Bromley boyfriend's virtual escape becomes £250,000 business

Dave Murphy, 28, achieved unexpected financial success in a matter of months after his romantic gesture during lockdown proved to be a global online hit.

Girlfriend Vicky Kenway was unable to visit Amsterdam for her 28th birthday due to the pandemic so Dave designed virtual escape rooms themed around things she loves.

It meant she was able to enjoy a mini escape room experience in her own home including in-jokes surrounding her school and work life as well as her hobbies.

Video footage shows friends and family joining in the tasks as Vicky searches around her bedroom to find a key to unlock a wardrobe containing her birthday presents.

But after pals said how much they enjoyed the virtual game, Dave decided to set up Trapped in the Web so that the public could play them too.

And it proved such a success that Dave is on course to make £250,000 from the online business venture inspired by his girlfriend before the end of the summer.

Dave, a radio producer for Capital FM, said: "It has been a bit mad since they launched.

"It has become like a part-time job after work.

"Vicky still features in all of the rooms in some capacity. She doesn't have much choice.

"The themes of the rooms are all about Vicky, but I had to remove the in jokes to make them a bit more generic.

"I have more in the pipeline now lockdown has eased. It appears that there is still an appetite for it and people can continue playing with friends in other countries."

The original birthday plan had been for Vicky to see all her friends and family before Dave surprised her with the trip to Holland.

Dave added: "It was Vicky's birthday on May 1st.

"It was in the peak of lockdown and it was becoming clear that we were not going to be able to see friends and family.

"Vicky is very sociable and I thought what could I do for her birthday?

"Vicky was understandably gutted to be spending her 28th birthday in our flat without seeing her nearest and dearest so I knew I had to come up with something."

The couple, who have been together for two years are big fans of escape rooms so Dave decided to build four virtual escape rooms that her friends and family could play.

He added: "They were all themed around her life Her old school, her work, she loves cruises and is big on theatre, so one is set around the theatre."

He built Zoom meeting IDs into the game and had all the teams log in to the Zoom chat once they had completed their rooms.

It finished with a grand finale where Vicky did a miniature escape room around their maisonette.

Vicky, who works in merchandising for John Lewis, said: "Dave told me he had arranged something as a surprise.

"He said I couldn't use any room other than the lounge so we were in there making cocktails."

In the meantime, Vicky's mum and dad, and her sister and her boyfriend, plus a group of friends were playing the virtual escape rooms.

She added: "Then I started getting random phone calls from them asking me questions such as 'what is your favourite musical?' and 'does this picture mean anything to you?"

"I then realised I was in my own escape room. I was running around looking for clues.

"Dave had hidden a key under a flower pot in the garage, there was a key hidden behind a photo and then I had to find a pair of scissors to cut the rope that was on a door."

It all culminated with Vicky opening her wardrobe to find her birthday presents hidden inside.