I’VE been in high-stakes situations before – the kind that quicken your pulse and leave your hands trembling.
But nothing could ever have prepared me for the chilling dread and simultaneous thrill of stepping into London’s very own ‘Scottish castle‘ for the new The Traitors live experience.
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Little did I know, this was just the start of what was going to be two hours of lies, deception and brilliant gameplay.
Alongside 10 other players, I made my way into the belly of the building.
The basement’s chill sent a shiver down my spine – very apt for the live experience of the iconic TV show.
A door was opened and the round table revealed itself – with every detail meticulously recreated.
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I definitely didn’t feel like I was in London anymore…
As the door slammed closed, our host revealed himself – smartly dressed and fully in character.
Claudia would have been proud – it was almost as if he were one of her disciples, which I’m guessing felt the same for the other seven rooms full of players in different stages of the experience.
We begin with a message from the queen herself, followed by our first time going into complete darkness by popping on blackout goggles.
This was the moment most viewers wait for – where the Traitors are selected.
Before you enter the experience, you are required to fill out a form where you can express whether or not you are happy to be a Traitor or not.
Having selected that I didn’t mind, as soon as my goggles covered my eyes regret sank in.
My palms became clammy, as I jigged my knee – I was now begging silently to not be chosen as suspenseful music echoed around me.
The music then rose to a crescendo, increasing the fear as it bubbled through my chest.
Then it was over – the Traitors had been chosen, and I had remained a Faithful. Thank goodness.
With the experience progressing, players must complete five challenges to earn gold just as they do on the TV show.
In between the challenges, there are ‘nights’ where players put on their goggles again and someone is murdered.
There are also round tables, where you get to discuss players and ultimately vote to banish someone.
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“I went to drama school,” one player professed early on. That was his first mistake.
The second came when he backtracked: “No I didn’t go to drama school, I did drama and English at university. I can’t act.”
It was too late – this early proclamation set him in stone for suspicions of many of the other players as a Traitor.
The opportunity to get a shield (which protects you from being murdered for one night) in another challenge where you count to a set time blindfolded, caused some eyebrows to be raised at certain players.
Clever insights from others seemed too well-thought out under the circumstances for them not to be a Traitor. This was my mistake.
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Accusations of piping up led to others being branded a Traitor and as a result, we failed to banish any real Traitors.
With each ‘night’ brewing more anticipation, it was down to five players remaining including both myself and fellow travel reporter, Alice Penwill.
Every second that my goggles were on for felt like an eternity and with each that passed I was chanting in my head ‘please don’t let it be me’.
Then came the heart-plummeting moment: a pinch on the shoulder that sealed my fate.
I had been murdered and was immediately escorted out to a second room where I met my previous rivals — the other murdered and banished players.
Looking up to the screen, shock rippled through me as I discovered my friend and colleague was the one to murder me.
I had been stabbed in the back – literally and figuratively.
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Yet the game wasn’t fully over for me, nor had it been for the other Faithfuls murdered or banished.
In the second room for the deceased and discarded, screens broadcast the game that is continuing at the round table.
And challenges for remaining players are also a challenge for those in the second room, as we were given the chance to interfere or help the remaining players win gold.
The room, which also felt like it had been dragged out of the Scottish castle itself, was the best of a bad situation.
I was out alongside six other players, but that didn’t mean we didn’t get a full experience or waste our money.
Perhaps for the first person murdered, 25 minutes or so of gameplay may feel stingy – especially then when you have to wait in the second room a while before another player joins you.
But I suppose that is the name of the game – and you run that risk going in.
In total, the experience lasts around two hours.
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After the experience, we were escorted to a second bar, with plenty of photo ops and merch to purchase.
Here is where the debrief between strangers commences, which was an exciting reliving of what we all experienced moments before – but from a number of different perspectives.
How to play like a Traitor – Alice’s perspective
When I was asked whether I wanted to be a Traitor from the beginning I ticked the box saying ‘no’ thinking it would be my worst nightmare.
But in reality, it was absolutely thrilling.
I entered the game as a Faithful, but during the very first roundtable found myself recruited as a Traitor by the chosen Traitor themselves.
I had my blindfold goggles on and the host gently squeezed my shoulder.
My first thought was “oh no, I’ve already been murdered”, and when I lifted up my goggles, I read from the interactive screen that I had been recruited to be a Traitor.
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Making sure to stay silent, I locked eyes with my fellow Traitor.
Then, with a coy smile, I placed my goggles back on knowing the game of lying and deception, something I wouldn’t say is my strong suit, had officially started.
It’s hard to stay on top of the challenges and act like a Faithful – but I had to say picking off fellow players one by one was pretty fun.
It’s challenging though when time for ‘murdering’ arrives because the room is completely silent.
You’re also very close to everyone so making no noise at all is crucial.
When it came to kill off players, the Traitors had to take off their goggles and attempt to communicate in silence.
This is fine when you agree, but tougher when you don’t as there’s no opportunity to have a lengthy conversation about who to get rid of.
Through nothing but luck, I made it to the final four along with my fellow Traitor and two Faithfuls.
And to complete the final challenge, we had to leave the game room and were taken through what felt like a maze of corridors, and down the stairs to a makeshift Traitors turret.
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It looked very strikingly similar to the real location with a gloomy and castle-like feel.
The four of us stood in a little circle around the well, but of course there was no plotting.
There were lanterns along the wall, and even Traitors’ cloaks hung up on the wall.
In our game the Faithfuls were victorious, but I felt like the real winner really.
At the end of the game, I asked the original Traitor why she decided to recruit me.
What swayed her was that I had looked at her during the roundtable, and she thought she’d been made.
So just be warned, people will pay attention to anything you do and say throughout the entire game.
The experience costs from £29.50 per person – and is worth every penny.
And rumour has it, new games will be added to the experience as it continues its stint in London.
The Sun also recently checked out the new Titanic experience, where you experience the iceberg hitting the ship.
Plus, the new Squid Game experience feels like being in the TV show but there is a downside for families.
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