At Clue Adventures we create our escape games around stories which we write first and then create the clues and puzzles to tell the story. In turn the stories all have elements within them that are based on real life events or well-known fictional occurrences. These are the secrets and the background to '2 Tickets 2 Ride'. The links will allow you discover even more.
WARNING SPOILERS BELOW - ONLY READ IF YOU COMPLETED THE GAME
If you completed the game, you would have solved stopped the plan to sink London and know that the real plan was to rob a new underground vault instead.
The real Lizzy Line - is opening a little later than scheduled.
LIZZY LINE
The Lizzy Line is quite clearly a reference to the Elizabeth Line. Crossrail as it was known before it got its royal approval. 2 Tickets 2 Ride was supposed to open at the same time as CrossRail (To date we are over two years ahead). But they do promise it will open in 2021.
2021 UPDATE: Still waiting! Though to be fair, can’t really blame them for being delayed.
lou prince
The villain in the game is called Lou Prince. The name comes from Louis Le Prince. who was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion picture camera, the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of film.
In September 1890, whilst living in London, Le Prince was preparing to go to the states to launch his invention. Before his journey, he decided to return to France to visit his brother. On 16th September he boarded a train to Paris, but when the train arrived, Le Prince was not on board. He was never seen again!
ATTACK OR ROBBERY?
The idea of a madman having you solve puzzles while behind your back he is robbing a bank comes from Die Hard with a Vengeance. There are several scenes where you could quite easily think Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson are in an Escape Room Game as they try to solve puzzles set for them.
The colour gang; Mr Red, Mr Blue, Mr Green and Mr Yellow comes from another movie (but long before Reservoir Dogs used the idea). The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is set on a subway train with a gang of hostage takers using the colour name pseudonyms. The original (and best) version is from 1974 and stars Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. The original film has been remade both as a TV film and another major motion-picture in 2009, with Denzel Washington and John Travolta and a couple of extra twists in the story.
INSPECTOR SANDS
To Log-In to the train you will have used the name ‘David Sands’ - this comes from the real emergency announcement used in UK Underground stations (and theatres). By using a code like this staff can be notified without (supposedly) causing a panic to passengers. The nature of the emergency is dependant on the phrase used: for example: "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately." or "Would Inspector Sands please report to Platform 2". The phrase originates from theatres where sand buckets were used to put out fires.
Underground Map
At the end of the game you would have found yourself connecting wires in a circuit on a train map. The underground map we all know so well was actually inspired by a circuit board and the schematics used to illustrate circuit boards. Harry Beck used the Central Line as a horizontal base from which to connect the other lines to it, in the same manner as one would draw an electrical circuit. The idea was an instant hit and copied the world over, except, notably, on the New York subway, for weird reasons…
So you find out at the end of the game that you have actually robbed a bank. And the route is plausible as the Elizabeth Line really does run underneath London’s Diamond Quarter, Hatton Garden (where Farringdon Station is). It then heads east past Mile End and Stratford. The Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Vault is famous for being broken into, with numerous films centred around the robbery. So to ensure the diamond traders of the area have somewhere safe to use there is a new, very secret vault in the area. Described as London’s Fort Knox the vault is 40 feet underground, which of course puts it nice and close to the Elizabeth Line ;)