Hey everyone, Blake here, back again with another review for The Virtual Reviewer. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’m a big fan of virtual reality and immersive gaming experiences. As a tech enthusiast and software engineer, I’m always on the lookout for the latest and greatest when it comes to VR and AR. So when I heard about an immersive gaming center called Immersive Gamebox opening up in Dallas, you bet I had to check it out.
We arrived around noon, just in time for our 12:15 PM reservation. The venue itself was easy to find. Inside, the space was modern, clean, and brightly lit. After checking in at the front desk, we only had to wait a few minutes before an employee came to bring us back to our “Gamebox.” Now let me tell you about these gameboxes! They’re essentially pop-up rooms outfitted with projection mapping, surround sound, sensors, and touch screens to create a fully immersive, multi-sensory gaming experience. Up to 6 players at a time can enter a 12×12 foot cube to play a variety of interactive games by wearing tracked visors and using their body movements to control the gameplay.
The games library includes family-friendly puzzle adventures, sports simulations, arcade-style games, and more nerdy tech games for gamers like me. My wife Patty and kids John (14) and Jenette (12) looked through the options with me to pick which game we wanted to try first.
Angry BirdsVR
For our first game, we opted for something familiar by selecting Angry BirdsVR. Based on the iconic mobile game franchise, Angry BirdsVR brings the addictive slingshot bird flinging gameplay into the interactive gamebox.
After slipping our visors on, the white walls faded away to reveal animated grassy hills and the unmistakable structures from the game – rickety wood and stone pig houses ripe for destruction! The visors tracked our gaze to aim a floating slingshot apparatus wherever we looked. I went first, stepping up to the firing line indicated on the floor.
A pullback pouch sat waiting to load my ammo – a cartoon red bird ready to smash some pigs! I centered my aim on a wooden tower right in front of me and loaded the bird. Just like using the slingshot in the mobile game, I could pull the pouch back farther and farther to build power. When I felt enough tension, I let my arms snap forward, launching that sucker straight through the front wall of my target!
The tower teetered and swayed before crumbling to rubble amidst delightful cheering from my family. Below the debris, several green pigs comically scrambled and fled the scene, making “oink oink” noises. Too cute! Then the pouch reloaded for my next shot as additional towers popped up across a slowly scrolling landscape.
I managed two more decent hits, knocking over another wood tower and peppering some stone blocks before passing the visor to Jenette. At first, her shots fell short or went wide of any structures as she got used to the aiming.
“Relax your shoulders, sweetie, take an extra second to line it up,” Patty advised gently. Jenette adjusted her stance and tried again, this time successfully bowling over a short wood building! We all whooped loudly as pig minifigs flung through the air.
Over the next 15 minutes, we took turns firing off irate birds at anything pig-related. As Patty launched a final white bird bomb shot, blasting cracks into a stone tower at the buzzer, the towers crumbled away to reveal our score: just over 12,000 points – another Hall of Fame score for the Howse family!
We had an absolute riot hunting pigs in Angry BirdsVR with its dynamic graphics and interactive slingshot play. The developer nailed recreating the simple fun of the mobile game while integrating full-body motion and environmental immersion to take it to the next level. An ideal pick for families, couples, or friends to play together!
Squid Game Trial
Still riding the adrenaline rush from the first game, my competitive teenage son John insisted we try one of the more intense offerings called Squid Game – Trial.
Based on Netflix’s hugely popular (and rather graphic) Korean thriller series, Squid Game puts teams of players through a series of lethal children’s games adapted from the show, battling to survive at all costs. Due to violence and mature themes, parental guidance was suggested.
Patty wasn’t thrilled about John playing such a gory game, but since players can’t physically harm each other and it was all digital, I convinced her it would probably be fine. I figured the storyline, while dark, ultimately condemns senseless violence. So we decided to give it a try with me closely monitoring it, in case it got too inappropriate.
Once again, the crisp walls in our gamebox dissolved, this time into a dilapidated warehouse dotted with neon shapes on the concrete floor straight out of Squid Game. Eerie countdown music signaled the start of the first game, Red Light Green Light, where players must move towards a finish line whenever the doll cries “green light” but freeze immediately on “red light” or get eliminated by gunfire.
Simple enough in theory, but the doll itself was plenty creepy! When she robotically spun with glowing red eyes to catch movement on the red light, both Jenette and I flinched backward, momentarily stunned by how real it appeared.
The next several rounds followed a similar pattern of bringing challenges from the show to life in creative ways – the sweet yet sinister Dalgona candy game, using coordination to win virtual marbles, an intense two-on-two virtual tug-of-war battle, navigating panes of lethal glass, and finally the iconic squid game itself. Some games relied on teamwork, while others pitted us against each other. Jenette turned out to have lightning-fast reflexes, squeaking out wins against her slowpoke dad on more than one occasion!
The Overall Immersive Gamebox Experience
Over the course of 1..5 hours playing two different Gamebox titles together, my family and I enjoyed an unexpectedly delightful afternoon pushing our interactive gaming skills to the limits in virtual reality!
Stepping into the blank canvas gameboxes, getting suited up with visors, then watching the blank walls come alive with vibrant projections as worlds materialized around us made for true moments of wonder. The immersive quality achieved through full environmental stimulation paired with active body participation far exceeded any traditional arcade or VR setup I’ve ever tried.
We relished working together as a team, using coordinated movements almost like choreographed dance to control gameplay. Yelling instructions and encouragement to each other heightened the sense of collective purpose during intensely close races against the clock! And while we certainly cherished victories achieved through skillful play, the engagement came more profoundly from sharing laughs over our frequent bumbling missteps. Attempting intricate tasks like precision claw grasping proved comically challenging, yet brought us closer through uncontrollable giggling over botched operations.
I wholeheartedly recommend checking your local area for Immersive Gamebox venues to experience for yourself their spectacular blend of virtual reality gaming and active entertainment. With ever-expanding libraries of content spanning diverse interests guaranteed to occupy ages 5 through 105, you’ll uncover hours of solid fun at reasonable rates while supporting an ambitious startup on the cutting edge of modern gaming philosophy.