Before Christmas we were invited to Vector VR to experience their virtual escape rooms, and to check out their individual pods for a VR gaming experience.
Vector VR is located on Level 1 of Castle Quarter, (formerly known as Castle Mall Norwich) along with lots of other amazing family fun activities, you could definitely spend an entire day there!
VR Games
Vector VR has a huge variety of options, depending on the number of people visiting, you can hire an individual pod for yourself to experience Virtual Reality, with a vast array of games for you to choose from.
Alternatively you can interact with a friend in the next pod and play together. Lochlan and Kaide had a go on Superhot, Synth Riders, and Propagation, then Eowyn and Asa, had a go on Propagation, one pair was a little more successful at it than the other!
I was able to sit in the reception area and they very kindly put their experience onto the screen above my head so I could see what they were seeing, without the virtual reality headset!
VR Escape Rooms
If you are in a larger group, you might want to think about a VR Escape Room, there are two ways to play.
At Vector VR, they have 2 types of escape rooms to try out!
You can choose to use the Pod based escape rooms, where you will have a pod each, and will be connected via a voice chat, in those you use the Valve Index rig.
Or you can take the next step up and try the premium free-roam escape rooms, where you will all share a room and can walk amongst each other to interact with the virtual world,in there you use the Meta Quest 2 kits which allows you to roam without any wires.
The five of us tried out the Free Roam Escape Room and it was brilliant!
I had never taken part in any VR related game play, although the other four use the VR headset at home on the PS4.
We entered the room and there were grids marked out on the floor for us to stand in to begin the session, we were helped to get the headsets on correctly (it took me a while to get used to it!)and we attached the controllers to our wrists (when I worked out which way round they went!)
We were given a short tutorial about the experience and then our Virtual Escape Room Adventure began!
We chose to Escape from Time Travel Paradox, here is what they say about it:
Launch your team into a voyage across the ages in order to stop an evil mastermind. Don’t get distracted by the beauty of prehistoria or the ravaged dystopian city-scape… time is of the essence! The only way to control time is to understand it! Can you escape?
Its hard to describe the experience without giving too much away, my biggest piece of advice is check the date in the corner by the door, it took us a while to figure out where we were and when!
I am pleased to say we managed to escape the Time Travel Paradox with some time to spare, we didn’t bump into each other (much) and we worked as a team (at times) and I was grateful that I had a few taller people in the group to help navigate some of the obstacles been thrown!!
Our thoughts on Vector VR Experience
I was slightly apprehensive about the whole VR thing as I hadn’t experienced it fully before, I knew the other four would be fine, but it was really good fun, it passed very quickly and you almost forget you are just in a 7x7m room, you feel like you travelled a great distance, and you get fully immersed into the situation.
We completed the mission in good time, although at some points it seemed quite stressful moving between the different scenarios and trying to get all five of us on the same page, as well as working out exactly what we needed to do!
This is a great way to catch up with a bunch of friends and have fun working together to complete the mission and escape.
About Vector VR
Where Is Vector VR ?
Vector VR is located on Level 1 of The Castle Quarter, Norwich.
You can find them opposite the ground floor lifts, near PureGym and Putt Putt Noodle.
Do I Need To Arrive Before The Time?
You need to arrive at least 15 minutes before your session starts so that you can be checked in and introduced to the kit!
What Does Vector VR Cost ?
Prices vary depending on how long and what activity you are taking part in,
VR Games prices start from £16.99 for one player to play VR for 30 minutes, £24.99 for 1 hour and £33.99 for 90 minutes, however there are discounts for more players, so 4 players would pay £13.99 each for the 30 minutes, £21.99 for 1 hour and £29.99 for 90 minutes, so its a great activity to go to with a group of friends!
Escape Rooms are £24.99 per person for the Pod Based between 2 and 6 players and £27.99 per person for Free Roam for 4-6 players.
When is Vector VR Open ?
Vector VR is open Monday – Friday 11am-8pm, Saturday 10am-9pm and Sundays 10am – 8pm.
We were provided with complimentary tickets to experience Vector VR, all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Looking for other fun activities in Norwich, have you tried Escape Hunt Norwich