The latest zany social experiment in supper clubs comes with a dash of immersive theatre and an ounce of betrayal...

It is a 32 course banquet with an embedded implementation of the iterated prisoner's dilemma, a game famous from classical game theory and economics, presented as an immersive theatrical experience.

 The event works as follows: A banqueting table is set with 48 chairs, 24 on each side, at which players are seated at random.

For a period of two hours, the food is served in small portions every fifteen minutes, and varies in quality; at the top end of the table, it is exquisite - food you could expect at a fancy restaurant. At the bottom end, the food is charitably described as unpalatable. In between, it is a spectrum between these two extremes. Each player is also supplied with a special goblet which holds their drink. When they and the player sitting opposite have both drained their goblets, they are invited to play a round of the prisoner's dilemma with each other; They are each provided with a small wooden coin with symbols on each side representing cooperation and betrayal, which they place on the table concealed under their palms, and then simultaneously reveal:

• If they both cooperate, then they are both moved up five seats towards the good food. • If they both betray, they are both moved five seats down towards the worse food.

• If one betrays and one cooperates, the betrayer moves up ten seats, and other down ten seats.

The event is presented as an initiation ritual of a freemason-esque secret society; service is run by servers in hooded robes and the game is arbitrated by a pair of dour, unsympathetic masters of ceremony, who punctuate the courses with grave speeches describing the discovery of the game in the court of Charlemagne in the eighth century. From the participant's point of view, aside from getting to play a game and try a variety of different foods, the main attraction is that they get to move around the table and talk to a variety of people throughout dinner.

The iterated prisoner's dilemma is famous for creating very complex social dynamics, which keeps conversation lively and generates a high eagerness to continue playing.