Odyssey Virtual Reality, Washington, United States

5sailormichael 5:00 PM May 10, 2016

Definitely Worth The Drive From Seattle!
My cousin and I were in Seattle for a business trip and found this on TripAdvisor, and decided to take an Uber to Redmond to try it out. I should tell you, this was my very first VR experience, and it was really cool. Just the novelty of it alone was worth the cost. I've since order my own really expensive VR headset, but its still not as good as this experience, because I'm the only person playing. Being able to meet each other in a virtual space and interact in a different environment (pass each other items, fly around together, hear each other talking to each other, working together, etc. made it if more real, and better than just sitting around at home playing a game by myself. I never felt sick. The owner Alex was very friendly and helpful. The location in Redmond was easy to find and very clean. All in all a great experience and one you won't regret doing.

4Catherine M 5:00 PM Mar 13, 2016

Very fun, with a few caveats
I took my husband, my teen daughter, and her friend to try this out. It involves donning Oculus Rift goggles and experiencing several virtual reality environments. Overall it was a lot of fun, though some parts could have been better. WHAT WAS GREAT +There was an orientation experience at the beginning involving manipulating geometric shapes. It was a lot of fun, and a good way to get used to the experience. +The next part was a cooperative game where we donned avatars to complete a space mission. It was AWESOME! We enjoyed figuring out the puzzles together. TIP- talk to each other A LOT through the experience. Share everything. +The last part was a solitary experience where we were part of an ever-changing environment. There were some really interesting things in that. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER -The audio was frustrating. We had earphones with microphones, so we could hear each other pretty well during the game, but we could also hear each other in the room. This sometimes created an echo effect where you'd hear the voice real-time and then hear it come through the earphones. it was especially bad trying to hear the game operator - between the echo and his accent, we really couldn't understand what he was telling us. -We had an orientation before we put the goggles and earphones on, but it was hard to remember everything when we needed it, and with the audio problems, we couldn't understand the operator's prompts later when he tried to help. -The first two experience were really cool, but the third one was a bit of a let down after that. The third one was more of a VR demo, and after having the really cool group experience, it felt flat. The girls got started first and my husband and I a few minutes later; we heard them talking about what they were seeing and my husband thought we were still supposed to be playing together, so he was frustrated, feeling like he was losing out. Even when he finally realized that it was a solo thing, it still took him (and me) a while to figure out how to advance through the experience. TIP: move your head all the way side to side, like you're driving and looking over your shoulder. -The set ups built into the group game could have been more clear without giving away the puzzles. There was one part towards the end where we were totally confused about whether we were or were not supposed to blow something up. I still don't know if we did the right thing or not - we didn't "win" in the end, and I'm not sure what we should have done differently. -The operator asked us a lot if we had signs of "nausea or disease". My husband and I decided later he must be asking about "dis-ease" meaning discomfort. My stomach twisted a bit when we were flying in the second experience, but I recovered quickly. Then in the third one there was something towards the end that really gave me vertigo. The segment didn't last long, but I found the vertigo lingering long after the session ended. I probably should have asked my husband to drive after - no one else in our group was affected like I was. -Expect to have the imprint from the goggles on your face for a while after the session. The goggles weren't uncomfortable, but they are snug and they aren't light. Not a big deal, but don't plan on any close up photo shoots for a few hours after a session. SUMMARY: If you have three other friends and each put up the $25, totally worth it for that. For me paying for the whole family, it was pricey, but we were doing it to celebrate my birthday and I felt it was worth it. You pay the same price whether you have three or four people, so max it out. It was a bit of a marvel, but you can tell it's still early days yet, probably the equivalent of Pong and other early video games. I'm sure someday my daughter will have much more sophisticated VR technology at her fingertips, but she'll be able to say "yeah, I remember when it was just becoming commercially available." Just make sure you're really OK to drive after.