SIX COLOURFUL CHALLENGES, LASER MAZES AND A PAINT-FILLED FINALE

By Tanya Howard | Founder, The Live Review London · @glamglitzlondon ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to step inside a real-life arcade game? I’m not talking holding the controller, I mean where you are the controller. If yes, then Boom Lab is the place for you. Tucked away in Shoreditch, this 75-minute experience throws you into six immersive challenge rooms. Each colour-coded and designed to test your reflexes, communication, stamina, and in some cases, your dignity.

On arrival, there is a waiver form to complete. Quick warning: signal is spotty inside the venue as it’s located under the train tracks. You may need to pop outside to load it, but it’s quick to complete. There are small lockers to store your belongings, followed by a short briefing before you head in. And then? It’s game time.

COMMUNICATION, CARDIO AND A LITTLE BIT OF CHAOS

The first room was Blue Blur, which is heavily centred around communication. Six screens, multiple moving parts, and a lot of shouting information at your team in mild panic. I managed to work out the mechanics fairly fast, but with just two of us covering six screens, we were bouncing all over the place. A bigger group could assign one screen per person, though I do wonder if that might descend into chaos just as easily. Too many cooks and all that.

Pink Panic was where things became noticeably more physical for us. Three towering columns with buttons lighting up. It starts off simple, finding and hitting the blue lights to turn them off. But as the rounds progress, they introduce different colours with different rules. With only two of us covering three columns, it became a full cardio session quickly. Somehow, we absolutely smashed it. Even finding out later that we were in the top three best scores of the day in that room.

Red Reflex is your laser dodging spy mission moment. Each round brings a different laser layout, so you’re weaving, ducking, stretching over and under beams to avoid breaking them. I could have done without the army crawl, but that’s purely down to my recovering arm injury rather than the design itself. The only real downside for me was the excessive use of smoke. I understand it adds to the drama, but as an asthmatic it felt very overdone.

WHERE STRATEGY MATTERS AS MUCH AS SPEED

Yellow Yell ended up being one of my favourites. Quick-fire questions appear on screen, and you answer by throwing a ball at the correct answer on the wall. It combines quick thinking with decent aim, and it’s surprisingly competitive. The only frustration was that one of the panels didn’t consistently register hits, which cost us a few points. Slightly annoying in a timed game, but the concept itself is strong and genuinely fun.

The final room before the big showdown is Orange Outrun, essentially a high-tech version of the floor is lava. Sadly, this was probably my least favourites from a practicality standpoint. The platforms are spaced quite far apart, and for shorter players some of those gaps are ambitious. In one timed round, we had to admit defeat because there simply wasn’t enough time for the two of us to collect what we needed. That said, we somehow still ranked top three of the day in that room, which genuinely surprised us.

And then it’s time for the grand finale. The points collected in each room are converted to lives to be used in Solara. The aim is to defeat the “Black & White Nemesis” and avoid triggering the paint explosion. We could not have been closer. A single round away. Thirty seconds more and I’m convinced we would have taken it. Instead, we were blasted with paint. Well… I say we. I somehow ended up almost entirely outside of the hit zone.

WHERE ALL YOUR HARD WORK EITHER PAYS OFF… OR EXPLODES IN COLOUR

The experience includes a video of your paint explosion and a photo of the moment. This means the moment my friend was full pelted with paint is preserved for all time. Hilarious for me, maybe not so much for her when I bring it out as a reminder. There’s also a scoreboard outside Solara and near the lockers. It shows the all-time high scores and highlights the top teams of the day. We were in the top three of the day for Pink Panic, Orange Outrun, Solara, and in combined overall scores too. Not bad for a group of two!

Boom Lab is energetic, fast-paced, occasionally frustrating, and genuinely good fun. It’s the kind of experience that brings out your competitive streak without taking itself too seriously. It works brilliant as a group activity who aren’t afraid to get stuck in and put some oomph into it. Two people can absolutely do it, but I’d say three or four might be the sweet spot for balancing speed with sanity. If you enjoy immersive experiences that feel interactive rather than observational, this is one that keeps you fully involved from start to paint-splattered finish.

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Photo Credit: Fever