Review: Activate Games

*Our writer was offered tickets in exchange for this review. 

Activate Games is the only one of its kind in the United States. It has only been open a few months, and as it is open longer new games and levels will be added to the existing rooms. Enjoy our writers review. 

When my kids were little it was a lot easier to find stuff for them to do. We could go to the Zoo or the Science Center every week and it would never get old. Now my kids are getting bigger and they want to try new things, which is great, but sometimes it feels like we have done everything already. When we heard about Activate Games we weren’t quite sure what it was but we were ready to give it a try.

 

When we arrived we were greeted by the staff and assigned a locker. I LOVE that this place has lockers! They told me that I was in for some physical activity and my purse might be a hindrance, so I was thrilled to have the option to lock it up. The lockers are operated with a wristband, so if you need to go back for something you don’t have to pump quarters into it every time.

We logged in to the iPads and created accounts and usernames and signed the waivers. We were given wristbands that would help us sign in to the different games and track our progress.

We had a brief introduction to the games and layout and got to work. The game rooms all have short names and different symbols, and there are ten rooms in all. Each room has different games and levels, so you could spend a ton of time in just one room and still have plenty of achievements to unlock still.

Each game is anywhere from 2-5 minutes and you can have a redo if you fail. Some of the games we tried several times before we were able to beat them and earn points and stars. Our first game room was the “Trench” room. We started on one side and had to shoot laser guns at the targets on the other side. Then we had to crawl under the laser matrix to the other side and shoot the targets from there, and back and forth a couple of times. That was one of the more physically strenuous games. Several of the games are a lot less strenuous, and several are more about strategy and problem-solving.

If you have physical limitations, there should still be some games you will be able to play. If you can throw a ball or a basketball, you will have a few choices. Many of the games take teamwork and strategy, so not everyone has to be totally physically active as long as their teammates are.

We went around basically in a circle to try each game once. The only one we weren’t able to beat as a team was the laser matrix, but we only tried it three or four times before we decided to move on. Chances are with a little more practice we could have gotten it.

There was a game where the ball had to go in the lit hole with maybe a five-second timer, and there were dividers in the walls so you had to have your whole team positioned strategically and working together to make it work.

There was a trivia game that you won by sinking baskets in the correct color-coordinated goals, which is a lot more tricky than it sounds – you have to pick the answer and then code it to a color, which is not something the human brain does easily.

I have a family of rock climbers (See my reviews for Rocksport, L’Escalade, and Climb Nulu), so the Climb room was a favorite. I quickly learned I didn’t have the hand strength to make that one possible, so I sat outside on the bench while they went through leveling up probably thirty or more times. There were multiple puzzles and levels, so they could have spent the entire 75 minutes on that room alone.

“I like how they added in a little twist to traditional rock climbing,” said Jake, my oldest son, who is a 6th grader.

Each session is 75 minutes and costs $25 per person. It is recommended that you play in groups of 3-5 people, and the recommended age is 10 and up. Flat shoes that you do athletic things in are recommended. They do offer birthday parties and the birthday person plays for free, but there are no party rooms – yet.

Activate Games is located at 2510 Hurstbourne Gem Ln., Louisville, KY 40220. Phone: 502-829-7002. Hours: Mon-Thurs: 1:00pm-10:00pm, Fri: 1:00pm-11:00pm, Sat: 9:30am-11:00pm, Sun: 9:30am-10:00pm.

Review submitted by Maggie K. 

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