PERSPECTIVE

Journeys to the farthest reaches of interactive entertainment

ALEX SPENCER

Illustration konsume.me

The Outer Limits will eventually take us somewhere other than warehouses in London, I promise, but they are its natural home, the kinds of spots where the column was conceived: under railway arches and in basements and unloved corners of industrial estates. Spaces that, having outlived their original purpose, will welcome just about any tenant at a knockdown price. I’ve been frequenting such places for a decade now, since a rainy day in Budapest led me down the stairs of a ruin pub’s cellar and into my first escape room. (The world’s, too, though I had no idea of that at the time.)

All this goes through my head while I watch Punchdrunk: Behind The Mask, a Sky Arts documentary about the famed immersive-theatre company that opens with footage of its founder, Felix Barrett, touring a derelict building. He pulls aside graffiti-laden hoardings and examines crevices with a torch, the narration offering a lot of waffle about “emotional architectural blueprints” and “listening” to a space, which might test your patience. Knowing Barrett is a keen player of videogames, though, I can’t help but wonder if he thought the same thing I am now: that this looks exactly like a real-life walking sim.