Jekyll and Hyde
Fire Hazard Games is back with another intereactive mobile game, this time channelling Victorian hysteria via Jekyll and Hyde. So how was it – did we end up in an asylum, as threatened? Did science prevail? Did we solve the clues and most importantly have a great night?
Well, the rain held off, we got our steps in and saw the quirky and beautiful area around London’s Waterloo station in a new light, but this scavenger hunt wasn’t quite up to the very high standards set by the company’s previous productions.
It is not a spoiler to let you in on the narrative – in fact, I wish the story had been made more clear to the ten or so participating teams. Starting off in the graffiti art-adorned Leake Street tunnel you’re told by the three guides that something dire happened last night, and it is up to us to you to acquire clues to jog your memories. Off you go to the Thames, into and around Waterloo, to the Old Vic, solving little puzzles (with your mobile) to gain back nuggets of your memory.
Jekyll and Hyde needs higher stakes
My partner and I were looking forward to repeating the high-tech, classic novel-style fun that school fun that we found playing 80 Days: A Real World Adventure last summer. The set-up there was simple – run about Covent Garden to solve clues to gain money to buy things for your journey. The biggest difference here is not just the lack of summer sunshine – 80 Days had a winning team.
I am actually not sure what the established point was of Jekyll and Hyde. The memories we uncovered just showed all of the teams that they had committed some crimes and would be ending up in an asylum (I think?) and it turns out wagers presented mid-game didn’t have any bearing on the outcome. If we are not competing against the clock or each other, or against the cast, then what was going on?
With a bit of tweaking, this show could be the fantastic immersive experience of which Fire Hazard is very capable. I look forward to their next effort – let’s go Around the World again!
Tickets available here – on at the Vault Festival through 22nd March
A former ABC National, Dallas and Atlanta radio personality, Martina O'Boyle is now making movies and covering culture in London, Dublin, and as far in Europe as the cheapie flights will take her, for Pop Culture Beast.