Lily Snyder

This husband surprised me with a date night visit to a virtual reality arcade. We visited the Rabbit Hole VR in Nashville. I was excited to visit a VR arcade even though I have a virtual reality headset at home because of the promise of more room to move around and the chance to play some new games.

We parked on a side street and made our way into the rabbit hole. Our host greeted us at the door. After we signed waiver (VR can get dangerous 😉), we watched a short safety video about the arcade.

We weren’t to put on or remove the headsets ourselves (staff would assist with that). The safety video explained the virtual boundaries and showed how to navigate the Rabbit Hole’s home app. We played using HTC Vive’s but the Rabbit Hole doesn’t use STEAMVR, they have their own software to house the traditional “home” starting point when you enter VR.

Next we made our way to our play area. The Rabbit Hole has three areas to play VR. Each area has walls on three sides. Two players can be in an area. There are couches where you can sit and watch people play. The only thing I wish they had were lockers where I could put my purse. Instead I left it on the couch underneath my coat.

I felt incredibly immersed in VR at the Rabbit Hole even though there were other people playing VR and attendants explaining the system to visitors. Once I flipped the headphones down on the Vive, I was in the game. They had it linked up where my husband and I could hear each other through the headphones. That was nice so we didn’t have to try and yell at each other over the game’s sound.

We got to play with wireless HTC Vive’s. It was nice to move around without worrying about tripping on the cables but the defined play area didn’t feel much bigger than what I have set up at home. My husband even accidentally hit the wall with his remote at one point while playing Pistol Whip. He said it was better than worrying about knocking the controller into the fan we have at home.

We paid for an hour session but after about 30 minutes I had to take my headset off. The pressure from the wireless adapter hurt my head too much. It was fun while I lasted. My husband and I played campaign mode in Arizona Sunshine (it’s a lot less scary facing zombies when you have a partner). We also played QuiVR.

It was fun to play these games with my husband since it was his first time experiencing them. I can see why people say lack of content is one of the worst things about VR. I played both Arizona Sunshine and QuiVR before. Our staff assistant said they were some of the best games to play for multiplayer.

The Rabbit Hole has over 30 titles to play on the HTC Vive. Some of them have special features since Rabbit Hole is an arcade, they get extra perks. It will take more than one trip to get the full experience of all the titles.

One group that was next to us was played a VR escape game. They virtually escaped with minutes to spare. At the end of the game they posed as their avatars and too photos. One girl said, “that was so much fun!”

I definitely recommend visiting a VR arcade even if you have some type of VR at home. It’s a great way to play new games without buying them first. The best part for me was actually get to play with my husband instead of awkwardly sitting in my desk chair (trying not to get hit), while watching him play through the computer screen. Plus, we could hear each other through the headphones. We got the full virtual experience, together.

Go down the rabbit hole at therabbitholevr.com

Have you ever been to a VR arcade? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

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