If you’ve wandered among Fringe land this year, you’ll likely have spotted shipping containers outside Summerhall and Pleasance Dome. These are the trademark installation venues of immersive theatre creators Darkfield, whose shows all take place in pitch dark (and when they say dark they really mean it), delivered through binaural headphones.

That’s not to say there is nothing to see when you enter a Darkfield space. In Arcade, we’re stationed at video-game consoles, complete with a button to press to answer questions that arise in the story. The creepy, neon arcade vibe sets the mood nicely. Soon we’re plunged into darkness and immersed in a fantasy gaming world, playing the character of ‘Milk’ as she tries to navigate who to trust and who to blast to smithereens. We are given choices along the way, introduced to ominous-voiced avatars and offered tasks to complete. In the end, however, everything climaxes into a swirling mass of chaos, and there isn’t really any meaningful denouement to make sense of what we have experienced. 

Flight feels shorter but plays more with its physical space. We board an aeroplane inside the container, complete with the familiar rituals of placing bags in overhead lockers and being asked to examine the safety cards in the seat pockets. The set is used to fantastic, discomfiting effect, and the whole show is frankly terrifying, full of jump scares and eerie characters. But despite its allusions to Schrödinger and existentialism the piece feels slight: more of a high-brow fairground ride than a theatre piece. 

Both shows are slightly frustrating in that sense (as were last year’s Eulogy and Séance). If the scripts lived up to the levels of creativity put into the concepts, they would have the potential to be outstanding. But the storytelling needs more attention; mood alone isn’t enough. 

Arcade, Summerhall; Flight, Pleasance Dome, until 26 August, times vary; main picture: Sean Pollock.