The Crystal Maze Is Definitely Coming Back After Hitting Its Crowd Funding Target

Good news for Mumsy, and good news for you: after sending the world into a frenzy of sepia-toned nostalgia with the announcement of plans to bring back The Crystal Maze as a live, immersive experience, then teasing us further with the news that bald-headed presenter Richard O'Brien was also signed up, the project has just hit its crowd funding target.

Which means, that there can be no more speculation, The Crystal Maze live experience is definitely happening. 

The campaign managed to hit its crowdfunded target of £500,000 within just eight days, so hats off people: you really came through on this one.

Plans for a return of the much-loved nineties TV gameshow as a fully immersive experience were revealed several weeks ago, swiftly followed by the news that O'Brien would also be involved, the only obstacle in their way being: money. But not anymore.

Organisers say, on their indiegogo page, that "Richard won't be running around the maze himself, but he will be welcoming guests in time honoured fashion... to find out how, you'll just have to come along and see!"

Further details announced include the fact that the traditional four zones - Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Future - will be returning, alongside, of course, The Crystal Dome, where teams will try to grab those gold tokens to win prizes. There'll be teams of eight people, with four teams progressing through at a time; the whole experience is expected to last around 1 hour 45 minutes. If there's just a couple of you, you'll be put together with others to form a group.

£30 early bird tickets have already sold out, which suggests that this could be incredibly popular; the next available price point is now £45. When it opens to the public this will rise to £50.

There are lots of other ways to get involved on the indiegogo page, including purchasing t-shirts, bomber jackets, exclusive use of the maze for four teams and even private all-day maze access. Bookings are being taken for the first three months, and organisers promise that, even if crowdfunding doesn't raise the required funds to build the set, that private investors will fill the gap: so it is going to happen - and they say it'll be before the end of this year.

Explaining the change into a 'real' event, the four organisers - all with acting and production experience - said, "Modern audiences want to do, not watch. In recent years, there has been a cultural shift towards entertainment that audiences can engage with in a more active way." So, essentially, think a gameshow equivalent of Secret Cinema (click here to see what we thought of their latest Star Wars effort).

Meanwhile, they also say that "we'll have to see" if this live experience results in a comeback of the TV show. With TFI Friday smashing expected viewing figures during its recent return, we'd say there's got to be a strong chance.

(Image: Rex)