TV viewers of the 90s, brace yourselves. Plans are at an advanced stage to open a live, fully interactive Crystal Maze experience in London this autumn, offering a generation of fans the chance to realise their dreams of competing in the cult gameshow.

The new attraction has been developed by immersive theatre company Little Lion Entertainment, which hopes the Crystal Maze experience will become a permanent fixture in the capital after a trial period.

Little Lion has been working closely with the original team behind the programme to ensure the result appears authentic to fans. This has included meetings with producer Malcolm Heyworth and actor Richard O’Brien, who presented the show as the eccentric, sardonic “maze master”, prone to digressing into harmonica solos at any given moment.

The attraction was conceived by actor Tom Lionetti-Maguire, who has a background working in immersive theatre and says the experience will be comparable to the shows put on by companies such as Punchdrunk and Secret Cinema.

“Anyone who watched the TV show in the 90s will obviously be excited about it,” he says. “It was such a strong show in its day – but I think even people who have never seen it will be thrilled to try it. It has the perfect mix of nostalgia, but also something modern and relevant.”

The attraction also fits with the rise in popularity of real life escape games, in which participants have to escape from a locked room by cracking a series of puzzles.

“It will be like a lot of the immersive game experiences you see at the moment,” he says. “But with a heightened production value.”

During the 90s, The Crystal Maze was among Channel 4’s most watched programmes, regularly attracting over four million viewers. This year marks 25 years since the original broadcast.

Although Little Lion, which is in talks with venues in Whitechapel and Kings Cross, says it has investors and the attraction will go ahead, it has launched a crowdfunding campaign in order to generate support around the launch. In exchange for pledging money, fans will be offered discounted tickets and have the chance to be among the first people through the door.

Contestants will be taken through four zones – Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Futuristic – embarking on a range of logic puzzles before entering the famous “Crystal Dome”.

Each team will be guided by their own personal maze master as they work their way through the zones collecting crystals. True to the original programme, contestants face being locked in should they fail to complete a task in time.

It is not, however, the cheapest activity; tickets will cost £50 per person and the experience is expected to last 1 hour 45 minutes. It will be possible to take part as an individual and join a team, or you can create a team of eight and compete with your friends. It will also be possible to book the entire maze for parties or work events.

The attraction will also feature a raised wraparound bar from which contestants can watch other teams as they attempt to solve the puzzles in the maze.

And, in case you were wondering, we can confirm that everyone who takes part will leave with a crystal.