Here’s an unbiased comparison of 2 VR rooms we visited this week: Zero Latency in Van, then Sandbox VR in Richmond: * Staff Zero Latency Absolutely awesome. Super friendly, and took great care of us, ensuring we had a good time. Sandbox VR Not a smile, friendly word, or a hint we were more than a faceless client to be served and ushered out with maximum efficiency. Which made it ironic when they had the audacity to prompt for a tip...seriously? Winner: Zero Latency * Equipment Zero Latency Just a headset and a gun here. The headset was comfortable and the headphones sealed perfectly around my ears, helping create an immersive experience. The gun reloads very intuitively with a button on the base of the grip – slapping it like jamming in a magazine was quite satisfying! The only downside was my lenses weren’t clean, which was distracting. Sandbox VR The lenses were nice and clean, but the headphones were awful – they flopped around and were so loose I could hear everyone in the next room talking, which ruined the sense of immersion in the game. The gun had no reload button – you had to lower the gun to your side to reload, which often didn’t work, and wasn’t at all a natural action. Winner: Zero Latency, even with the dirty lenses. * Technology Zero Latency The downside of such a simple setup is that your avatar doesn’t accurately mimic your movements. The large room, however, allowed for a lot of movement, which adds to the sense of immersion. Sandbox VR Here’s where Sandbox shines. All the extra sensors we wore meant our avatars mimicked our movements perfectly. It felt so much more real to look over at Scott, wave, hell…even balance on one leg. We had two different weapon systems – I was given an assault rifle, and he was given a handgun plus a Captain America style energy shield that he could throw. The room was small, but had a nifty fan wall to make you feel like you were outside. We both felt the clarity and resolution was noticeably better than Zero Latency. Winner: Sandbox VR * Game Design Zero Latency We played the Far Cry game, which was fun. The environment was expansive, the voice acting was first rate, and we liked being able to roam about in the large space. Enemies appeared at a good distance so we could engage them early, and reloading was fast and intuitive, ensuring little downtime. Overall we had a great time, and the game was just the right length. Sandbox VR (Amber Sky game) The game design was often very cramped. Enemies would run in and stand in your face, and perhaps it was because there were only two of us, but we were often overwhelmed. Reloading was unreliable and slow, and I was often waiting to be able to shoot again – frustrating when 10 enemies are standing in your face. A highlight of the Sandbox experience was the sensors we wore allowing for things like crouching – you’d have to duck under laser beams, which added to the realism. There were also open-air boss fights, which looked amazing and required figuring out their vulnerabilities. You could also shoot power-ups, which added rapid fire, missiles, or other special abilities to your gun. A fun experience marred by unintuitive and slow reloading, and often feeling like we were in a rugby scrum under a pile of enemies we couldn’t see. Even the bugs that would attach to our legs were a good idea, but while it indicated you could shake them off, I kicked like hell and they weren’t going anywhere. So many good ideas, and with tweaking it could be a much better gaming experience. Winner: Zero Latency. * Post-Game Video Zero Latency We were given a link to our game, but it was first-person shooter style, which is utterly boring to watch. They did, however, use our phones to shoot us during the game, and the footage was VERY well shot and hilarious! Sandbox VR They didn’t use our phones, but the video was very well done in 3rd person, switching between us in the room and the VR environment. Very fun to watch and share. Winner: Sandbox VR tl;dr: Both are fun, but if I were to go again I'd choose Zero Latency.

Re: We did not have the best experience previously at Sandbox VR, the management at Sandbox reached out to us and apologies for the bad experience due to some technical problem. They are very genuine and refunded my previous booking cost. On top of that, Jacky the manager also invited us to revisit them on a free experience. We went and played Deadwood Valley, I got to say that this time they fixed all the technical problems. The game went very smoothly and our controls are not laggy. Mics works through out the whole game. We played as a team of six. The fact that their management went about to reach out to costumer and try to make up for the bad experience makes them deserve a 5/5 . Good job to the management team at Sandbox VR. Will definitely recommend to others! : )

Fun small group party activity! Bond with your friends/family by zapping some virtual monsters. The 30 mins of playtime actually seem longer than it is. They even have a video of your group and your play experience at the end that you can view and download to share after.

The staff here were fantastic and everything looked clean. The VR experience itself was fun but severely lacking. We experienced lots frame drops and rubber banding making the experience nauseating at times. The reload action was cumbersome and didn't work great. The resolution if the headsets was also not great. The best part of the experience was fully body tracking and being able to interact with your friends. I also don't think the price is worth it as the experience is maybe half an hour but costs about $60. I'm not sure I would really recommend going unless you can get a discount.

If you're looking for a fully immersive VR experience, Sandbox VR is definitely the place to go. The staff are friendly and helpful, and they have corrective lenses available for those who wear glasses. They also have trackers for your ankles and wrists, as well as a vest with feedback. We tried the Deadwood Valley game and it was quite fun. I also really enjoyed the short montage they made at the end, which showed our accuracy and kill count. Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Great staff. You must reserve online and can’t walk in, they get booked pretty quickly. This was lots of fun and if it’s someone’s birthday there is a special free surprise in the VR world for them!

Great experience. The staff is friendly and the game is a lot of fun. I have been there many times and will keep going back. Last weekend we played squid 🐙 games and it was fabulous. Keep up the good work, and we are waiting for new games.

took my 10 year old here for a Bday party with his friends. Had a great time. They were screaming and jumping around the whole time. They make a video trailer for you at the end which is a great keepsake. They also had a birthday party video too. Highly recommend for a fun activity for older kids.

Would highly recommend this place! The game play was exceptional, our group played the squid game and is easily one of the best experience I had. The customer experience was incredible as well. Emily was the one helping us throughout our time there and was incredibly friendly and professional throughout. Would absolutely go again!

Had so much fun with my friends! Definitely recommend the new Squid Games experience as it is unique from the show but still provide the same atmosphere and theme!

Hats off to the staff for going above and beyond for us! The game was very fun and enjoyable. Clear instructions and continued support made it a perfect experience. The recorded video is just a cherry on top. Must visit!