The building at IET London: Savoy Place was transformed into a game hub as part of a 16-hour puzzle race across the capital.

As one of London’s leading STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) venues, the grade-I listed IET London: Savoy Place opened its doors for a rather bizarre, one of a kind immersive event called Midnight Madness, over the weekend of 19-20 May.

The building at Savoy Place was transformed into a game hub as part of a 16-hour puzzle race across the capital. Midnight Madness is an interactive gaming challenge, dubbed the ‘Crystal maze meets the DaVinci Code’, in aid of Raise Your Hands, which supports small, effective charities that improve the lives of children across the UK. The challenge has so far raised £210,000 for the supported small charities.

Taking place in the capital for the first time, puzzlers faced a series of fiendishly difficult activities as part of the overnight challenge, which featured over 45 actors and volunteers. 15 teams of puzzle experts passed through the doors of Savoy Place in the small hours of Sunday morning (20 May) and battled it out in a mind-bending mystery challenge.

The technical puzzle at Savoy Place took competitors over three hours to complete. Taking over the entire venue and transforming numerous exhibits and rooms with state-of-the-art AV and lighting, actors filled the venue to present clues to the teams as they navigated fake portraits to find an object hidden in the vast building.