Review: Prohibition – Welcome to the Warring Twenties

It’s a cold, clear night with a bright moon in the sky, and our high heels ring through the empty back streets of St Philip’s. The sounds of scratchy gramophone records and laughter float out of the open door of Good Chemistry‘s brewery and tap room, transformed for the evening.

“Business or pleasure?” drawls a man in a three-piece suit as we approach.

“Both!” says my companion, and with the correct password we’re granted access, stepping into a prohibition-era world of gangsters, molls and moonshine at the speakeasy.

Dicky Duerden, head of games at Chance & Counters, addresses the crowd

The evening has been organised by Chance & Counters, and the 50 characters in the game written by head of games, Dicky Duerden. “It’s been about two months in the making,” he says, fully looking the part in a bowler hat and with his moustache waxed into two impressive curls.

“Good Chemistry initially came to us wanting to do a murder mystery game based around prohibition. We couldn’t do that for 50 people, but we knew we could do something fun and different, and it’s grown from there. There are lots of hardcore players here tonight and lots of regular faces from the café, but we’ve kept it light and accessible, so someone who hasn’t done this before can still come along.”

The game is split into three acts, with more information supplied after each. With a pint of Good Chemistry’s Bonne Chance in hand – brewed especially for the night – and an envelope containing the first set of instructions about our character’s intentions and mission, Dicky briefs the crowd and the first act begins.

Players dressed up in 1920s garb for the evening

It’s somewhere between make-believe games you created in the playground as a child, and speed-dating, with normal social rules dropped for a few hours as everyone pulls together to construct the same shared fantasy. As the players begin to embrace their characters and smoothly sidle up to one another to garner information, there’s a plethora of fair-to-middling New York accents zipping around the room, plenty of laughter and just a little flirting from those who are really getting into it.

The breaks between the acts are perhaps the only misstep of the evening – breaking the fourth wall reminds us that we’re really just a bunch of Bristolians in fancy-dress shop accessories, standing in a freezing warehouse – and it takes a bit of time for the characters to kick back in.

But they do, and by the time the evening wraps up, the Brooklyn drawl feels almost natural and I’m wondering why I don’t wear a fake fur stole more often. Live-action role-play gaming, or larping, has something of a nerdy reputation, but the well-constructed storyline and light tone of the evening has genuinely made it accessible, even for this noob.

The evening was a social event and chance to dress up, as well as a live-action role-play game

“Last year we did an immersive murder mystery Christmas special, so we’ve taken what we’ve learned over a few events and created something else, something modular and immersive, and people have got really involved,” says Richard Scarsbrook, owner of Chance & Counters. “It’s planned out, but loose enough for people to bring their own spin to it.

“It’s been really interesting to hear the invidual stories that are coming out, with people taking on this creative story and taking it somewhere. People are embracing it: The Don’s minder, Big Tuna, is straight out of the sopranos! He’s so confident in it.

“It’s hard to completely plan with something so open, but if people say they’ll come back then there’s more artistic license for us to do things and be able to put on more events. Based on what I’ve seen tonight, I hope we’ll do more.”

For details of future immersive events, visit www.chanceandcounters.com or drop into Chance & Counters boardgame café, 20 Christmas Steps, Bristol BS1 5BS to talk to a member of the team.