The biggest draw of Urban Playground has got to be their live version of TV gameshow The Cube. It may look easy when you’re watching at home, but once you’re stood inside the perspex box the pressure can make the tasks a lot trickier. Take on 7 games from the original tv series testing out your balance, hand to eye coordination and skills.
Top Info
⭐Located in Manchester Arndale
👶Suitable for over 8 years
🧩Test your mental ability and physical agility
▶️Play 7 iconic games
🧑🤝🧑Play in groups of 4, with 2 against 2 format
⭐Pre book online
💰Cashless venue
🚗There is parking nearby, charges apply.
🎉Party packages available for Kids party (ages 8+), birthday party, stag do or hen dos
🗺️Marsden Way, City Centre, Manchester M4 3AQ
We checked in on arrival and were shown to the first touchscreen board, where you scan your barcode you received when booking. Here a member of staff explains the game and you watch a video of how to play. You pick your teams and team name. We split into teams. Daddy with the eldest daughter (age 11) and Mummy with the youngest (age 8)
To play the Cube you have to be in teams of two as some challenges you work together and others you work alone. Four players compete against each Cube and tickets are purchased in multiples of two. If it is just the two of you may be paired with people you don’t know.
The Cube Live allows you to play 7 original games from the TV series as you battle to score the highest amount of points. You get 3 lives per game & you score more points per game depending on how many life remains at the end of each game. Scores start low but they progress as the games get harder.
You get two lifelines which you can only use once during your experience, one being simplify, which makes one game easier. The other being swap, which allows during a single player challenge to swap with your team mate.
Each experience is different to the last & the challenges played are selected at random by The Cube Live system. To keep track of each game, you have a member of staff which helps you navigate throughout the challenges & also runs them for you.
Surprisingly my 8 year old did really well & understood the challenges well. The only issue she had was her height. Some of the challenges were stepping over a high pole or taking big steps which she struggled to do just as her legs aren't that long. Mentally she understood the games but physically I can see why they say the minimum age is 8.
As a family we really enjoyed the challenges and within our teams we got rather competitive. We must have felt every emotion while we played our 2 hour game, we were laughing, shouting, feeling tense and elated.
Some games only lasted a few minutes each especially when timed challenges but we had time between each Cube to chat about the game & talk tactics with our team mate.
Our Final Verdict
It was an amazing experience, it had us communicating and fighting all at the same time. We were working together but also against each other. It was a fabulous thing to do as a family and it would be also great with a group of adults or teens.
My daughter has asked to come back as a birthday party idea. The price is expensive though starting from £70 for 2 people so it won't be a regular activity. However, it was so fun & different to anything we had done before it's worth the money.
Opening Times
Mon – Thu: 12pm – 9pm
Friday: 12pm – 10:30pm
Saturday: 10am – 11pm
Sunday: 11:30am – 7pm
▶️The last entry times for THE CUBE is 2 hours before our closing time.
Urban Playground Manchester is a fab place to visit for an adrenaline-fuelled, ultra-competitive day out. Located within Manchester Arndale, it brings together high-tech crazy golf of Putters, The Cube Live game with bars and big-name dining from gourmet burger brand The Butcher.
Putters at Urban Playground
Tech infused adventure golf. No paper score card needed at Putters. Scan in your golf club, and now it knows how many hits you have taken to get that ball in the hole. No cheating or loosing count, with interactive score boards you don't just challenge your friends and family but every one playing that day. You don't even need to play the holes in order as the golf club keeps track. Click here to read my review Putters @ Urban Playground Manchester (daysoutandmealsout.com)
The Butcher
‘The Butcher’, the name says it all. The chefs choose to work only with the best quality meat: Aberdeen Angus beef thus committing to creating the ultimate burger. We had a great meal here while at Urban Playground.
The Butcher Manchester‘s menu is huge with twenty or so signature classics as well as burgers made with chicken or lamb, fish or even plant-based patties. There are luxurious ones with truffle glaze, as well as burgers inspired by various countries and cuisines. You can get wraps instead of buns, or even no buns at all for a lower carb option.
There is no children menu so we all ordered off the main menu.
Our order was
•Hot Chick -crispy chicken breast, lettuce, tom, onion, jalapeño and sriracha sauce (£10.70)
•Cow boy - beef burger with lettuce, tom, onion, bbq and jalapeño. (£10.20)
•Ugly with chicken - marinated chicken breast with lettuce, tom, jalapeño, sour cream & bbq sauce in a wrap. (£10.20)
•Butcher, plain beef burger with just lettuce (£89.95)
•2 fries (£4.45 each)
We just had soft thinks however the bar serves up some really interesting and indulgent milkshakes aswel as spirits, cocktails and beers.
The beef burgers were really thick and could tell were of a good quality Aberdeen Angus Beef. My crispy chicken was really tasty and my husband enjoyed his "Ugly". Luckily we were given little hand wipes as we did get rather messy hands but isn't that a sign of a good burger.
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