Unplug Together: Why an Hour in the Same Room Beats Another Night of Scrolling
You probably know this one. Everyone's home and in the same room, and everyone is looking at a different screen. The group chat is busy and the room is quiet.
We run a free-roam VR arena in Aldergrove, so it might sound odd for us to talk about unplugging. Hear us out. The difference we care about isn't screen or no screen. It's alone or together.
Alone together vs. actually together
When you scroll, you're on your own, even with people sitting right next to you. Each of you is in a different feed, laughing at different things.
A session here works the other way round. You're standing in the same room as the people you came with. You hear them laugh. Someone shouts that a zombie is coming round the corner, you spin to look, and they're right there beside you. When it's over, you take the headsets off and everyone is talking about the same thing at once.
That last part is what we notice most from the front desk. Groups don't walk out looking at their phones. They walk out arguing about who saved whom.
What an hour with us looks like
A drop-in visit is 60 minutes: 15 minutes of setup and safety with our staff, then 45 minutes of free-roam VR. There are no wires. You walk, crouch, turn and move around for real, and nobody needs any VR experience.
Every booking is a private session for your group only. You're never put in a game with strangers. We have two 700 sq ft rooms, so up to 14 players can be in the same game.
Pick a game that gets people talking
Some games are better than others at getting a group to work together. A few we'd point you to:
- Escape rooms. You can't solve them alone. People split up the puzzles, call out what they've found and work it out together. Ninja Trials and Pirates Plague are our two Beginner rooms, and both take 2 to 12 players.
- Co-op shooters. Safe Night Classic is one button to play, which makes it great for beginners, and it takes 1 to 14 players. Everyone is on the same team holding off waves of zombies.
- Versus. If your group likes a friendly rivalry, Shmooter is cartoon team-against-team battles, a bit like VR laser tag, for up to 14 players across both rooms.
- Ghost Tower. Gentle mini-games like Ghost Hunt, fishing and a cooking game, for all ages. We recommend 6+ so the headset fits.
Not sure which one fits? Tell us who's coming when you book and we'll help you choose.
Who this is good for
Friends who keep saying "we should hang out." Putting a time on the calendar is the hard part. After that, the hour does the rest.
Families with kids of different ages. There's no minimum age, and our Beginner rooms and Ghost Tower games work for younger players and grandparents alike.
Coworkers. People who sit in meetings all week see a different side of each other when they have to break a pirate curse together. Bigger teams can look at our corporate packages.
Anyone who's a bit tired of their own screen. It sounds funny coming from a VR arena, but the screen isn't what you'll remember. The people next to you are.
About the photo
The five people at the top of this post came in on a weekday evening in September. We took the photo at our logo wall after their session. No phones in hand, just a group that had spent the last hour doing something together.
The practical bits
Prices are per person, plus tax:
- Mon–Thu: adults $44.99, students and kids 13 and under $29.99
- Fri–Sun and stat holidays: adults $49.99, students and kids $39.99
Drop-ins are free to book, with no deposit, and you pay after your session. Please arrive 15 minutes early. We're at 3078 275 St in Aldergrove, between Langley and Abbotsford, every day from 10 AM to 10 PM (closed Christmas Day).
Put a date on it
Pick an evening this week, message your people (yes, one last message), and get everyone in the same room.
Questions first? Call us at (778) 743-8552.
