Have you felt like you’ve run out of things to do with friends? An Immersive Gamebox has recently opened at The Woodlands Mall.
Immersive Gamebox is a gaming experience unlike any other. You are put into an empty room. Projectors cast the game onto the walls around you. Lasers are embedded on the walls so that when you touch the wall, it breaks the connection. To make the game more interactive, you wear a visor cap with a sensor that tracks your movement throughout the room, making your body and the space your controller.
There is a catalog of games to choose from. Each game has its respective time for which it can be played, varying from 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes.
I went with one other person to try and gauge how the games can be played in both solo and multiplayer aspects.
Upon walking in, I was immediately greeted by the friendly staff. After choosing to play the “Alien Aptitude Test,” the team took me to one of the rooms.
The 60-minute session has four mini-games that are split into 15 minutes each. The first game was a multiplayer version of Brick Breaker. To control your paddle, you must move throughout the room. This game was fun to play with more people as you attempted to clear as many boards as possible before the fifteen minutes were over. The game gives you a grade based on how many panels you complete. Overall this mini-game was entertaining to play. It is best to be played in a group with friends instead of playing by yourself.
The next mini-game we played was Dodgeball. This game is slightly different than your traditional game of dodgeball. In this game, you collect white-colored balls to collect points within a continually moving zone. Orange and red-colored balls can lower your score if they hit you. Although this game sounded very simple, controlling my movements with my body turned more difficult than I initially anticipated it to be.
The third game was Card shuffle. Cards were laid across the walls, and the player had to memorize and follow them around the room. The more rounds you complete, the more difficult it becomes. The smaller the group, the more difficult this game is.
The fourth and final game we played was called Maze Runner. In this game, you would collect coins around a map. If you contact the walls, you will lose your turn, and any cash you collected would be put back on the board. Your teammate would then get their turn. If they successfully gathered coins without hitting any obstacles, they would find and deposit their collected coins into the goal. The more boards you cleared granted you a higher grade. This game felt very fast-paced and fun. It was competitive even though you and your friends were on the same team. This game was by far the best out of the four.
Overall the experience of going to Immersive Gamebox is very general to the point where any group of people could go together even if they aren’t all usually interested in playing video games. I highly recommend the best way to go is with 2-3 friends. Immersive Gamebox is an experience all friend groups should put on their to-do list for the near future. Pricing is different Friday-Sunday, and has different rates for children and adults. Purchase time in 15, 30 or 60 minute increments. Immersive Gamebox is located next to Banana Republic at The Woodlands Mall.