Game On Berkeley
Berkeley
Website:
Game On is a new entertainment destination in Berkeley to play with friends, family, and coworkers. The experience centers around a number of custom-built, hands-on games installed in rooms to play in teams of 2-5 people. You can play all 6 game rooms during your visit, along with special challenges outside the rooms.
And there's beer!
My family went last year for my kid's 15th birthday, and that kid enjoyed it the most of all of us. We went early evening on a weekend and there were other groups there (so you sometimes have to wait a few minutes for a particular room) but nobody sitting around drinking beer. It's not a big lounge area. I (middle aged person) thought one of the physical challenges was way too hard for me personally, and there were two rooms we never cracked. But again, the teen really enjoyed it so could be good if nobody in your group gets really frustrated. The challenges change periodically, so they say, so ideally they would have slightly recalibrated some to be a hair easier. But I don't know this for sure.
I think we stayed about 90 minutes and that was plenty for us.
We went to a birthday party for a10 year old kid at Game On. The birthday kid is gifted and is a puzzle enthusiast.
Birthday party guests were 9-11 year olds divided into 3 groups and each group had 1-2 adults and one group had a14 year old kid (older sibling) but this kid is a math and puzzle genius. For this age group, they needed an adult or a genius older sibling to help solve the puzzles.
Kids had a lot of fun. Some of it was quite challenging for kids and adults and my kid who loves puzzles but is extraordinarily untalented in physical activities said it was fun. Some of it was kind of like American Ninja / the Floor is Lava type and physically demanding but they said it was still very fun. Kid came home completely exhausted!
Some of the party guests weren’t super into puzzles but really liked the physical challenge aspect. I got the sense that it had a little bit of fun for different types of kids.
There was a small outdoor/indoor area where they had pizza, snack, and cake after the game. We went weekend on the earlier side, so we didn’t see any other group until our party time was nearing the end. Another group was coming in for their party and the kids looked to be 11-13 age set.
Went to GameOn for my 10y.o.'s birthday party. It was a huge hit, despite most of the games being pretty difficult and really more geared towards teens and adults. I think it'd be perfect for 13/14y.o.'s.