Playing Arcade Games at Gravity Max Stratford

Dann is a big fan of arcades and I am a big fan of adventures! On one of the days of the summer holiday, everyone seemed a bit bored at home, so we all decided we wanted to go to an arcade. Gravity Max has recently opened up a venue in Westfield Stratford, which is quite nearby to us, so we decided to make a day out of it and see what the arcade was all about. Dann and I had recently gone to a Gravity Max for a press event for our day jobs, and ever since have been itching to take our children.

Carnival Street at Gravity Max

Carnival Street is where we spent most of our time at Gravity Max. This is what they call the main arcade area. Much like every arcade in London now-a-days, you need to load money onto a card in order to play the arcade games. This is mainly so you can barely keep track of the money you spend. They do have a bunch of deals for the amount you want to spend giving you credits, that you can then split them between cards for each of your family members. I found it easier to talk to a member of staff, who was able to give a bigger combo with more credits for us all then I could find on the machines. Once our cards were loaded, we started exploring.

Carnival Street has a bunch of different arcade games from claw machines, to classics like ski ball or basketball to newer machines like the giant piano and Jumanji. The variety is very good and you can earn tickets (which are also loaded onto your cards) by playing. The machines each have their own credit cost, which is a little tough, and we all ended up with parts of a credit which felt weird as they cannot really be combined and you cannot use a card that doesn’t have enough for the game. We did end up getting tons of tickets, which you can trade in for prizes. These prizes are in lockers at one side of the venue, so that you can walk over, put on your cards (combining them or using one at a time), then get your prize instantly. There is also an Amazon machine allowing you to spend tickets on times mailed to your home.

Darts, Hyperfloor and Mini-golf

There are a bunch of other, kind of large-style games or activities that you can also take part in at Gravity Max. We did the “select 3” deal, which allows you to pick from three activities and try them. There were other options than the three we did, including the immersive game box, VR games, and more. Kai wanted to do Darts with Dann, so that’s what he picked. The darts were digital, with a big screen that you could throw your darts at. There were a few different game modes, with challenges. The projected that sees where your darts go was a bit off, which meant that sometimes it didn’t record your dart throw, but otherwise was fun. Robin and Amelia really wanted to do the hyperfloor experience, which is a giant floor of different colored tiles that has mini-games around touching specific styles or racing around. There does need to be a member of staff from Gravity Max to change the games after each round, but we fund that gave our girls enough time to grab a drink and rest between the running around! We all did the mini-golf course together, which is soda brand themed. It’s got some fun holes and some holes that does feel like it needs some work – specifically the ship that seemed impossible!

There are also go-karts at Gravity Max, but you do need to pre-book this before going as it’s always busy and there are different rounds for different ages. Robin is in the jr age range, so would have been on a different round to the adults and teens! We decided to give it a miss this time for that reason, but when Dann and I went previously, the go-karting was extremely fun. Inside the darts area, which acts as a more adult bar, there is also karaoke that you can do.

Gravity Max is a massive arcade and experience place, where you could easily spend a lot of money, so it’s well worth setting a budget! We got refilling drinks, slushies, and some snacks while there as well. It’s a neat place for a day out and does feel very hi-tech as well.

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!