What's it like to be a Traitor or take part in Squid Game and Race Across the World?
Radio Times'sLaura Rutkowski tests out the live experiences from three popular TV game shows...
BBC
- Laura Rutkowski
It’s not enough to just watch TV any more — we need to experience it. As people increasingly choose to prioritise and pay for interactive “experiences” over material things, and live, sleep and breathe all things entertainment, production companies have seen an opening — what if you could actually step into the world of your favourite TV show, even if it’s just for a couple of hours?
Ad
It seems to have all started with Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience, which debuted in Brisbane, Australia in 1997, and has since gone global. The Crystal Maze Live Experience launched in 2016 and arguably made these types of events mainstream. If you name a TV show, there’s probably been an experience for it: Friends, Doctor Who, Taskmaster, The Cube.
In the US, Netflix House is launching later this year as a free year-round entertainment venue for fans to step inside the worlds of their favourite shows, from Stranger Things to Squid Game.
In August, the dating app Thursday partnered up with Love Is Blind: UK in London, Manchester and Glasgow to allow singletons to go on blind dates in “pods”, just like they do in the series. Clearly, some shows really are just crying out to be experienced firsthand.
So, along with my friends, family and colleagues, I put these three to the test…
For a while she manages to hide the fact she was recruited to join the Traitors and dons the infamous hooded cloak. Huw Fullerton
THE TRAITORS
GAME FACE ON I’m playing the game with 13 other players — most of whom are strangers — across two hours. Our host (sadly not Claudia Winkleman) instructs us at the Round Table (exactly like the one in the show) in tasks where we work together to win gold. Everything you do once you step into the room counts, and a good poker face is crucial.
100% FAITHFUL The game is surprisingly tense and follows the rules of The Traitors very closely — of all the TV experiences, this one is probably the closest to the real thing. My heart’s pounding, I’m nervous, and I’m lying terribly! I nearly go out at the very first Round Table because a few people, including a sweet woman called Gemma, vote for me. I’m told I seem “a bit shifty”. I blame my American accent. I can now see why people get emotional during the real show -— it’s very easy to get defensive when people make assumptions about your character!
RT’s resident reality game show enthusiast, Laura Rutkowski, gets grilled at the Traitors Round Table. Laura Rutkowski
SPECS APPEAL Before the game, you’re advised not to wear noisy clothing so you’re not caught. Participants are instructed to wear a blindfold, and at certain moments, only the Traitors are asked to remove them. But if you wear glasses, taking them on and off causes a commotion — people pick up on the noise and, well, they are banished. However, if you’re murdered or banished, you still get to watch the rest of the players from a separate room and remain involved in some of the tasks.
BOARD ROOM Writing people’s names on the board to eliminate them is thrilling. It’s even more fun if you’re a Traitor and you get to “murder” other players in a sneaky way. I start off Faithful and then get recruited as a Traitor. I’m voted out during the final Round Table after someone spots that “something changed” in me. No one wins anything, but it makes the urge to win this skilful game no less great.
thetraitorslive.co.uk
BBC
RACE ACROSS THE WORLD
MAD FOR IT We called our team “The Madchesters”, consisting of my parents Alison and Pieter, who live in Manchester (my mum is from there, my dad is American, which clearly was my downfall during The Traitors Live Experience), and their two friends, married couple Glenys and Nick, who was born and bred in Manchester. I thought I could use their local expertise! Teams can include up to eight players or be split into two smaller teams to race each other, and there’s also a London version of the experience. Our journey starts on the lovely yellow tram as we make our way into the centre of Manchester to our secret location, disclosed via WhatsApp, as all our instructions are. We begin with a £30 in-game budget that we can spend or lose, and we can also request virtual “work” to earn money.
Laura’s team pause on their journey. Laura Rutkowski
LUNCH BREAK This is a very smart way of seeing the city as we pass the statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, plenty of Oasis posters and neon lights that read, “You’re my wonderwall,” and the symbolic worker bee. For each location, there’s also a little history lesson. We have to respond and solve puzzles and clues within WhatsApp, as well as actual physical ones in pubs, where we tell the staff, “We’re on the race”. We also get a 20 per cent discount on drinks — clever. My dad wants me to point out that his pint of IPA only cost £2.60… without the discount! Ahh, Manchester.
A GRAND DAY OUT You can gently stroll, with in-built stops along the way, or “race” and complete it as quickly as you can, because you are up against other teams. Out of four, we came fourth. The whole experience is meant to take around two to three hours, and we took five, but we had a great time! It is stressful, though, especially with everyone’s differing senses of direction, and ability to solve tricky clues. I’m not surprised people break down in tears on the show — it’s a true initiative test, and this is only Manchester, never mind trekking across Asia without a map!
raceacrosstheworldexperience.com/manchester
Pete Dadds/Netflix © 2023
SQUID GAME
PLAYER 275 On arrival everyone is given a vest with numbers on — I’m branded player 275 — and then have our photo taken. It’s all starting just like Netflix’s Squid Game… though hopefully less violent. When we’re taken through to our dorm, we’re greeted by the game’s guards in their hot pink jumpsuits and masks. We’re split into two groups and the games begin as the mysterious Front Man’s voice chimes above, “If you cheat, just make sure you don’t get caught.”
CHEATS NEVER PROSPER?
We’re all given wristbands to digitally scan at the end of each game based on whether we passed or failed, equating to points on the leaderboard. The first of five games is Memory Steps, where you have to remember a sequence correctly as you cross an LED panel board. Then there’s a twist on the show’s heart-rending Marbles game, and later we compete in a tug-of-war. Next up is the infamous talking doll Young-hee in Red Light, Green Light. She cunningly catches a lot of people out when she calls, “Stop” followed quickly by another “Stop.” The leaderboard is updating, but people are logging that they’ve passed when they haven’t, and are even tapping their wristband multiple times to earn more points — a flaw of the game or exactly as it was intended in the first place?
END GAME The final game is Round and Round, where you must land on the right shape before the signal ends. The winner of that goes up against the leaderboard winner… who is a cheater. After they play a simple childhood game, the winner must choose whether to win one item from the giftshop for themselves or give everyone a discount. He chooses himself! Still, it seems fitting — as in the show, in the end, there really can only be one Squid Game winner. And unlike in the series, at least we all make it out alive.
Ad
squidgameexperienceuk.com
Authors
Laura Rutkowski
Ad
Ad
Get the Christmas double issue
Too much to watch at Christmas? Let Radio Times do the choosing to find something the whole family will enjoy.
Loading...
Ad
Loading...