Lollipop are emerging as the front runners for forward for drinking experiences that are not just about sitting and downing pints one after the other, but about immersing yourself into another world and providing a truly memorable experience.
Lollipop’s previous ventures ABQ Breaking Bad Cocktail Experience and The Bletchley (my experience at The Bletchley) have been raved about for the innovative and fun elements, so I couldn’t wait to try their newest offering ‘The Grid’.
The Grid is an immersive, multi-room alcoholic escape experience where patrons get to go undercover an Artificial Intelligence firm in an attempt to learn and defeat the “system”.
Having watched many science-fiction movies and realising how much data AI systems have on us, I am fully on board with this mission!
Nestled within the Bankside Arches and in the shadow of the One Blackfriars building, we are hustled into Neosight headquarters. Neosight have recruited us as volunteers to teach the machines how to think more intelligently, so that by assessing our information and answers the machines can better understand our needs and respond accordingly. A.I.D.A. is Neosight’s newest offering, an Artificial Intelligence service that tracks all aspects of daily life.
They do not know that we are actually working undercover to safeguard the future of the human race by bringing down the machines that are on the brink of controlling everything.
For Neosight and A.I.D.A. to assess our responses, we needed to ingest the necessary nanobytes by mixing together the different solutions and ice (our first cocktail).
All the while, A.I.D.A. is listening and watching over us, we engage in some fun banter and jokes with A.I.D.A, while also completing some challenges on screen, this is how Neosight gathers their machine learning and data crunching information.
All of a sudden, A.I.D.A was hacked, and ‘The Grid’ was speaking to us and instructing us how to make our escape and disable the Neosight systems. We escaped the testing room and ended up a secret zone infiltrated by ‘The Grid’. We had to work quickly to execute our mission to destroy Neosight. Wandering around, breaking into computers and handily working together to bring the organisation down and escape to a safer location.
Mission completed, we escaped to The Grid safe bases. We were met by Wayne, another member of ‘The Grid’, who was lovely, but eccentric, in part I assume from being cooped up all alone.
He served as our bartender/entertainer while we recovered and went about making our second cocktail (a gin/vodka tonic with a bubble infusion).
It’s not a traditional escape room. There’s no clock, countdown or any real indication of how you’ve done in terms of clues needed. Puzzles are fun and simple, though escape room enthusiasts may find it a breeze. It’s part of a timed experience, so if you get stuck there will be some helpful nudges along the way. This is to ensure you reach the end within the time limit, as other groups will be booked in after.
If you enjoy escape room style immersive experiences and cocktails, this is something to have a crack at. It’s good for a fun, different, if a little bit on the pricey side, night out.
You can find out more information and tickets here: The Grid
Remember…Stay Disconnected!
*I was invited to The Grid with lovepopupslondon. All thoughts and words are my own.
