Designing games for the Crystal Maze must be a very rewarding process, and while Anna Kidd designs fantastic games for the new TV Series, today we interview Charlie Wheeler, who is only 22 years old and was not even born when the Crystal Maze originally aired. Yet the Maze still captivated him enough to design all 32 games in the brand new West End London Live Experience maze.
When did you start coming up with ideas for the West End Maze games? Did you design games for the previous experiences? How many have you devised?
I guess "to devise" is not really a singular task as so many elements make a Crystal Maze game a reality. The whole design and development process is quite huge and involves loads of people! The rough process of getting a game from start to finish began with the Crystal Maze directors, we would talk (about a year ago now) about ideas, often having an old favourite from the TV show or maybe someone might have seen something out and about and thought ‘that would make a cracking game!’, and from this the directors’ treatments would be created. Each treatment would be totally different: some just a sting of an idea or a sketch or for others much more of a solid vision for a game. This is where I joined the ‘production line’ as it were, attaching this idea to reality (and the space it would soon inhabit) and turning an idea or a brief into a full size digital 3D representation of how the game and room would turn out like, fully dressed and decorated and lit as it would turn out in the end. This - I guess fairly unique - prototyping method really helped everyone get a feel for just how immersive each idea could become. From me the designs were passed onto the production team or the games manufacturers to make the physical products. In terms of numbers, there were 32 games used but almost double that number designed.
What work did you do for the Live Experience?
I previously worked as the Production Manager of the Manchester Crystal Maze experience which turned out to be an invaluable qualification in the role of concept designing the new games, as however nice something looks and seems on paper, it needs to stand up to the general public! And doing that job allowed me to (at least try to) understand whether the majority of the public will understand, enjoy and not manage to destroy a certain game! (or indeed themselves!)
What's your favourite game you have designed and why?
My favourite original game might have to be Morse Code, it was quite a sedentary and cerebral mental game to start with but the scenario the player is put in in the finished product just makes it extra special! It definitely knocks the ‘boring’ stereotype away from mental games! (I'm so proud of my spoiler-free description there!)
How did you come up with inspiration for the games? We've played some, and we think they are absolute nostalgic gems - they are truer to the original series. Our favourite is the Power Saver game, and Generator. How did you come up with ideas to adapt them?
Power Saver is an absolute classic but, as it exists on the TV show, an absolute health and safety nightmare. Having someone crawling about on a welded steel frame (ouch) is worrying enough let alone what you'd do if the fire alarm went off and someone's trapped 6 feet deep in a metal box… But the concept of the game was just too good to let slip and so the creation of a bespoke soft play solution with obstacles made it a reality - and the cool new techy update (trying very hard to not spoil) brought it into the 21st century!
Generator too is great fun! It's one game that has sort of come full circle from it's origin, starting as the infamous Lighthouse game from Series 6, which at one point I redesigned into a game called Lift Shaft (a sort of vertical reimagining of the original) and eventually turned back into a really nice homage to that old Lighthouse, but equally more impressive to look at… And a bit less wet…
How does it feel that hundreds of people will now be experiencing your work on a daily basis, it must be very rewarding?
My single favourite thing about any work is seeing how people react to it and nothing could be more perfect than this big crazy adventure game that is The Crystal Maze. It's really nice to see how faithful some of the games have turned out to my designs too, I was absolutely prepared for them to look totally different as they passed through the various production and development stages but I'm honoured that they've come out so close!
What is your favourite zone of the Live Experience and why?
Industrial. Easy. It's just the right mix of manual labour and tech, some games can be brutish physicals and others can require some serious dexterity - all of which are coated in a healthy layer of industrial grime and rust.
Has any of our Maze feedback shaped your work?
Definitely, as somewhat of a super fan myself I really try to get all the passion and attention to detail that made the original show so special into my work. I love hearing the stories from all of the old production members and I really owe my whole creative vision to the people who made that show! Particularly the vibrant colours and art direction Richard Drew brought to Series 6 and of course to the tireless work of James Dillon. (Tiny Spoilery Easter Egg: If you play the game Candy Crash in the new maze and look very carefully you'll see a little reference to Mr Dillon himself in there that I managed to slip in!)
Tell us about your creative background.
I am - I guess - a creative wanderer. I wander about (metaphorically and sometimes physically) doing different things. If someone asks what I do I just say I'm a Freelance Designer which is I guess a rubbish and vague answer, but it does pretty much sum me up. I created my company WhoProductions before I went to university and it’s now (very grateful to say) my main income. I do a lot of graphic design for various people and brands and occasionally get to do really awesome special projects like concept designing these games! I do also enjoy writing music too, and I've been sat on recording an album for the past year or so now too but I just want to get it perfect before I release anything!
You have also made lots of cool online Maze Videos with concept map graphics and titles. How long have you enjoyed watching The Crystal Maze for? What is it you like about the show?
That map graphic haunts me. It's one thing that's just been ingrained on my mind since I was a child I have no idea why. (That and the blade runner-esque Blockbusters titles.) I've got school books in drawers emblazoned with exquisite from-memory drawings of that iconic map drawn by a lunatic 11 year old version of myself. (Yes, now might be the time to start worrying about me, but there's no need I'm fine.) I was obsessed with the show as a kid. I grew up on a farm watching VHS tapes of the same two or three episodes over and over again, I even made an 8ft tall Crystal Dome in the stables once from bamboo canes, poly tunnel offcuts and about 20 rolls of Wilko gaffa tape. (The front triangle even opened like the door on the original… Ok I'll stop now.) The then 15 year old me was just as sad as the 11 year old it seemed. And now at the ripe old 22, very little has changed. I'm still captivated by that magical show and all the details and wonderful intricacies it had and I'm just happy to be able to put that lunatic inside me to work doing something useful and something that people can enjoy!
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