MindGames London Review: Innovative Running Strategy Games

MindGames is a unique running strategy game in London. Part orienteering, part running and part board game. Here's what to expect from their Wednesday evening events.

Despite the dramatic changes to the running community over the past couple of years, the idea of a running event still conjures up very similar images in my mind - usually a group of people wearing matching tops going for a slow chatty jog together. I forget though, how innovative the community can be and what variety now exists in running events in London. When I first discovered MindGames a few months ago, I did not expect to be spending 75 minutes sprinting around St Katharine Docks trying to source chicken - and yet here I am trying to encourage you to do exactly that.

MindGames is the creation of tech experts and orienteering enthusiasts, and that combination has created exactly what you might think: a genuinely clever, surprisingly competitive, and extremely fun evening that happens to involve a bunch of running. Each event has a different theme and game, so going to one does not spoil your ability to return another week. Our week was called Pizza Factory.

How it works

We started at a pub near Tower Hill where the pre-game briefing takes place. The briefing was repeated multiple times so you could turn up and start your own game whenever you wanted. You set up the app on your phone and you're handed a physical map and then, depending on how seriously you've taken the homework, you either have a rough tactical plan to execute or you wing it entirely. I winged it.

The premise is simple: you're a pizza restaurant. Ingredients are scattered across the map, customers are waiting, and your job is to collect, cook, and deliver as efficiently as possible. This means that you are making constant decisions; which ingredient to pick up, which pizza to cook (different recipes take different amounts of time), which customer to prioritise, whether you can sprint to the cheese and still make it back before the pizza's ready. You could also solve puzzles during the game to improve your scoring odds, adding another strategic layer for those who wanted it.

When you get close to an item, the app shows you exactly how close you are and the compass direction. I’m sure for most people this makes navigating fairly straightforward. I unfortunately have no natural sense of direction and spent a genuinely embarrassing amount of time hunting for chicken. I can say with full confidence though that this didn’t stop me from having a brilliant time and a huge amount of fun.

If you've been looking for something different: a running game, an orienteering event with a twist, or just a fun active night out in London, you should try MindGames.

The tech is impressive

For a strategy running event in London, the GPS reliability will make or break the experience. I know that this region of London can be difficult for GPS but there were no issues at all. Everything worked smoothly on many devices at the same time, which is an impressive feat.

What you actually run

My friend and I covered 7.2km over the 75 minutes. We ran the whole thing together which is not the optimal strategy as the game rewards splitting up. I think that this highlights however that you can play however you want - we made it a fun social outing whilst I could see others who had decided to focus on efficiency. You can really make these MindGames whatever you want them to be. One guy in our session ran 15km. The range really does depend on how tactically you approach it and how fast you are willing to run, but there is no pressure to do so, and the team even said that it would be fine to walk too.

A lot of people came equipped with head torches, which in hindsight makes complete sense for an evening event in the dark around the docks. The kit list is minimal - a fully charged phone is the only essential - but the organisers suggest that a head torch is a good idea if it is likely to be dark.

Community spirit

The pub afterwards was so friendly with people comparing routes, debating tactics and sharing what went wrong. I got chatting to a group who had clearly done this before and had planned their strategy in advance. Hearing them break down their approach made me want to come back and be a bit more competitive. Whilst there was no pressure to stay, it seemed that this element of the evening would be a fantastic way to meet likeminded people (or steal their strategies to beat them next time..!)

Our takeaway: even with zero preparation and a solid ten minutes lost to the chicken situation, we had a brilliant time at MindGames.

The details

MindGames runs on Wednesday evenings. You can find out more at their website here. They have games upcoming on the 6th and 20th May.

MindGames was set up by husband-and-wife team Kit and James, who have always shared two big interests: keeping fit and playing games.

They’ve spent years training together — setting goals, pushing themselves, getting outside and staying active. At the same time, a lot of their downtime has been spent around a table with friends and family, deep in board games, healthy rivalry and long tactical debates.

Eventually, they started wondering what would happen if those two parts of their lives came together.

MindGames grew from that idea. It combines movement with strategy — participants walk, jog or run between checkpoints while making decisions that affect their score. It’s competitive but welcoming, social but focused. The aim is to create something that feels engaging on every level: physically challenging, mentally stimulating and genuinely fun.

At its core, MindGames reflects what Kit and James enjoy most themselves — shared challenge, a bit of friendly competition, and bringing people together around something playful but purposeful.