London's best immersive games

Step out of your comfort zone and jump right into the fun
Fright night: Zed Events put on a zombie-filled game in a disused shopping centre
(Zed Events)
Jochan Embley11 August 2015

Immersive games are popping up all over London. Some of them include putting your mind to solving cryptic clues in order to escape a room, while others force you to ward off hordes of zombies. Here are the best.

City Dash

London is in danger of being beamed into space, and only you can stop it – or so the story goes. You’ll set off in teams and rush to a series of checkpoints, located using an app on your phone. Once at the checkpoint, you’ll have to unearth a secret code and enter it into the app, which adds points to an overall leaderboard – all while evading the patrolling guards. The winners get chocolate oranges, by the way.

Find it: Various locations; citydash.net

HintHunt

A detective challenge that doubles up as a race against time. You’ll find yourself locked in a room as part of a team of five, frantically trying to unravel a mystery. It isn’t easy – cryptic clues are slowly fed to you as the clock ticks closer to zero – but it’s the perfect opportunity to prove yourself as the super sleuth you’ve always known you are.

Find it: 72-76 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BY; hinthunt.co.uk

Hostage

This, from Colab Theatre, is the continuation of last year's popular spy thriller, Fifth Column. You'll be trained in infiltration techniques before tailing another enemy agent to their HQ. Once there, you'll have to sneak inside, dealing with guards, laser mazes and a whole bunch of other stuff that would get even Mr Bond himself a bit clammy-handed.

Find it: Secret location; colabtheatre.co.uk

Infiltration: Hostage, by Colab Theatre
Daniel Lynch

Zed Events

How long would you survive in a zombie apocalypse? Come on, you’ve thought about it at least once. This is your chance to find out. An abandoned shopping centre in Reading (only a 25-minute train journey from Paddington station) has become overrun with the undead and it’s up to you, armed with an airsoft gun, to fight them off. Expect terrifyingly real-looking zombies.

Find it: The Mall, Reading, RG1 1NR; zedevents.co.uk

clueQuest

Get the grey matter working with this one, as you and a team of other would-be escape artists tackle riddles, brain-teasers and puzzles in an attempt to escape the room you are locked in. It takes teamwork and a good dose of common sense – and you’ve only got an hour to work it all out.

Find it: 169-171 Caledonian Road, N1 0SL; cluequest.co.uk

Undercover London

Embrace your inner James Bond and head to central London to carry out a series of top secret missions, which range from collecting dossiers from unnamed contacts to conducting covert stake-outs. Operating either as a lone wolf or as a pair, you’ll be working against other spies for around an hour and a half – all before debriefing over a pint at a local pub afterwards.

Find it: Various locations; undercover.fire-hazard.net

Covert: Undercover London
Fire Hazard

Time Run

This escape game is situated in a Hackney industrial estate, but you’ll soon forget that’s where you really are – when the Standard’s very own adventurer, Toby Green, paid a visit, he wrote: “The Crystal Maze would have been proud of these sets”. You’re effectively transported through time as you frantically move from room to room, solving the puzzles within.

Find it: 9-15 Helmsley Place, E8 3SB; time-run.com

Enigma Escape

This escape game is of the same ilk as the others mentioned here – 60 minutes to solve clues and escape – but the backstory is intriguing: you’ve gone to see the latest blockbuster, The Killer, at the cinema. As the film begins, something goes wrong and you pass out. When you awake, you’re locked in a cage and have to find a way to escape.

Find it: Unit 38 The Studios, 10 Hornsey Street, N7 8EL; enigmaescape.co.uk

Locked up: Enigma Escape
Enigma Escape

Agent November

There are three possible adventures to embark upon here: the first sees you try to overcome a maniac with a nuclear bomb, another tasks you with foiling a group of bank robbers while the third option sees you solve the mystery of your own attempted murder. You’ll be cracking clues all over London.

Find it: 60 Chalton Street, NW1 1HS; agentnovember.co.uk

London Street Games

If you think most immersive games just aren’t immersive enough, then try these guys out. London Street Games offer treasure hunts, spy missions and clue trail parties, but with a difference. They’ll ring you up beforehand to get the lowdown on the people you’ll be attending with, and they’ll use that information to personalise the game’s characters and story line

Find it: Various locations; londonstreetgames.com

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