Starr C.
Yelp
I first heard of Level 99 from my Boston-area friends and was dying to visit, so I was THRILLED when I found out a location was opening at Tyson's Corner. It seemed like just exactly the kind of fun I want to have?
I brought my partner for his birthday weekend and we walked in on Sunday a few minutes after they opened at 10am. You don't need to make an online reservation, but it would help expedite the process of registering each player for an account. You are given wristband when you walk in that will be linked to said account and that you use to enter the game rooms.
We didn't wait at all when we first arrived, as there were only 3-4 other parties there, but by the time we left at the end of our 2 hour reservation, this place was understandably PACKED. Expect to wait to get into any room and get in line for the swinging axe run during peak times, but the wait time will probably be something like 3-4 minutes if there isn't a line.
Most of the rooms were REALLY fun, but I do recommend looking at the instructions before entering to maximize your time, because otherwise you risk wasting time trying to make sense of the props in the room and the objective, as we did with our first room (and as I realized my partner did when he couldn't read the instructions as fast I did...) You can find instructions on the screen BEFORE you enter the room by touching the lightbulb icon, but you will likely not realize you need to do this until you enter your first room and are lost and look around for instructions and see none. Some of the rooms we still just couldn't figure out how to achieve the objective because the instructions are left intentionally vague, and some of the rooms were physically just too challenging for us. I also really appreciated the design of the rooms -- they were really immersive, even on the outside, and we were giddy with excitement and anticipation every time we entered a new one.
There is a spot the art activity that seemed fun but also felt like not a great way for me to spend my limited time, but I think would be more fun if I had an all-day pass or I had long waits between rooms and could have someone in my party help me wait. There is a TON of art on basically every wall, and we ended our time at Level 99 just getting photos at some of the very photogenic backdrops. (Again, I wouldn't recommend using your limited paid time to do this.)
Nice amenities in the space included free water stations with cups and hand sanitizer, both of which make a ton of sense when you are sweating and shouting at/to your teammates while frantically touching a bunch of different props in so many rooms! Another free amenity that I didn't realize was free was the lockers. I didn't know these were no charge so I kept my crossbody bag on throughout the rooms and my partner carried his hoodie that he had to take off in his arms and just hoped no one would take it when he left it outside the room. They're not large enough for really large items but big enough for jackets, small-medium bags, maybe some shopping bags, etc.
I do think that for 2 people, 2 hours was a good amount of time, especially given how much we were able to do our first hour before it got crowded. By our second hour, we were physically spent from how competitive we were in some of these game rooms and the waits were getting longer as well. I can see the longer times maybe being more worthwhile with larger parties, though.
This would be a great place for a date (maybe slightly aggressive for a first date but an efficient way to determine compatibility in a competitive setting!) and with a group of friends. We saw a lot of kids during our visit, but I think people below a certain height are at a distinct disadvantage for many of the rooms so I wouldn't recommend bringing young children. (For my fun-sized folks out there, bring a tall friend or two to get the most out of rooms where you have to reach things that are quite high!) Be prepared to test any relationship where you don't have well-established communication/collaboration styles or with mismatched levels of competitiveness!
Truly, I cannot overstate how much my partner and I are excited to come back, especially if we are able to come during an off-peak time, and to share this with our loved ones.
How to prepare before arriving:
+ Dress comfortably in something you can jump, stretch, and sweat in
+ Pre-register if possible to save time when arriving
+ Do not come on a full stomach
+ Please skip if you are ill
+ Establish some ground rules with your party re: competition and communication -- yelling is almost guaranteed to happen, just from the volume of overlapping noises, so you need to be ready to not make or take it personal
Have fun, invite me when you go!