You too can be a traitor!
If you’re a Traitors fan like me, and ever wondered what it must be like to take part in the scorchingly successful TV show, then I have exciting news. Because on August 1st a new immersive reality attraction opened in the heart of London. It’s called the Traitors Live Experience and it’s a brilliantly conceived, nerve-wrackingly realistic, interactive recreation of the show, complete with the iconic round table, missions that give you the opportunity to build up your pot of gold and protective shields to be found and/or won. Then there are the brutal banishments - and the even more brutal discussions leading up to them - and yes, the merciless murders too.
Do you recognise the infamous yellow chair where Traitors participants are interviewed and, when heart-sinkingly relevant, receive their fateful murder messages?
Participants take part in groups of up to 14 - the game has been specifically designed to be played with people you don’t know and having done it with a friend (we brought the average age up by about 20 years!), a group of four people who knew each other and an otherwise randomly assigned group of strangers, I can see why it works well that way (you can book a private table if you want to play with a group you know).
Each group is escorted to their round table room where all the business of the game takes place (there’s no running around on the missions, they’re all different sorts of puzzles that require solving - although you do need to move around within the room to work out or discover the solutions. And in each of the rooms the puzzles are different, so you can go back multiple times and not have the same challenges). Each room has its Claudia Winkleman substitute host (for anyone who doesn’t know, Claudia is the brilliant presenter of the programme) who guides you through what you need to do and how the elements of the game, like the identifying of the traitors, and who is chosen as the murder victim are played (goggle-like blindfolds play an important part).
Just as in the real thing, the job of the players is to find and banish the traitors. And just like the real thing, if there is even one traitor left at the table at the end of the game, they take all the prize money.
Anyone who is banished or murdered is taken to a separate sitting room, decorated as if it was in the Traitors castle, where they can not only watch the rest of the game unfold on a large screen, but are also required to play a crucial part in the ongoing missions.
It’s all incredibly cleverly done, with the tension suitably ramped up as the game progresses, the pot of gold grows and the seats at the table empty, leading up to the final vote and reveal of the winner. They have their name added to the venue’s leaderboard and at the end of three months (the tickets are released in three month blocks) one of them is chosen at random to receive a big prize. The first one of which is a holiday. That kind of big!
The game lasts about two hours and is a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable way to experience a little of what the contestants on the show go through (as well as, for me, acting as a confirming reminder why I would NEVER want to be one of them. I’m simply hopeless at figuring out what the smart strategic move would be when it comes either to the missions or the round table discussion, and apparently incapable of sussing out what anyone else is up to during either.)
Although you’re allowed to take pics and videos during the game, it’s tricky to do, so I don’t have many. Just this one of the corridor leading to the games rooms
On our way to our round table room in the new Traitors Live Experience
This one of our team sitting room
The sitting room where players who are banished or murdered watch and take part in the rest of the Traitors Live Experience game
Here’s a close up of the screen showing the different in-room camera angles of the round table
Different angles of our round table room at the Traitors Live Experience
And this short video of our host explaining the final round of voting
You can find out more about The Traitors Live Experience, which is in Covent Garden, including ticket prices and booking info HERE.
And since you ask, I was murdered. About half way through. And we were spectacularly unsuccessful at figuring out who the traitors were leaving BOTH of them in the final three, so the winning pot went to a traitor. Boo!
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