Games Master: Tom Williams

Tom Williams runs sell-out murder mystery treasure hunts across the city through his company A Door in the Wall. He talks to The London Word about why the capital is an ideal place to get lost in experiential entertainment.

Williams began running ‘real world adventures’ across the city in 2005, following an idea for a treasure hunt at university while waiting for his exam results.

‘When I moved to London I resurrected the idea with friends, and everyone really loved it. People kept asking when I’d do another one.’

The events eventually became ticketed in order to increase his budget, and turned into a games company offering public events with more structured narratives in 2010.

Since then he’s received commissions from the Camden Roundhouse and the V&A Museum.

Williams says the business is looking to expand its audience outside day events to shorter evening-length activities. London is an ideal spot for a whole range of games, he says.

‘The location of London adds something special, having St Pauls, the South Bank and the West End as a backdrop adds a sense of drama. The other key point is the demographic , with our core audience of young professional people who want those experiences. London is the centre of the world for this sort of thing!’

He says what distinguishes A Door in the Wall from other immersive entertainment companies such as Punch Drunk and Secret Cinema is that it approaches events from a gaming point of view.

‘The level of interaction and what we ask is different. The narrative is important but it is constructed to make the game more engaging, whereas a lot of interactive theatre is more about the story.The emphasis is on having fun. We don’t take ourselves incredibly seriously. We’re not too cool for school.’

With the rise in popularity of immersive events, does he think people have less of an appetite for passive consumption these days?

‘People are increasingly thinking they don’t want to buy something, they want to have an experience.We are interactive and that draws people in. You have to do the work yourself and that is richer and more memorable than just having someone speak. Similarly with video games, it’s broader than it used to be. Entertainment is becoming increasingly interactive,’ he says.

During his day job Williams works in The City. ‘It is a contrast in the subject matter, which is massively different. But actually the part of managing projects, planning, negotiation and budgeting isn’t that different. So those organisational bits are not a million miles away.’

He says the business hasn’t needed to invest in marketing, getting most of its interest through word of mouth recommendations.

The company’s last event, Apocalypse How, was run over three weekends and attracted 120 people per day. Nearly 400 tickets went in about an hour, ‘so on the back of that we decided to add another two dates’, he says.

‘The story was about apocalypse, with cult members dressed in white robes translating ancient tablets that people had to interact with. We took a lot of pleasure in the intricacies of the plot and which members of this strange cult had motivations to murder their glorious leader,’ he says.

‘We are getting bigger and bolder with each game.’

The next Door in the Wall event is A Crime of Fashion on Saturday 16 – Sunday 17 March at:

Boxpark
2-4 Bethnal Green Road
Shoreditch
E1 6GY

Tickets are £15 per person plus booking fee.

For more information visit A Door in the Wall

Photo courtesy of Alex Loy Photography