I was pretty sure I was going to hate escape rooms. I like to skip the puzzles in video games, and…read moreI hate being trapped, constant noises, or kept on a strict time limit. Kinda seemed like escape rooms would be the worst thing on the planet for me. But a friend loves the cyberpunk-esque vibes, and I was going to swallow my hatred to try my first escape room here with the Immersive Machine. I leave the experience virtually speechless. (No spoilers here, so read away!) Why it was great for two people new to escape rooms: -You can book the place solo. You don't need to be partnered with strangers who are going to speed run the place. -There is no clock anywhere. Time flies (serously, wow, it went so fast), but you aren't feeling rushed. -I was worried about it, but there aren't any "HOLYSHIT GO FAST YOU'RE GONNA DIE" vibes like some of the "escape to live" ones I've been told about. There's an alarm going off when you first get there, but it's like, a casual alarm that just reminds you that it's going off every 5 minutes or so with a light "beep". Like a friendly alarm. Nothing in here is on a time limit, constantly flashing, or constantly making noise. Nothing is designed for a panic response. This was huge for me. -The gamemaster's involvement is fluid and very immersive in the universe (but they're not in the room), so if he sees you're struggling, he steps in, in-character, to gently guide you without making you feel stupid. -Puzzles make sense, but they're also just really fun. It was a lot more of paying attention to the room's details and exploring the space than trying to solve a Rubik's cube or a slide puzzle. There were a few moments that required some actual hard, focused thought, but most of it was trying to pull together details of the space and alternative universe you're in (that are all easily available if you look around again). -There is nothing to memorize or "called back" throughout the place. You don't need to remember something that was told to you 50 minutes ago or else you can't finish it; everything you need is always easily accessible, and all the puzzles are "solve it and move on". We started by taking tons of notes on our phones just in case, and we abandoned that quickly since it wasn't necessary. -You mostly stay in the same areas, so you can put down waters or drinks and take breaks as needed. It doesn't cut you off of any of the areas, so you don't have to stress about constantly moving. -We finished it, two person, in under the average time, despite never having done an escape room in our lives. Why it was great, overall, in general: -The "alternate universe" makes it a lot more fun. At one point, you'll get to see a calendar the team made, complete with holidays and other details specific to this universe that doesn't exist in ours. It's these small touches that made me super excited (and sad I couldn't just sit and read them). -The gamemaster (Randy, I think?)'s personality was absolutely amazing. He was super friendly, and getting into his character really made it easier for us to feel okay getting into them too. -I'm not super into LARPing or playing pretend, but if you wanted to, there are free costumes and the over-the-top vibe of the gamemaster makes you feel less silly about trying it for yourself. -There's a little personified "friend" that pretty much everyone is going to fall in love with. I now think I love escape rooms, but I'm not sure any other escape room will ever compare to The Immersive Machine. There's no way for me to go but down; there's no way any other escape room will be as good as Immersive Machine was. It entirely converted me, and now I think escape rooms are the coolest thing ever. I see why it has a straight 5 stars on every review platform AND wins annual awards from the escape room social network. This is amazing.

This was such a fun escape room! When you first arrive there's a lounge room to wait in, pick out…read moresome costumes if you want, and there's a mini "warm-up" puzzle. Then, they take you into the escape room where there's some cubbies to store your personal belongings. There is only one escape room here and it's called Sal's Cybernetics and is for 2-6 people. The theme was really immersive and there were some really cool puzzles to solve! The staff increases the difficultly based on the teams progress so we got the hard version and solved everything in 42 minutes.

Whenever I visit the ASU Downtown Campus, I always find myself walking through the Civic Space…read morePark. This is a park with a lot of potential as there is a nice grassy area, some tables and chairs next to the US Post Office and ASU Student Center, a beautiful sculpture, and other places to hold an event and escape from the heat. At the same time, the Civic Space Park in recent years has been overrun with the homeless who find their own spaces on the east side of the park and sometimes elsewhere in the park. This has led to some safety concerns from ASU students and their families as many students have to walk across the park to get from the Sun Devil Fitness Complex or the Fusion on First upper-division residence hall across to the rest of the ASU Downtown Campus. There have also been a number of altercations over the last few years between multiple homeless and occasionally between a homeless person and a student. I have seen groups of students and even community members holding events in the park either in front of the Student Center entrance at the tables and chairs (gatherings by students or staff), on the grassy lawn area (community members playing soccer, frisbee, or having a picnic), or even on the south side of the walkway (though the lighting wasn't very good in the evening in that area). Again, it may be a challenge if some of the homeless community members try to engage at these events with the students, staff, and/or community members. Another challenge we learned is that it isn't the role of ASU Police or Phoenix Police to monitor the park. Rather there are park rangers who are responsible for doing so, which adds some complications as the rest of the ASU campus is supported by ASU Police and on occasion, by Phoenix Police. If you look at other reviews of Civic Space Park, it is difficult to find one that doesn't highlight the famous sculpture known as "Her Secret is Patience." In fact, I recall doing a photo shoot about 12 years ago under the sculpture at Civic Space Park. This sculpture is a public art sculpture commission that was designed for the city of Phoenix. The sculpture consists of painted, galvanized steel, polyester twine netting, and colored lights. Again, the space has a lot of potential though due to safety reasons, there is some work to be done to really prepare this park to meet its full potential.

Nice park to just hang out at. Lots of grassy area for kids or animals to run through…read more We just sat there for a while soaking up the sun and people watching. At night the tornado looking thing lights up.

As a respectable hiker, I'm not going to call this a hike but it is a cool experience. I stopped by…read moreon Memorial Day in the afternoon by design. It was 95 degrees so I knew a challenging hike would be out of the question. Something like Hole-in-the-Rock though, easy peasy. While there were a decent number of people there, I had no trouble finding free parking. This natural wonder is located in Papago Park close to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden. After you park, you'll have a five-minute walk to get to Hole-in-the-Rock. You'll have to climb an incline to get in the hole, so definitely be careful, but there are kids that do it too. And a lot of tourists that show up. So that pretty much sums it up. Once you get inside, you'll have an awesome view of the Phoenix through a literal hole in a big rock. You'll see a lot of people using it as a photo opp. That's not really my style, so instead, I took a seat and enjoyed the beauty for 10 minutes or so. It can get pretty crowded so keep that in mind if you stop by on a weekend. Hole-in-the-Rock is one of the top attractions on TripAdvisor in Phoenix. Definitely a cool (and short) adventure to cross of the bucket list. I spent 30 minutes there (which included hanging out in the rock for half the time).

A truly mystical and magical place. They close at 7:00 p.m…read more Most people try to get there later in the day to avoid the scorching 110 deg. weather and hot sun. There is a pond with tons of geese. I saw a man fly fishing.

AMAZINNNNNGGGG!!!!!! This is a multi-room place you can go and bring your friends for fun…read moreactivities. The rooms range from activities that have strength, brain teasers, teamwork, and more. It's such a great bonding opportunity and allows you to have fun with whoever you bring with phones down. Parking is NO issue at all at this location. They have so many spots available given the strip outlet location it's in. I do recommend not wearing any thick or heavy clothes and bringing as little items as possible, because you will be moving A LOT and sweating will be your enemy. They have a bar and restaurant as well, but we didn't get a chance to go. Definitely will be back, and next time need to go for 4 hours! I think we did 2 hours and it didn't feel like enough time.

We went to Bam Kazam on a Saturday at around 8 PM. There were 4 of us total, 2 have been there…read morebefore, but this was my first time. The premise is similar to an escape room, but there are several themed, interactive rooms that you try to progress through. Each room has a 3 minute time limit and if you pass the first challenge, a door opens to another room. Each themed room has 3 challenges total. We all had a lot of fun working together as a team. The rooms are hard to complete (at least for us lol) and some of the rooms required more physical ability. There are employees there to help you as requested, which helps if you get stuck on what you're supposed to do. The rooms are well put together, theme-wise, which adds to the experience of the challenges. There were a lot of people there, which meant a long waiting time. I feel as though we did more waiting than we did inside the rooms. Although, it didn't help that several rooms broke or weren't functioning correctly throughout the night. There's also a bar in the back where you can grab drinks and food, if you so choose. I would recommend waiting until after the experience since you have a 2 hour time limit. Overall, Bam Kazam is a unique activity to get a group of friends or family together for a night of fun and challenges! I would definitely go back again, but perhaps on a weekday or a time that would be less busy.

Such a fun experience and Nick was AMAZING!…read more I went to Puttshack as part of an event, and I honestly had such a great time! I had never been to a place like this before. The last time I played putt-putt was probably when I was a kid, but once we got started, I was hooked. It was so much fun! I also loved that it's indoors and nicely air-conditioned, which is a huge plus in Arizona. The venue itself is really cool, with a great bar area downstairs and another bar upstairs. And I have to give a HUGE shoutout to Nick, the bartender upstairs. He was genuinely one of the best bartenders I can remember having in years. He was incredibly personable, friendly, and fun. I'm pretty introverted, but somehow Nick had me talking, laughing, and excited to try cocktails I normally wouldn't order. He was basically the life of our entire group, and everyone absolutely loved him. I'm still wondering why they stuck him upstairs because he was such a huge part of what made our experience so great! Overall, Puttshack is such a fun venue for an event or party, and I'll definitely be bringing my family here the next time they're in town. Great atmosphere, great drinks, and a genuinely fun experience.

This review is primarily for the bar. My husband and I decided to have an early date night at Putt…read moreShack. Our golf was scheduled for 6p so we arrived a little early and decided to grab a drink at the bar. I saw the cucumber fizz on the cocktail menu and thought it looked delicious, but I don't drink gin. I asked the bartender if he could make it with vodka instead. He told me he couldn't substitute the gin because they have to inventory their alcohol. Strange - but OK. I asked if they are a full bar and he said yes. I then asked if he could make me a vodka soda with simple syrup, cucumber, and mint. His response was that he couldn't make it because there was no way for him to charge me for the extra ingredients. This is where I was honestly baffled. I wasn't asking for anything complicated or unreasonable. I'm not sure if the bartender was complying with policy or just didn't want to make a custom drink, but it's a full bar. The bartender could have offered an alternative but instead I was told it couldn't be done. The interaction was really disappointing. The mini golf itself was OK, the sensors didn't track 3 of our putts. We were told to report to one course to start but then got asked to start at another course. We were given balls with no explanation of how their sensor system works, so our first hole was a mess. We later saw other people checking in and getting the full run down on all the rules and nuances so we definitely missed out on the welcome factor. This was supposed to be a child-free date night, and being unable to enjoy a cocktail we actually wanted really put a damper on the experience. Could we have ordered something else? Totally. But the interaction with the bartender just made us not want to order anything. I would hope a full-service bar to could have some flexibility and, frankly, a little creativity. Unfortunately, that was not our experience here.

So there we were, headed to Castles N' Coasters a wholesome amusement park in the desert... a place…read morefor families, laughter, and apparently, poor decision-making. Now my buddy this man reaches into his pocket and pulls out what I can only describe as a historical artifact. I'm talking a doobie so big it looked like Bob Marley himself rolled it during a greatest hits tour. I said, "Absolutely not. I am a grown man. I got responsibilities. I got a mortgage. I got snacks at home I haven't even finished yet." That didn't matter. Next thing I know, windows are up, car turns into a Dutch oven of bad decisions, and now I'm just along for the ride literally and spiritually. Somewhere between "this is a bad idea" and "why is everything funny," I lost control of the evening. We pull into the park around that magical time you know, that in-between hour... not quite day, not quite night... like God dimmed the lights and said, "Alright boys, let's see what happens." The whole place is glowing neon lights, arcade buzz, roller coasters rattling in the distance. Felt like walking into a carnival dream... or maybe a fever dream. Jury's still out. Now here's the thing about this place it's been around since the late '70s, sitting right there in Phoenix like a desert time capsule of fun. You got four roller coasters, including the Desert Storm, which sounds fun until you're on it reconsidering every life choice that led you there. Then there's the Patriot wooden, loud, and about as gentle as a bar fight. And somehow... SOMEHOW... we thought tequila beforehand was a good idea. So now we're buzzed, slightly baked against our will, and wandering this park like three philosophers who lost their notes. We're laughing at everything. Nothing's funny but everything's hilarious. A trash can? Comedy gold. A churro? Best thing I've ever eaten in my life. A child running past me? I'm emotionally invested in his journey. But I'll give credit where it's due the park itself? Clean. Staff's friendly. Nobody's judging three grown men giggling like idiots. It's got that old-school charm too arcades, mini golf, rides, the whole deal. You can bring a family here... or whatever version of a situation we were. Now the rides... oh, the rides. Let me tell you something nothing will make you rediscover fear like being slightly out of your mind on a roller coaster you thought you could handle. I got scared... not once... not twice... but a few times. The kind of scared where you start making promises to God you don't intend to keep. "I'll be a better man if I survive this drop..." Didn't mean a word of it. By the end of the night, we had the munchies, the laughs, and just enough dignity left to get back to the car without needing a group meeting. For a couple hours, though? We were kids again. No responsibilities. No stress. Just lights, noise, and pure, ridiculous fun. So yeah Castles N' Coasters might be a family amusement park... but under the right or completely wrong circumstances, it turns into one hell of a story. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Just... maybe crack a window on the way there.

Castles-N-Coasters has always been a total vibe in Phoenix. My only concern with this place is that…read morethe employees do not seem to care if people are buckled in or not. So I'm always very careful when I come with my kids, especially on the bigger posters. None of the rides are super dangerous, but I would hate for somebody to fall out! So thankful that it's still there and has survived all of the businesses closing around it. Will definitely be back.

Come during the summer months. Not just when it starts to get hot. Came here March 16 and it was…read moreabout 95 degrees today. Didn't get the swarm of bats or maybe none of us stayed long enough. Getting there was easy from the tips here. I parked at 5080 N 40th St and walked down to the river area. Walk right and the first chance to veer right, do it and you'll see this fence. There's a wide trail along the river. Bring a flashlight to use when walking back after bat viewing. Bring bug spray! Plenty of space to even bring a food out chair or something to sit on while you wait.

So, five stars because it's so cool this exists in Phoenix, but I only saw some small groups of…read morebats when I visited May 1 - I think it's too early in the season? I was there about 15 minutes before sunset and half an hour after...no big bat dinner party. Next time!

This place has been our go-to birthday spot for both of my kids for years, and we keep coming back…read morefor good reason. The train ride is a blast, the climbing wall is massive, and watching kids lose their minds on the bumper boats never gets old. The party packages are reasonably priced, which is a huge plus when you're hosting a group. They also recently added fans and misters to the party area, and it makes a world of difference especially on hot days. If you're looking for a fun, affordable spot for a kids' party (or just a family outing), definitely check this place out. Highly recommend!

We attended a birthday party here yesterday, and it was not a bad experience! My friend got the…read morehighest package for the party: which was a private area and it's own tables, play area, and grill. They were also given a set of tickets for the kids to ride on, which was pretty cool! My son was too young for the rides, but we were able to walk around. It is not a very big space, and I think there was maybe 8 rides total. The amusement park area was very clean, and the workers seemed helpful and chipper. We had a good time, and did not have any expectations when we came in, but it was pretty good. I would recommend this place for a lowkey birthday party and to rent out the cove!

We had a costume night recently on 10/18/25. Staff at the front desk greeted and helped with any…read moreand all questions we had. We first had drinks at the bar, bar staff are super friendly and work fast. After we got our lane we ordered a pitcher of the mimosa, there's so much seating and the music definitely fit the vibe. I would go back again.

Had an event here and everyone was so kind and helpful!!! From the manager, the staff, the…read morebartender made the best ginger ale ever!!! Would definitely come back with some friends for a fun girls bowling night. Also most important clean!! I didn't order any food, but the pretzels that were part of the catering was perfect! I had like 4 which I had no business eating because bread hurts my stomach . Thank you to your amazing staff and crew!

This was so fun, great family time! We will be back, mindfall looks interesting. See you soon.read more

We had a blast! The Grimm room, 4 of us. The manager, Travis Luke, was in charge of tracking our…read moregroup. We agreed to some guided help if we were obviously stuck. There were some big surprises within the puzzle! 2 locks gave us a hard time but we did finish the puzzle. Looking forward to another round!