The Crystal Maze - Rooms

Rooms

Each game involved a contestant featuring into a room on their own. The nominated contestant would be lead to the room by the host. The host would grip the opening to the door and would advise the contestant on the time limit or special rules (e.g. automatic lock-in stipulation) before allowing them to enter. As soon as he had closed the door, he would lock it and start the timer. There was always some aid that allowed the rest of the team to see what was going on inside the room.

• Aztec: The rooms had wooden doors which were held shut with pieces of rope tied around a peg in the stone block wall. Each door had a rectangular panel cut out of it, covered with sackcloth. Other team members could move the sackcloth to see inside. Other rooms, had square holes in high up positions. Other team members could easily climb to these holes and look inside the room. But the gaps would be too high up for the contestant inside the room to reach. The timer was a glass jug with a line marked on it. Water would trickle into the jug until the line was reached, indicating that the allotted time had expired.

• Industrial/Ocean: The industrial zone had steel doors which were locked with bar latches. The Ocean zone would have mahogany doors which were neatly decorated, but their appearance would be affected by their positioning around the ship. These would be locked with golden latches. There were no windows, so teammates would have to watch a television monitor placed in the centre of the zone. Each timer was a decimal clock which worked like a stop watch.

• Medieval: The large metal doors were actually made of wood and then painted black. Most have a panel which can be opened by contestants, revealing fencing that allowed them to see inside the room. The rooms usually had windows with metal bars, allowing teammates to see inside. The doors used a bar latch. The timer was an hour glass which sat in a purpose built holder in the wall. It could be removed.

• Futuristic: These doors were metal with no handles or windows. They would be activated by a number panel. The host would enter a unique code into the number panel, thus unlocking the door. However, the host only needed to press one button to allow the contestant back out. Occasionally, the host would enter the code again to lock the room when the challenge was completed. Like Industrial, teammates can see the contestant through a monitor. The timer was a digital countdown timer (#:##).