I trapped myself in a room with a guy for our first date

'Escape the room' events are cropping up in cities all over the world, offering players their own Crystal Maze experience. What could be more romantic?

"Planning a date?" tweeted my friend and game designer Mink Ette in January. "What better way to find out if you're soul mates than being trapped in a room for 60 minutes under extreme pressure?"

Mink was workshopping marketing lines for her and co-creator David Aldhouse's new live-action room-escape game Enter the Oubliette, a dystopian-themed puzzle-solving group experience, based in a converted office building in Brixton. But to me, this sounded like an efficient way to mix business and pleasure. I needed a venue for a looming first date, I knew the guy played video games, and I figured that, whatever happens, I may at least get an article out of it. Clearly, I'm a born romantic.