Review: 'A Door in a Wall' Treasure Hunts

 

Mob Justice          14th, 15th, 21st and 22nd May 2011


'A Door in a Wall' is a team of lovely young adventurers who create interactive treasure hunts (amongst other exciting games!) based in London.  'Mob Justice' is their latest offering to keen sleuths, a chance to solve an imaginary kidnap.


Players were lured in by Facebook and Twitter:  "Judge Andrew Rhee is overseeing the biggest organised crime trial London can remember, with everything from tax evasion to murder on the list of charges. So when his daughter Jewel is kidnapped - he knows whoever is behind it means business. With only a cryptic ransom note and details of the trial, can your team of investigators find out where Jewel is being held before time runs out?"


Teams (a prize offered for the best name!) met at City Arts and Music Project in Shoreditch for a briefing by 'Lee Gality' (Tom Williams), gathering all key information needed.   They were then let loose around the city, following a trail of cryptic clues.  Participants were challenged by characters involved in the story, a superb team of actors!  My two particular favourites involved a 'parking attendent' asking players to park a remote controlled car in order to access vital information...and another which involved teams re-writing lyrics to Bryan Adams 'Everything I Do' with an animal welfare theme, then singing them in the back of a van parked in Kings Cross!


I've taken part in many Door in a Wall treasure hunts in the past but this time I was helping out the team - I was my friend Tom Kirby's assistant in the Aldwych area and it was my job to help him set clues up, look after the actor, and check everything was running smoothly.  There was a hairy moment when I was chalking a code onto a path in Lincoln's Inn Fields, when I realised I'd disturbed the cosy sleeping area of a homeless guy! Then later on I checked the same path and there was a group doing Tai Chi on the clue...it all worked out alright in the end thank goodness!  My favourite part was stealthily watching the teams interact with each other and the clues. I had a great weekend, capturing it on Instagram (my favourite app!)


If you took part in 'Mob Justice' what were your favourite moments? 

One of the teams (including my husband!) dressed as jewel thieves...clever huh?

One of the clues lay in a receipt from Get Coffee.  The guys working in the cafe were so accommodating and the coffee was delicious.

Dead pub on Fetter Lane

Kostas Muchasthis - Mafia lawyer in character in High Holborn.

Boris Bikes could be useful in covering the areas?

The team behind this event are amazing - I am absolutely bowled over at how much work, creativity and organisation goes into these treasure hunts.  The day ended up back in the bar at CAMP for a well earned beverage, where there was time to consider all possibilities before handing in your team's conclusion to the investigation. 


There was a dramatic unveiling of the kidnapper's identity and the winning team was announced.  In a surprise ending to the evening's events, a message was radioed to the audience, followed by masked gunmen bursting into the room still holding Jewel captive!  The winning team unfortunately had to hand over the prize 'money' as a ransom.  Brilliant guys!

My photos from the evening are on the Door in a Wall Flickr group. If you fancy trying your hand at the next adventure (who knows what exciting things they'll have on offer), then the best place to find out more in on the website or on Facebook or Twitter.  If you're up for a day of fun around the capital and fancy yourself as a bit of a Sherlock, then get involved!