We take off at a sprint, and I curse my choice of footwear. Bounding out of the park, I shout out to Tim, “there, that’s Gordon’s Wine Bar!” but before he can turn to look at it we’re past it and through a gate. Ahead of me, Ed jogs on unflappably. Matt races past me as I slow a little to catch my breath, and I turn to see Kneace just behind.
We turn onto a side street, and I think it’s a dead end, but then Tim turns up an alley I hadn’t spotted and we’re on the Strand. Dodging taxis, we make it across the road and up onto Bedford Street, our destination. Our eyes turn to Matt, who reads the clue aloud, and our eyes scan across the shop fronts, searching for a jewellers…
My latest trip to London featured an immersive experience called “80 Days: A Real World Adventure”. Part of the Underbelly Festival on South Bank and designed and run by Fire Hazard Games, this “high-energy urban street game” features mad dashes, puzzle solving, prioritisation and Victorian banter.
A group of friends I know through megagaming decided to sign up, and I was quick to plan to make the trip down to do it with them. In fact, there were so many of us interested that we had to get tickets on two different days so that everyone could attend. After registering, we realised we had to do it in teams of one to five, so our 10 August group became two teams: “A Team Has No Name” and “We’re Here to Drink Gin and Kick Ass and We’re All Outta Ass”. I named the latter but was part of the former, along with Tim, Matt, Ed and Kneace.
