Looking for a new spot for date nights or weekend fun? Then make plans to visit Level99, Tysons Corner Center’s new immersive gaming spot that opened in August.
When I first heard about it, I had no idea what it was supposed to be. Was it a video game bar? A set of escape rooms? Or just a place for busy parents to take their rambunctious kids to get a few moments of peace? My husband and I set off to check it out and see if it was worth the hype.
Physical and Mental Activities
The venue is a labyrinth of little rooms with ornate entrances and vibrant art pieces. It feels like walking into another dimension. After checking in, we were given wristbands with chips on them to scan into each room.
At the entrance of every room, there’s a screen that displays a bit about what to expect from each experience. There are scales of physical and mental difficulty and hints on how to best conquer the room. We mostly stuck to the mental challenge rooms, but there was an even mix of both physically and mentally difficult activities.
One of the favorite puzzles that we tried was in the Crystal Visions room. The object of this game is to put the crystals on the table in the center of the room in the correct order. To do that, we had to put each crystal onto one of the pedestals scattered around the room where a “magic mirror” revealed a sequence of images associated with each crystal.
We had a blast running around the room with an armful of crystals and playfully arguing about which image we each thought went first.
Favorite Challenge
The physical challenge that we enjoyed the most was definitely the Retro Vinyl room. After scanning our wristbands, we entered a circular room with a vinyl record covering the entire floor.
In order to win points, we had to run along the edge of the record to match up colored squares on the floor with the colored lights on the walls. In theory, this sounded simple; in practice, it was quite the opposite. What followed was five minutes of chaos, face-planting, and a lot of uncontrollable laughter.
Delicious Food
After hours of sweating, puzzling, and head-to-head battles we went over to the Victory Brewing side of the venue to re-fuel with some delicious bites. My husband enjoyed the iconic Detroit-style pizza, and I indulged in the Korean BBQ sandwich. Both were flavorful, crispy, and perfectly seasoned.
We were there for two hours and didn’t even make a dent in the number of challenges. And, take it from me — you’ll need more than just two people for most of these challenges.
Passes are $29.99 for two hours of play, $39.99 for four hours, and $49.99 for all-day access.
Level99 is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday; 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. 1961 Chain Bridge Rd. Tysons
Feature image by Sophie Sanders
