Take on gladiators, zombies, aliens and more at Sandbox VR in St. Louis – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Kayla King looks up to shoot flying creatures Nov. 12, 2022, in the Deadwood Valley experience at Sandbox VR. 
Players at Sandbox VR wear a virtual reality headset and backpack.
Cordy King points his pistol at a creature inside the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
From left: Kayla King, Michael Vigh, Alicia King, Cordy King and Kevin King prepare to shoot monsters in the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Cordy King (left) and Michael Vigh figure out how to reload their weapons in the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Kayla King looks into the VR headset before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Good news, St. Louis: Getting stuck inside this winter is bound to be a little more fun than the previous pandemic winter.
Two new indoor amusement venues — where adults can play, too — recently opened: Sandbox VR, a virtual reality venue at City Foundry STL; and Slick City St. Louis West, an indoor slide playground in Chesterfield. Puttshack, an “upscale, tech-infused mini-golf experience,” opens this month at City Foundry. And when the Armory redevelopment opens Dec. 16 in midtown, it will feature nearly 6 acres of games, putting greens, a two-story slide and more.
The best way to score points with your teenage son and his four buddies? Take them on a day off school to shoot a bunch of aliens.
Sandbox VR, a virtual reality venue that opened in November at City Foundry STL, let us shoot extraterrestrials, throw shields to protect ourselves, and ride a futuristic elevator to take in views of space and planet Earth.
“Everyone here is new to VR — that’s what I love about it,” says Regan Ford, general manager for the Los Angeles location of Sandbox VR who helped open at City Foundry. “Even in LA, they haven’t played it before, but they know that it’s an experience. And then it’s way different than they expected.”
Post-Dispatch reporter Valerie Schremp Hahn tags along with her son and his friends play Sandbox VR at City Foundry STL. The virtual reality game experience features real-time motion capture technology. Courtesy of Sandbox VR
Sandbox VR uses motion-tracking technology to capture body movement. Before we played, staff members equipped us with motion sensors that strapped to our wrists and ankles, a haptic vest and backpack, and a VR headset so we could talk to one another in our virtual world. We also got guns for defending our virtual selves.
Up to six people can play at one time. Sandbox VR offers exclusive games and will introduce new ones. On this day, there were six to choose from: Deadwood Valley and Deadwood Mansion, scarier games that involved killing zombies; Curse of Davy Jones, a family-friendlier pirate adventure; Star Trek: Discovery, where players explore alien worlds from the U.S.S. Discovery; UFL, a futuristic gladiator game; and Amber Sky 2088, a futuristic space game where players fight swarms of aliens.
Guest guide Trenese Robinson places a tracker onto Michal Vigh’s wrist Nov. 12, 2022, before he plays the Deadwood Valley experience at Sandbox VR at City Foundry. 
Ford says Amber Sky is his favorite, because it makes players feel like they’re actually in space. That’s the game our group chose.
We walked into one of the four player rooms called “holodecks” and got settled with our headsets and weapons.
“It’s almost like you’re inside an activated game, where you’re moving your character,” Ford says. “Everything you do, it’s going to do. It’s like you’re inside a video game.”
Ford warned us to not cross a virtual red line on the ground, or we’d crash into an actual wall.
From left: Kevin King, Alicia King, Kayla King, Cordy King and Michael Vigh laugh as they watch video of themselves playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR. 
The game started, the virtual world came into view, and we oohed and aahed. We looked down at our arms and legs, which had turned into shiny robot arms and legs. We waved to one another, showed off our giant, futuristic robot guns and shot them into the air.
We looked so freaking cool.
Then the aliens attacked.
“Oh, God!”
“Aaaaah!”
“Behind us! Behind you!”
“They’re coming from above!”
Cordy King gives two thumbs-up as a VR headset and headphones are placed on his head before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
For more than a half-hour, we laughed, screamed and shot at aliens, alien ships and alien eggs that seemed to swarm out of nowhere. The vests allowed us to feel pressure when an alien swung at or jumped on us, and we shook the attackers off our legs. As we scored points, our guns got bigger and gave us even more firepower.
Two players had the ability to throw shields, and we could duck behind them to protect ourselves. If we became injured, our virtual world flickered and turned black and white. That meant we must turn to another player, who could “heal” us by resting a hand on our shoulder.
We were all in this together. After the game ended, we pulled off our headsets, sweaty, smiling and feeling accomplished.
Cordy King (left) and Michael Vigh fist-bump before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Sandbox VR has about two dozen U.S. locations, with more opening soon. The closest to St. Louis is in Cincinnati, and another is coming soon near Kansas City. International locations include Hong Kong, London and Toronto.
The venue so far has been popular with families and students, Ford says. My group of teen boys loved it and wanted to come back another day to fight zombies.
The zombie games are especially fun for employees to watch, Ford says. There’s a lot of screaming.
“It’s going to scare you, I guarantee you,” he says.
Where Sandbox VR, City Foundry STL, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 114 • How much $50-$55 per person • More info sandboxvr.com/stlouis

If sliding headfirst for 28 feet onto an airbag sounds thrilling, a new indoor adventure park in Chesterfield beckons.
Check out some of these other indoor amusement venues where you can climb, play and challenge yourself.
Altitude Trampoline Park • 91 Fountain Drive, Glen Carbon; altitudeglencarbon.centeredgeonline.com
Amp Up Action Park • 13901 Manchester Road, Town and Country; ampupactionpark.com
Bounce U • 4403 Meramec Bottom Road, 17365 Edison Avenue, Chesterfield; bounceu.com
City Museum • 750 North 16th Street; citymuseum.org
Climb So Ill • 1419 Carroll Street; 650 North Main Center, Suite 105, St. Charles; climbsoill.com
The Edge • 701 South Belt West, Belleville; edge618.com
Kokomo Joe’s Family Fun Center • 4105 North Cloverleaf Drive, St. Peters; kjfun.com
The Magic House • 516 South Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood; magichouse.org
Main Event • 17027 North Outer 40 Road, Chesterfield; mainevent.com
Monkey Joe’s • 9061 Watson Road, Crestwood; monkeyjoes.com
Myseum • 283 Lamp and Lantern Village, Town and Country; stlmyseum.com
Playtime Arcade and Bar • 105 Highway A, Wentzville; playtimepartycenter.com
Rockin’ Jump • 61 North Central Drive, O’Fallon, Missouri; 7375 Watson Road, Shrewsbury; rockinjump.com
Sky Zone Trampoline Park • 531 Gravois Road, Fenton; 14820 Manchester Road, Ballwin; 10850 Lincoln Trail, Fairview Heights; skyzone.com
Urban Air Adventure Park • 67 Ludwig Drive, Fairview Heights; 993 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, Cottleville; 10990 Sunset Hills Plaza, Sunset Hills; urbanair.com
Ultimate Ninjas St. Louis • 140 Long Road Suite 130, Chesterfield; ultimateninjas.com
Upper Limits Indoor Rock Climbing Gym • 1874 Lackland Hill Parkway, Maryland Heights; 17375 Edison Avenue, Chesterfield; upperlimits.com
We Rock the Spectrum • 2075 Bentley Plaza Drive, Fenton; 10513 St Charles Rock Road, St. Ann; 1015 Century Drive, Edwardsville; wrtsfranchise.com
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Valerie Schremp Hahn is a features writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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Kayla King looks up to shoot flying creatures Nov. 12, 2022, in the Deadwood Valley experience at Sandbox VR. 
Players at Sandbox VR wear a virtual reality headset and backpack.
Guest guide Trenese Robinson places a tracker onto Michal Vigh’s wrist Nov. 12, 2022, before he plays the Deadwood Valley experience at Sandbox VR at City Foundry. 
From left: Kevin King, Alicia King, Kayla King, Cordy King and Michael Vigh laugh as they watch video of themselves playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR. 
Cordy King gives two thumbs-up as a VR headset and headphones are placed on his head before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Cordy King points his pistol at a creature inside the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
From left: Kayla King, Michael Vigh, Alicia King, Cordy King and Kevin King prepare to shoot monsters in the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Cordy King (left) and Michael Vigh fist-bump before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Cordy King (left) and Michael Vigh figure out how to reload their weapons in the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
Kayla King looks into the VR headset before playing the Deadwood Valley experience Nov. 12, 2022, at Sandbox VR.
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