much everything just felt right.
There where no phsyical timers yet, don't know if this is intentional to allow timings to kept across all zones so everyone moves at the right time.
Every team member got at least two or three games and you feel very involved in most games played by others, this in addition to the dome of course. It seems the maze master will also do their best to make sure everyone gets a fair crack at the whip.
Dome set up needed to be a bit more polished and tightened up that'll come I'd hope with time. The four teams come together to just collect gold tokens, with the winning team being the one with the most, after their time in the dome. No silvers to worry about.
It could definitely be roled out to at least 4 or 5 venues nationally as a franchise model.
Very pleased I backed the original campaign if you are going you are in for a treat I can't see anyone not enjoying it. Seems to be fully booked up till November now.
If you've got any questions, I'll see if I can answer them.
Last edited by Jon on 3 October 2016 11:49pm - 7 times in total