If you’ve come here looking for the latest London news, you might want to jump to the monthly news updates instead.

You can’t have failed to notice that there’s been a lot of news about cool stuff happening in London recently. I felt like it was time to jump on the bandwagon and throw together my own article of what’s cool in the capital. As with all cool things, though, if you don’t jump in quickly, there’s a risk it will melt away, so if you’re at all interested get booking!

Dates	Show	What I know!
Now – 14 Mar	A Door in a Wall: Dead Drop	If you follow this blog, you’ll know I rave about A Door in a Wall. Dead Drop is up there with their best work, a murder mystery, puzzle hunt, immersive theatre evening which I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, the venue they’re running it at is unexpectedly closing, so there are only a few more shows and even fewer tickets. Get in quick!
Now – 18 Mar	The Lifeboat	A temporary, 30 minute escape room at the Vault Festival. I played in early February and had a fun time although enthusiasts’ opinions have varied wildly.
Now – 18 Mar	Revolution	I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game last year and can highly recommend it. As I said at the time: It’s most definitely gaming theatre, but it’s also kind of a souped-up board game with creative challenges, a bit of political debate and, to some extent, commentary, with a dose of diplomacy and, at times, espionage heaped on top. The beauty of this experience is that you can make of it what you want.
Now – 25 Mar	The Grift	One participant (in their promo video admittedly) described it as ‘escape room meets the Crystal Maze with immersive theatre’, which certainly got my attention, and a friend of a friend said it was good, so I’ll probably head along. Talking to the team behind the show, I’d characterise it as an immersive game with challenges but don’t expect to be competing as you might in, say, A Door in a Wall’s traditional games. Note that it’s closer to theatre prices than escape room prices, so expect to be paying £45+ to head along.
Now – 15 Apr	Hidden Figures: WWII	A new experience that’s just opened in the Colab Factory near Waterloo. I’m heading along next week and don’t know anyone who’s played yet so I can’t give you much advice. It has a lot going for it though including a focus on characters that have been sidelined or worse during traditional storytelling and a mini-escape room.
Now – May 6	Somnai	It’s not actually a game experience but I’ve heard enough conversations about it that I think it’s worth mentioning here as I think there will be a lot of crossover.
10 Mar	Aces and Operatives	This is a new game from Rogue Events, the company behind the Bothwell School of Witchcraft – a three day long Harry Potter styled experience in an old castle-like building.
6/7 April	The Network: Online Hacking and Cybeterrorism	The Imperial War Museum are running an exhibition on artists’ responses to war and terror. Alongside that they’re hosting this show which explores the risks networked technologies pose to human life and national security. It’s produced in partnership with Exit Productions who created the highly rated Revolution, so I have reasonable expectations.
18 Apr – 10 Jun	For King and Country	I know very, very little about this experience and tickets aren’t even on sale yet but it’s another WWII theatrical event with gaming aspects. This time round, you’re part of a small group of MPs and their families that will have the fate of the country in their hands. With a two hour showtime, it seems like there’s plenty of time to tell a story, play a game and have a good finale. Fingers crossed! (Note that this was previously run as Keep Calm and Carry On)
3 May – 20 May	Parabolic Theatre Co: Land of Nod	This show looks incredibly intriguing – combining immersive theatre and treasure while you wend your way across central Croydon. I headed along to one of their pure immersive theatre performances last year and while I had my criticisms, there was something about it that made me think they can create an interesting storyline for something a little more game-y.
19 May – 2 Sep	Hunted	If you’ve watched the TV show you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, you’re in the same boat as me. It is pretty much what you’d expect given the title though – be chased through London trying to evade capture.  Fire Hazard are behind the scenes here, so expect a pretty impressive experience.

As usual, London’s immersive gaming experience is well served by escape rooms. If you want my up-to-date guide for London’s games then check out this page which has recommendations and maps of all that’s on offer within the M25!

That’s all, folks

That’s all I’m aware of. If any of the above is incorrect, then let me know via email or in the comments below; or, equally, if you’re aware of other news, please let tell me and I’ll include updates in the next edition.

Thanks for reading!