article_snippet: More than 19,000 people have signed up to participate in a game at an Amsterdam IKEA store and another 32,000 at a shop in Eindhoven, forcing management to ban the event citing safety concerns.
article_snippet: The bizarrely popular events were inspired by the success of a game held in a Belgium store last year in which 500 adults participated and were discovered hiding in fridges, cupboards and underneath piles of soft toys.
article_snippet: The carefully orchestrated games had begun spiralling out of control - its burgeoning popularity has already spread to the Czech Republic and Australia where more games are being organised.
article_snippet: The cancellation of the games, which were to be held in April and May, has now left participants scrambling to find alternative shopping mall and retail locations.
article_snippet: An organiser of last year's Belgium game, Elise De Rijck, told Bloomberg this was because the furniture stores' were like an 'extremely large living room'.
highlights_snippet: More than 32,000 people joined a Facebook event to play it in Eindhoven .
  
highlights_snippet: The idea of using the stores as a playground started in Belgium last year .
  
highlights_snippet: In the game, 500 people were found hiding in fridges and under soft toys .