If you’re looking for something to do as a family, the Crystal Maze experience is it.
Well, for a slightly older family anyway. The lower age limit is 9, and there is no upper age limit, although you need to be able to climb stairs, duck under stuff, and go down a massive slide (the slide is awesome).
We actually went to this years ago when it first opened in Manchester, but there is a London site too which has been running for a bit longer. They are perhaps a little different in terms of the layout and the game rooms they have, but the experience is designed to be the same.
The awesome thing about the Crystal Maze is that you don’t need to know what it is to enjoy it. You could come to it with zero idea of what it is or where it comes from and still have an absolute blast. Yet, for us oldies who remember watching the show on telly in the 90s, it is extra special.
I can honestly say that I have never been to an experience that was more immersive than the Crystal Maze. The guys behind it have done such a fantastic job of recreating all the different zones from the show, and although Richard O’Brien is obviously not guiding you around, the various different maze masters are wonderfully weird and entertaining.
Here’s how our visit went.
Our Visit to The Crystal Maze Manchester
The Manchester venue had only been open for a few months back when we went, and there was quite a lot of buzz about it, making getting tickets difficult.
It’s much easier now, but that scarcity effect meant we were feeling really lucky to be going and were pretty excited before we even walked through the doors.
We didn’t end up with the classic jackets contestants used to wear on the TV show, which was a bit of a disappointing start, but everything was brilliant from that point on. We secured our bits and bobs in the lockers, got a pep talk from one of the crew, and were on our way to meet our maze master.
Maze Masters
The crew member leaves you in a little room to watch a video intro from Richard O’Brien, basically saying sorry he’s not there but he’s left you in good hands, then your maze master bursts in.
Ours was a sort of paper boy and video gamer called Scooter. He was very 1990s. He had us rapping the words to Fresh Prince of Bel Air as part of his introduction. I was thrilled that I still remembered most of the words. Scooter explained who he was, got to know us a bit, and explained how the experience would work.
He was full of jokes and tricks as he took us around, and handed out an old Gameboy from time to time, to give us a chance at an extra crystal, or to help someone who got locked in to get back in the team.
The maze masters are all different, though. You might meet some of the others on the way around as they jump from one zone to the next. I saw a hobbit like guy, a wizard, a girl in a Newcastle United kit. They all had their own individual characters.
The maze master’s job is to guide you around the maze, talk to Mumsie on the headset (I’m pretty sure this was the control room telling them when to move on and slow down etc), and keep hold of your crystals until the Crystal Dome at the end.
They will help you, support you, tease you, and mock you in equal measure!
The Rooms and Zones
Honestly, the set was amazing. Every inch of it had been transformed into the famous zones from the Crystal Maze: Medieval, Industrial, Aztec, and Futuristic.
Each zone has a bunch of game rooms that are either physical, mystery, mental or skill, and your team captain picks who will play next and what sort of game they will tackle. You aren’t able to do every game in every zone for this reason, but that makes it more realistic since the TV show worked in the same way. It gives you a reason to come back, too.
There will be another group ahead of you and one following you, too. One group in each zone at any one time. You never meet them but the maze master sometimes has to slow you down or stop for an improvised game to buy time while the group ahead moves on. They are very good at this (Scooter’s Gameboy came in handy) and have a bunch of jokes and challenges up their sleeve.
Oh and they play the classic theme tune in between the zones too: dun dun dun duhhhhhhhh – dun dun!
I genuinely giggled the first time it happened. I felt like I was 11 years old again!
We all got to play 2 games each, but it’s just as much fun watching your teammates and shouting encouragement or offering advice. It’s a teamwork event, after all.
Eventually you get to the Crystal Dome, and oh my God it’s just how I dreamed it! Plus, the famous jackets finally make an appearance. You only get to wear them for the Dome, but it caps off the experience nicely.
There’s a leader board for the teams who collect the most crystals and gold tokens, but that’s not really what it’s about. It’s just as much fun if you do badly, arguably even more fun as you can have a good laugh about it.
Ticket Cost
This is an epic experience. The team at Little Lion Entertainment have pulled out all the stops and not skimped on details at any point, so you might be expecting an epic price tag?
Not so much.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not cheap, but for 90 minutes worth of high quality truly immersive entertainment, I think it’s great value.
The ticket price changes depending on when you want to go. It’s a bit like Uber: when demand is higher so is the price, but when it’s not you can get a bargain.
Here’s a price range for standard tickets:
- Off Peak: £48.80 – £61.00
- Peak: £59.40 – £66.00
There is a sort of middle tier as well where the tickets will be in the middle of these two ranges, but it can change from one time slot to another on the same day so I won’t list them all. The least you will ever pay is £48.80 and the most is £66.00.
Unless you buy VIP tickets which come with additional goodies (like a real Crystal maze crystal to take home!), or a family ticket which knocks about £5 off the price of any ticket. However, family tickets aren’t available on peak days.
Mumsie Says You Should Go
I can thoroughly recommend the Crystal Maze Live Experience for a family day out. Go as a big group for the best experience. Take the kids and the grandparents.
It might only take a couple of hours from arriving to leaving the experience, but use it as the main part of a day out to Manchester or London, and it’s just the ticket.
We all had such a great time, it was a great way to bond as a family, and we still talk about it today.
It truly feels like you are in a different world. There must be a beach’s worth of sand in the Aztec zone, for example, the steam and constant clanking in the industrial zone is very atmospheric, and I still don’t understand how they made some parts of the futuristic zone work.
If you have the cash you should definitely go try it out. You might come out a little tired but you will be a lot happy.
