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Comment by forgingahead | Hacker News Reader

Whenever I see anything about modern escape rooms, I always remember Crystal Maze, a fantastic game show from the 90s in the UK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Maze

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I loved the Crystal Maze as a kid. It started back up again a couple years ago. It's now hosted by Richard Ayoade.

There have been a few presenters, as you'll know, but Richard O'Brian is still the only person I can see doing the job.

I have a fond memory of coming across him in the street in Muswell Hill at the age of four or five. It was my favourite show at the time.

Total tangent, but if you enjoy Richard's work - check out The Double which he directed - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_(2013_film)

I enjoy Richard’s work, but I found The Double quite boring.

Each to their own. I loved the book and loved the film, though it was silly and dark. But agree it was 'paced' but that was something I enjoyed about it.

I never watched the TV show, but I played a Cyberdrome Crystal Maze as a child. This was an attraction that competed with bowling and laser tag that let you play a simplified version of the real Crystal Maze. It retrospect it wasn't very good, because too many of the games were just simple video games played with a trackball, but there were some with interesting physical interfaces, and I enjoyed it at the time.

More detailed description: https://web.archive.org/web/20050305152830/http://alumni.ox....

I remember being impressed by "Sensor Cell". And some games had one player operating some interface while only the rest of the team could see what was going on, so they had to shout instructions (like the TV show "Knightmare"). I think that's good design.

I'd like to see something like this again, but I don't think it would be commercially viable without a popular license. Bowling and laser tag are both cheaper to build and have more replay value.

You may know this already, but there are now several Crystal Maze attractions around the UK.

We did the one in Islington for a work away day, it was pretty sweet. Just about worked for me and I watched the show back in the 90s ...

https://the-crystal-maze.com/

I only ever saw this in satellite TV/syndication in Pakistan but it was just as captivating then.

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