Citydash - Fire hazard, 5th April

I guess cos solving clues in a locked room isn’t enough for me, I decided to sign up to a similar thing but one where you’re chased. That’s right, there are guards protecting the very thing you’re seeking and they WILL pursue you to stop you getting your goal. It’s terrifying and exhilarating and the hardest running I’ve done outside since I was a child.

So, the premise – there are, hidden around a certain (and rather wide-ranging) area, various checkpoints – in our case, cos it was Easter, they were little eggs. These eggs had codes on them. The aim of the game is to get the most points out of all the teams playing. Each checkpoint has a code and when you enter it to the web page for your team, you collect the points. The clues you have to solve help you figure out where these checkpoints are. Smartphones are essential. But that’s all very simple and this game is not. No – there are extra points for being the first team to reach a checkpoint, and checkpoints have different amounts of points allocated to them depending on how easy they are to either find, or just get to. You see, points are deducted if one of the guards (in our case dressed as bunnies because Easter, again) spots you and ‘catches’ you. When you start the game you pin individual codes to yourself and if a guard enters your code into their web page, you’re ‘caught’. You’re not out of the game, but as well as points being deducted from your team, you get frozen out of that zone and can’t collect anymore checkpoints. So, when you see those guards, you know what you do? You RUN! And run and run. And then you cautiously creep back to where that checkpoint is, and they’re still there! And they’re after you again! And you’re pelting it away until you can be sure they’re not on your back. Me and my team got trapped like this for what felt like an age early on when we’d actually found our first checkpoint but couldn’t go to the next one without a guard being in the way.

But, you can get your own back a little. Each guard also has a code pinned to them and if you enter that then you get points as well. This is actually a key thing to remember. My team happened to be spotted quite frequently and we forgot to take advantage of entering our guards’ codes when we had a chance.

This is a really fast-paced game – you get given a set of checkpoints to find at the start but as the game keeps going more and more open up – you need to constantly be planning and strategizing on the fly to get as many points as you can. Your original strategy may go completely out the window, especially if you’re frozen out of a zone.

Now, this happened to us frequently. We’d get to a checkpoint only to be told the code we’d entered wasn’t counted – we’d been spotted again. More accurately, our over six foot friend wearing the bright red top had been spotted. We were caught so much we actually won a prize for it at the end. When us two, smallish girls in dark clothing stood up with our giant red teammate, everyone laughed because it was immediately obvious who had cost us so many points. However, he was also our secret weapon because he lived in the area we were running around and knowing the area was invaluable in figuring out where the checkpoints were. He may have cost us lots of points but we probably also only got as many as we did because of him. Knowing the area is a huge advantage.

This sort of game is quite physical so it’s not for everyone but I found all the running around to be a blast, even though I didn’t exactly enjoy being chased. Next time we’re coming back faster, stronger, and stealthier!

I think one reason I might have enjoyed all the running is that it made me feel a lot less guilty about going to the Fry Hard pop up straight after where we indulged in lots of deep fried goodness – my friend and I shared deep fried: cheese strings, cherry bakewell, slice of lemon cake, Tunnock’s caramel, pickle and a fudge. So incredibly bad but oh so good. Probably good it was only there for a weekend.  

Agent November, 12th July

So, for all you puzzle lovers and treasure-hunt enthusiasts, you’ll be pleased to know there’s another game afoot in London. Brought to you from a Hint Hunt ex-employee is Agent November – a game where you must use your wits and ingenuity to save London from a catastrophic explosion! Born of the same stable as Hint Hunt there are similarities, not least in the time frame and having to race against the clock. There is also a similarly constrained area in which to solve the puzzle, though this time you’re outside rather than in. Everything you will need for the game is provided, unlike with Door in aWall, where you wouldn’t get very far without a smartphone.

I went along to the inaugural game so we were very much the guinea pigs, meaning there are probably some things that will change or run more smoothly as it finds its feet. But we still had a really fun hour and a half and, I’m happy to report, we also managed to solve all the clues and save London from imminent disaster! Of course, I can’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil any surprises or give anything away!

You get about twenty minutes at the beginning of the game to be given the backstory and get a few initial clues together before being lead over to where the ‘action’ takes place. Some things are straightforward tasks to complete but others require a little sideways thinking, and of course there are a few red herrings along the way as well. Even seemingly unrelated things, though, were hidden clues, that made us all go ‘aaahhh’ at the end once we’d figured it all out. A couple of things in particular I thought were ingenious but obviously I won’t say what they were!

Agent November was on hand throughout to help should you get stuck though there aren’t any other characters to meet or interact with. I had a few seasoned puzzlers with me, and we would have preferred a bit less help. Some of the hints were some that seemed to appear out of nowhere when we would rather have figured something out. And, considering we did solve it with several minutes to spare, we wouldn’t have minded a few extra riddles or puzzles to solve, or spending some more time on solving clues ourselves rather than having a hint or clue given to us. I#d probably pitch its ease at a little below that of Hint Hunt, which doesn't help if you haven't been to Hint Hunt! Having said that, there was a point about halfway through where I really thought we were no way near figuring it all out and that time would run out before we did. You never know whether the next clue will pull it all together or lead to something else to solve, and of course it depends on the order you manage to find them in.  We had a full team of 6 which worked well but if you had less I think you could still manage to find everything within the time frame if you don’t mind a bit of running about!

This is a great way to spend a couple of hours, giving your brain a work out with some likeminded friends. If you've already done Hint Hunt or a Door in a Wall, and are looking for something new, or if you're yet to try them and want to see what these live puzzle adventures are all about, then Agent November is your man!