Welcome to Adventure Island: JBR's amazing new laser gaming hub
From the group that brought you TepFactor and Prison Island…
Adventure has a new name in the UAE, or a new surname at least… We present to you, Adventure Island.
Now open at Bahar Plaza on the JBR, and with phasers firmly set to stun, Adventure Island contains a pair of box-fresh Dubai attractions in Laser Island and Pixel.
Adventure Island is part of a larger rebrand for the parent company that brought us TepFactor (Dubai) and Prison Island (Abu Dhabi, Sharjah). These incredible adventuretainment facilities will still keep their own names, they’ll just sit under the Adventure Island umbrella.
Tickets to the gun show
There is actually already one other UAE location of Laser Island. You’ll find the first one in Prison Island Sharjah (City Center Al Zahia), and when we tried it out at the end of last year, it was love at first pistol-mounted sight.
It’s basically a version of laser tag, set between neon paint and black light – and cast across an intersecting network of nooks and camp-friendly crannies.
It’s a rootin’, tootin’, phaser-shootin’ hoedown of an attraction. Inside groups of up to 24 can lock and load for a battle royale – running and gunning in just-for-fun free-for-alls or team-based fire fights. Winner winner, chicken dinner – it really does feel like the closest we’ll get to an in-the-flesh Fortnite sesh.
Open to ages six and up (kids between six and 11 need an accompanying adult), prices for Laser Island start at Dhs59 for 15 minutes. You can get two rounds for Dhs99 three for Dhs159.
Slick Pixels
Completely new to the UAE (although there is one hugely popular version in Prison Island KSA) – is Pixel. Picture a series of touch-sensitive LED-lit-blocks on the floor of an enclosed room, players must leap around in co-op and versus challenges, collecting points and avoiding the dreaded red blocks. It’s ‘the floor is lava’ IRL, with the feel of an upgraded immersive 4D version of Nokia’s classic Snake.
There are seven game modes available – with a range of difficulty levels, but just beware – dialling it up to 10 requires a full HIIT session effort and superhuman coordination.
There’s a minimum of two-person teams required to play Pixel (aged six or over), with a 15-minute bout charged from Dhs59. You can get two lots of 15 minutes for Dhs99.
Adventure Island, Bahar Plaza Level 1, JBR, Mon to Thu midday to 10pm, Fri to Sun, midday to midnight. adventureisland.ae
Images: Provided