SK Savages tackle the Crystal Maze!

It was with great anticipation that team SK Savages arrived at the Crystal Maze in White Lion Street. Donning our red jackets we set off with high expectations. With a few hardcore childhood fans among us (and a couple too young to remember!) the maze felt true to the original, with lots of 90’s charm. It was nostalgia right down to the T.

With Neil as team captain we were confident of a good start with Kunle selected for a ‘skill’ game. When the remote control car hit the wall and flipped over in the first 30 seconds things were not going to plan. Our maze master ‘Babs’ geed us up and we were off to the next game. Let’s just say it took us a while to warm up but as we raced between zones things started to look up! With the pressure on, Tuki stealthily managed to avoid all the lasers to win our first crystal. To say we were all relieved was an understatement. 

Feeling triumphant we pushed on and it was Neil’s turn to tackle a challenge. Blindfolded and expertly guided from outside by Steven, he navigated his way around a room filled with obstacles. It was a case of so near yet so far as we thought he had done it only to realise we had not instructed him to press a buzzer half way through. Sadly, Neil became the first team member to be locked in! He was whisked off by Babs never to be seen again until we all ran past him trying to complete a puzzle whilst in the stocks, which was very amusing to the rest of us!

Neil was released and came back to join the team. Next was Emma’s turn to solve a mystery, a poor person had come to a very messy end. Unfortunately, the perpetrator is still out there as we ran out of time and we could not afford any more lock-ins! Now starting to desperately need more crystals it was David’s turn to try a physical challenge. Having to roll himself up and down multiple times in what only can be described as a hamster wheel he made a gallant effort and missed the crystal by a matter of seconds.

Tracey was up next and a puzzle involving pub signs (with some cheating from the rest of the team) was our next success and second crystal (I am sure there is no coincidence that we managed to win a game involving pub signs!). On a roll we sent Steven in for a physical challenge. He did an amazing job and after a close call at the end secured our third crystal.

Despite a turn in our fortunes, our maze master was still highly amused by our lack of crystals. After several more attempts and nearly but not quite good enough scenarios all our hopes were pinned on Lesley to secure our final crystal. She didn’t let us down and after a sterling effort she emerged victorious with our final fourth crystal. Still feeling slightly sorry for us he gave us an extra crystal for our efforts, which gave us a grand total of five and twenty five seconds in the crystal dome. Like lightning we were raced off to the dome and our turn to collect as many gold notes was upon us.

As we heard the iconic words “start the fans, please” we all scrabbled around in a frenzy to collect as many notes as we could. We were competing against three other teams and as the winners were announced SK Savages emerged victorious! However, this was to be short lived as we faced elimination for picking up off the floor (not mentioning any names – Emma). This all added to the fun and we conceded defeat and headed to the bar!

This was the perfect homage to a much loved show. Much fun was had by all but we are not too sure of David’s idea of taking part in a Tough Mudder next year!!!