SANDBOX VR BIRMINGHAM FAQ

We offer public sessions which may include participants from other groups. You can make new friends and work together to complete the tasks in the experience.

• For public sessions, team name, weapon or avatar selection will belong to one of the guests who created the experience first. Should you wish to control these elements yourself, we recommend upgrading to a private session when making your booking.

• Please be aware that when guests participate in our shared experience, you may complete our experience tasks with participants of different nationalities, ages, genders, etc.

• For any changes to your VR experience, please refer to our Cancellations, Rescheduling and Refunds policy.

In short, everyone can see each other as they would in real life. We use real-time motion capture technology that's used for creating movies and games. Our motion capture cameras track your entire body in real time and allows you to see precisely where everyone else is, along with their movements. They just won't look like their normal human selves ;)

Additionally, there are clear boundaries to prevent you from exiting the game area. As long as you pay attention and follow the in-game instructions, it will be safe for you.

While we can’t 100% guarantee it, we've designed our experiences to be very different from other VR experiences you may have tried before: it’s room scale, you can freely move around, and we track your entire body. Motion sickness is caused by a difference between your actual and perceived motion. Because our motion capture technology tracks you in real-time, your real movements translate to your perceived movements. Many of our guests who have had motion sickness in other VR experiences do not experience it at Sandbox VR.

We clean and disinfect all equipment after every use. Sanitizing our equipment and facilities is always a standard procedure as health, safety, and cleanliness is a priority.

Yes! Our highlight videos of your experience are complementary and will be emailed to all players after your experience. Our team would also be happy to take pictures and record extra videos of you during your session. Don't forget to join thousands of other guests who've tagged us on social media! Use @SandboxVR_UKI and #sandboxvr

It is possible to make changes to your booking, but we do need some warning. 48+ hours in advance: Changes and cancellations can be made for any booking which is more than 48 hours away. Bookings can be rescheduled a maximum of twice. 24–48 Hours in Advance: Cancellations or reductions in the number of players made 24 - 48 hours before the scheduled booking will be issued as a gift certificate for use toward a future booking. These changes are not eligible for a full refund. Less than 24 hours: No changes, cancellations or reschedules can be made to bookings which are less than 24 hours away and no refunds will be issued. Non-attendance to bookings will result in cancellation with no refund. Arriving late impacts other groups and will result in the cancellation of your booking with no refund.

Booking for 7+ Guests? Each booking can accommodate a maximum of 6 people. If you're looking to book for 7+ people, you can make multiple bookings for similar time slots and we'll do our best to start your groups’ experiences at the same time.

If you'd like us to help book a group of more than 12 people, let us know via our Private Events page, at https://sandboxvr.com/ birmingham/private-events. You can also make special requests there. Please feel free to call us with any questions. Phone numbers can be found on Google, and the location page at SandboxVR.com

It’s always best to book in advance to guarantee your time slot, but we’re also open to walk-ins so long as we have availability. If we’re full when you arrive, we’ll book you into the next available time slot.

Each of our Virtual Arenas can fit a Maximum of 6 people. If you’re a group of more than 6 people, then you can make a separate booking for a similar time, and we’ll divide your group between multiple Virtual Arenas. We stagger the start time of bookings to allow time for getting kitted up, but we’ll do our best to get your experiences started as close to each other as possible.

You can see our opening and closing times at sandboxvr.com/birmingham/location. Our first Virtual Arenas can be booked from 10:30am Monday – Friday and 10:00am Saturday – Sunday. Our last Virtual Arenas can be booked at 10:30pm Monday – Friday, 10:50pm on Saturday and 10:20pm on Sunday.

No, during your time in the ‘Virtual Arena’ no food or beverage is allowed. However, we can offer you refreshments both before and after your VR experience.

We definitely serve drinks! In fact, SandboxVR has the first fully robotic bartender in the UK who can make you an exciting range of themed cocktails & mocktails. We also have a wide range of beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks.

We don’t serve our own food, but we can arrange food for you if you’re organising a special event. Just head over to our private events page to get in touch.

Yes, if you’re just after a cocktail served by a robot, feel free to drop by.

We’re located in Grand Central Shopping Centre, Birmingham, B2 4BF

The closest train stations are New Street and Moor Street, both less than 10 minutes walk away.

Parking near the venue is limited, but there are various car parks in the Bullring & Grand Central vicinity.

The default language is currently set to English however the following languages are available for select games: Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish. Please select your preferred experience to see the available languages for that game, or contact our team for assistance  

We require a minimum of two people per virtual arena for a private session with a maximum of 6 guests at once. Individual players can book into an existing public session. The games are best enjoyed with friends so we recommend larger groups for the most immersive experience. Groups larger than 6 need to book multiple virtual arenas as we cannot accommodate more than 6 people at a time in a virtual arena.

Yes! We would love for you to share your experience with your friends and loved ones. You can ask your host to take photos and videos of you during the session. After your session there is also a leaderboard and some other great photo opportunities to capture.

We don't offer free carer tickets to take part in the experience itself. Carers are welcome to purchase their own ticket and join in as a player.

Due to the nature of the experience, we feel carers can better care for the person in their care by observing from outside the room. You'll still be able to see the session, speak to your person over their headset radio, and we can pause the experience at any point if needed.

If you have a specific access requirement, please get in touch with the venue directly and we'll do what we can to help.

In your Sandbox VR account, you are able to view all records of your previous bookings.

Players must be a minimum age of 8. To ensure an enjoyable experience for all guests, groups with children aged 8–11 must book a private session if playing on weekends or Bank Holidays. This allows us to create the best possible experience for younger players, with a pace and atmosphere suited to their age group. Private sessions can still be booked at any time, including weekdays and during school holidays.

• Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult in the venue.

• Please note, we recommend our Deadwood PHOBIA experience is not played by children under the age of 15. 

• As a guideline, guests should be able to support a headset of at least 2kg’s (4 lbs) for 30 minutes.

Our experiences are wheelchair accessible. Please make sure you contact the venue team in advance of your visit so we can best accommodate your accessibility needs.

We do not recommend this experience to pregnant women or those with heart conditions.

We make our own experiences. Some of them are games, others will be adventures, they’ll all be as fun to play as they are to watch. With Sandbox VR, you’re not just transported into new worlds – we want to give you the chance to become the characters in these worlds. That’s something you can’t do anywhere else!

No Problem! Our hosts are always happy to help you find the perfect experience for your group.

If you're booking a private session, you can select any experience during the booking process. If you change your mind when you arrive or want to explore other options, we’re happy to switch the experience for you.

For public sessions, the experience can't be changed on the day. However, you can make changes to your booking up to 24 hours in advance and select another session. Just get in touch with our team, and we'll be glad to check availability for the game you'd like to switch to.

As everyone is unique, responses to virtual reality experiences can vary widely. We encourage all guests and/or their carers to make a decision that feels right for them.

For neurodivergent guests, or parents and guardians of neurodivergent children, we strongly recommend booking a private session if there are concerns about sharing the experience with others. If a guest is sensitive to sensory stimulation, please contact our team in advance to discuss the experience in more detail. This will help ensure you have all the information needed to make an informed decision.

Please note for anyone experiencing any discomfort, the experience can be stopped at any time.

Please plan for a total of about 1 hour for your Sandbox VR experience consisting of

• Arrival to check in with your host 15 minutes prior to your booking time to ensure your Sandbox VR experience does not get cut short

• This will consist of about 10 minutes of training and setup

• About 30 minutes in the VR experience

• Another 10 minutes post experience to grab a drink from our robot bartender and re-live your experience with cinematic video highlights with you and your group as the stars.

If one robo-cocktail isn’t enough, feel free to stay for longer.

We recommend that you wear contact lenses or glasses as needed. The VR headset allows wearing most standard glasses with a frame width of less than 160mm.

We combine motion capture with the latest in VR hardware to create the best VR experience on the planet. It’s very different from VR experiences you might have tried at home or at other places. That makes it a real challenge to explain. The only way to truly understand it is to try it for yourself.

We recommend that you dress in light, comfortable clothing. This is an active experience, so wear something that won’t restrict your ability to move around the space.

You must check in at the venue with our hosts 15-30 minutes prior to your booking time. We cannot start until your whole party is present. Please account for travel when planning arrival. Parking is very limited near our venue, so we recommend avoiding coming by car. We have a strict 5 minute grace period policy for your reservation.

• For guests who arrive less than 5 minutes before their booking time, the experience may be shortened

• To ensure our other guest booking are not impacted, anyone arriving more than 5 minutes late can result in a cancellation of booking with no refund.

• No-shows will incur automatic cancellation of your booking and forfeiture of payment

Our pricing varies at peak and off-peak times. You can check out the price for an experience by heading to sandboxvr.com/birmingham/booking and selecting an experience, party size, date and timeslot.