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I've - perhaps inadvertently, for the most part - watched plenty of series of BBC Traitors, from the UK original to the celebrity edition to the Irish, New Zealand and Australian versions. I've seen Faithfuls and Traitors turn on each other, I've seen murders in plain sight, and I've seen enough gold-getting missions to inspire several more reality shows. So of course when the chance to play The Traitors in real life came up, I couldn't say no.

While anyone can apply for the real BBC show, with only 22 spots per series and a rigorous application process, many of us will never get the chance to take weeks off work to compete for a £120,000 prize pot. Instead, The Traitors Live Experience offers fans of the show a chance to step into the programme for three hours instead of three weeks.

Nestled in central London, the experience feels both like stepping into an escape room venue and like entering a secret tunnel into the Traitors castle itself. Contestants emerge into a bar full of genuine props from the show - on the walls I spy a set of the death match cards from series three, along with the skeleton painting used in that episode. There's also an accurate reconstruction of the confessional room in the library, where fans can try on a Traitors cloak for an impromptu photoshoot. There's also, of course, a gift shop selling themed merchandise.

The attention to detail is uncanny - themed cocktails are available from the bar, ranging from the Traitor's Tipple to the Smoke and Dagger. Over a spiral staircase leading down into the game area, a quartet of hooded mannequins stand around a hanging brazier - lending a chilling atmosphere to the air.

I'm here with a friend. Groups of up to 14 players compete at a time, and in our group everyone is in a pair. We're introduced to each other in the bar before the game begins, and by the time we're all led into our assigned room we're chatting like old friends.

But, of course, all of this is about to change. Once we're welcomed into the room by our 'Claudia' - in this case, Cassandra - we're about to find out who is a Faithful and who is a Traitor. Wannabe Traitors can volunteer to be a villain ahead of time by ticking a box on a submission form, but until we're sitting around the table blindfolded - just like in the TV show - nobody is sure which way the hammer will fall.

Cassandra chooses her Traitors with a tap on the shoulder, and just like that the stage is set. I'm - thankfully - a Faithful, because I'm not a good liar at the best of times. I have my suspicions about my friend, but I'm willing to keep them quiet for now.

The game is obviously slightly less elaborate than the real thing, but no less fun. Our 'missions' to gather gold - AKA a high score - take place in the 'daytime', before ostensibly night falls and we're blindfolded again for a murder to take place.

In all honesty, the missions are a lot harder than they look on television. Some are standard escape room fare - searching the room for the answers to riddles, or competing in a real-life spot the difference. Others are trickier, concerning the phases of the moon and communing with the 'dead' - our recently departed teammates.

In between it all, of course, are the roundtables. To my surprise, the missions are both more difficult and more stressful - by the time it comes to defending my innocence and accusing a supposed Traitor, things feel thrilling. I'm in my element as I pick out someone I'm sure is a Traitor and, one by one, turn the room against her.

Only, she's not a Traitor. She's a Faithful. I'm wrong, and suspicion falls on me. I can feel every eye on the room fall on me as if a spotlight is illuminating me and I know I've put my foot in it, perhaps fatally.

I survive, somehow, by the skin of my teeth. I'm "quiet", apparently, which makes me suspicious, but also lets me fly under the radar until only six players remain. Finally, rather than being murdered, I'm betrayed by my friend, who votes me as a suspected Traitor and banishes me. It's still somewhat nerve-wracking to stand at the front of the room and reveal that I'm a Faithful.

Throughout all this, our host Cassandra is in her own element - if Claudia Winkleman ever quits her hosting role, she's a strong contender for her replacement. She's theatrical and hilarious and rolls her eyes in the perfect moments.

After my banishment, I'm sent to sit in a different room with a TV screen showing our team on camera - just like the real-life show. The remaining contenders head into the Traitors' turret, a nicely realised replica of the tower from the show.

However, banished players aren't out of the game entirely. They're the 'dead', able to communicate through a series of buttons with the remaining players during certain missions. One of my fellow players tells me it's just as fun watching as it is playing.

In the end, my initial suspicions were right. Not only did my friend betray me, she's been a Traitor all along, recruiting one of the Faithful to her cause and lasting until the endgame. But it's our Faithfuls - two of them - that win the day, and it feels like a true victory even though I'm banished.

Honestly, The Traitors Live Experience felt like a mini version of the TV programme, of course condensed into a smaller time slot, but forging friendships and alliances and becoming detectives for a brief few hours. It's easy to see why so many of the real-life players remain friends for years after their series has aired.

Tickets for The Traitors Live Experience start at £32.50 for a "family friendly" game, though 18+ experiences are also available towards the end of the afternoon.