8 February 2-8, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Never Too Old for Fun 7 cool places for grown-ups to play nicely. BY DANNY GALLAGHER H ere’s a fun game. Call up some friends and ask them if they’d like to do something fun on a free weekend. If they want to know what you suggest for en- tertainment, ask if they’re down to do some- thing “designed for adults.” If they don’t immediately mention their marriage, file a restraining order or hang up the phone, then you win! The only downside to winning the game is you have to come up with something fun that doesn’t require buying enough tarps to cover your furniture. If you’re in that scenario, you can still be a winner by checking out some of these interesting entertainment experiences that you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy. 1. Game Show Battle Rooms 4887 Alpha Road, No. 250, Farmers Branch Game Show Battle Rooms give you the chance to experience the fun of competing on a game show without the kind of life- changing stakes that will only disappoint you somehow in the long run. Teams of friends are paired up in an enclosed studio with all the lights, bells and buzzers that are stan- dards for any game show. Teams compete in a series of skill and luck challenges such as solving word puzzles and finding the top an- swer for a chance to spin the big wheel. You can enjoy all the fun of being on a game show without having every relative and long-lost friend calling to hit you up for a loan. 2. Two Bit Circus 8030 Park Lane, No. 200 This twist on a carnival that just arrived in town has a throwback arcade with old and new favorites, but it’s also got some games you won’t find anywhere else. The Midway has interactive, carnival-style games that use tracking technology to rack up your score in games like the classic Bal- loon Pop and Skee Ball, along with new con- cepts like a demolition tower with a swinging wrecking ball and a King of the Hill-style toppling competition. There are also virtual reality experiences that you can’t get on standard headsets and innova- tive escape rooms. 3. Immersive Gamebox 5752 Grandscape Blvd., The Colony 2525 Elm St., Suite 110, Dallas Say you want to go out and do something fun but you don’t wanna just sit on your ass and down beer and pizza until you lose the energy to get off the barstool. Well, Immer- sive Gamebox offers an active and entertain- ing proposition for such a moment. This interactive series of video games in The Colony (and new location in Deep El- lum) is displayed on screens that take up en- tire walls in an enclosed room. Groups of four friends work together in cooperative games or compete in story-driven challenges that track their movements on specially designed sensors they wear on their heads. Groups can compete in an interstellar game show in Trivia Mashup, run through an ancient tem- ple of booby traps in Temple of Coins or show an alien race how smart humans are in Alien Aptitude Test. The attraction has also ex- panded its game library with new titles based on games and shows Angry Birds, Shaun the Sheep and Squid Game. 4. Common Ground Games 1328 Inwood Road Board games have grown far beyond Mo- nopoly, a game that has lasted as long as it has only because no one has ever actually finished a round. Common Ground Games is beyond a board game and collectible store; it’s a gather- ing place for friends and groups to play some of the newest, biggest and most challenging board games available. And you don’t have to buy them to enjoy them. This board game hotspot has a huge library of games you can play in the store with friends or strangers. If you like them enough, you can buy a copy to take home on your way out the door. 5. Sandbox VR 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, No. 110 If you’re looking to do something a little more adventurous without breaking a sweat, Sandbox VR in Mockingbird Station has a bunch of ways to do it. The newest VR experience in Dallas uses the Pico headsets that you can only get over- seas to compete with your group, or you can work together to defeat an enemy and save the day. Players wear virtual reality headsets that track sensors you wear on your head, wrists and arms so you can hold physical ri- fles to shoot at zombies, undead pirates and other enemies. Every session is recorded and edited as shareable videos that show your score and some of your best headshots. 6. Crush It! Virtual Sports Lounge 401 W. State Highway 114, Grapevine If you think fighting aliens in a virtual spaceship or shooting zombies in a post- apocalyptic landscape is too “geeky,” we hope you find a way to live a fuller and more accepting life. There’s a place where you can have fun in a virtual environment. Crush It! Virtual Sports Lounge is unique in the VR entertainment landscape because it offers a full array of virtual sports games that use real sporting equipment you can throw, hit, kick, pitch and shoot. Groups can reserve their own virtual screen and order food and drinks while trying to rack up the high score, and just about any player with any skill level can enjoy the experience. Even if you’ve never thrown a ball in your life, this is the spot. 7. ImaginationsVR 2035 W. McDermott Drive, No. 470, Allen VR has become so accessible that there are headsets you can buy and use in your home without needing to connect them to a high-powered computer with a graphics card that requires the equivalent of three months of car payments. ImaginationsVR in Allen is one of the first to offer the VR experience on the latest head- sets and accessories so you can play the newest games on the Oculus, HTC Vive and PlaySta- tion VR systems. There’s even niceties such as a driving simulator with a steering wheel, ped- als and stick shift, and a flying simulator that can mimic the tiniest moments of turbulence if you’ve got the stomach for it. Courtesy of Immersive Gamebox Players work together to complete puzzles and skill challenges in Alien Aptitude Test, one of 11 games at the interactive game experience Immersive Gamebox. ▼ Culture www.dallasobserver.com/signup go to WEEKLY EMAIL D SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY EMAIL LIST for feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more!
