SANDBOX VR NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA FAQ

We also offer exclusive private experiences. You can choose a fully private room to enjoy the experience with your friends.

All our experiences can be played with different participants. You can meet new friends and work together to complete the tasks in the experience.

• The birthday surprise video only applies to the guest who originally created the booking. It does not apply to guests who join the experience later. If you have any questions, please ask our staff before making your reservation.

• Please note that in shared experiences with other guests, you may complete tasks with participants of different nationalities, age groups, genders, etc. Once the reservation is confirmed, the representative accepts the conditions of the experience and no changes can be made.

• The weapon can be selected by the guest who created the booking first.

• The VR experience cannot be changed after the booking has been confirmed.

In short, everyone can see each other just like in real life. We use real-time motion capture technology — the same kind used in movies and video games. Our motion capture cameras track your entire body in real time, allowing you to see exactly where the other players are and how they are moving.

Your fellow players will appear as avatars, not as their real-life selves.

Additionally, there are clear boundaries that prevent you from leaving the play area. As long as you stay alert and follow the in-game instructions, you’ll be perfectly safe.

We clean and disinfect all equipment after each use, including the masks on our headsets, headset lenses, haptic vests, and props. Disinfecting our equipment and facilities is always standard procedure, as health, safety, and cleanliness are our top priorities.

While we cannot guarantee it 100%, we have designed our experiences to differ significantly from other VR experiences you may have tried: the environment is designed to realistic scale, you can move freely, and we track your entire body. Motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy between actual movement and perceived movement. Since our motion capture technology tracks you in real-time, your actual movements are translated into your perceived movements. Many of our players who have suffered from motion sickness in other VR experiences do not experience it in Sandbox VR.

Cancellation policy

Due to limited booking options, reservations can be canceled up to 72 hours before the start time free of charge (for a voucher).

• If you cancel at least 72 hours before the start of your booking, we will refund the payment to the payment method you used, minus a cancellation fee of 10%. Alternatively, we are happy to issue a voucher for the full amount for a future booking.

• If you cancel between 24 and 72 hours before the start of the booking, we will charge a cancellation fee of 20% and issue a voucher for future bookings for the remaining amount.

• Unfortunately, cancellations made within 24 hours before the start of the booking cannot be refunded.

  Adjustments to existing bookings cannot be guaranteed and are subject to the availability of the change date. Please contact the respective SandboxVR location for this.

All sales are final. Gift cards are non-refundable. Lost, misplaced, or stolen gift cards are non-refundable, non-replaceable, and void. Gift cards are redeemable for their cash value and are valid for 3 years from the date of purchase.

All experiences must be paid in advance when booking. You can pay with PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and Amex). Please note that we cannot make any reservations without payment.

For on-site bookings, we accept payments only by EC/debit card, Visa, Girocard, Mastercard, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Cash payments are not possible.

For corporate customers, we also offer the option to pay by invoice or bank transfer. In this case, the booking must be made by phone via our hotline.

If you encounter any problems with the payment process, please call us at 06631-7882664 — we’ll be happy to help.

Yes, you can purchase gift vouchers both through our website and at selected locations. On our website, choose the option "Buy Vouchers" instead of "Book an Experience." Then select your location and the desired voucher amount. If you do not want to send the voucher directly to the recipient, simply enter your own email address in the recipient information field. This way, you will receive the voucher as a PDF directly via email.You can pick up physical gift cards, where you can write your voucher code, for free at our Sandbox VR locations or order them through the following link. You will also find attractive gift packaging there: [www.nextlevel-erlebnisse.de/verschenken]

Our experiences are bookable from €35 per person from Monday to Thursday, and from €45 per person on weekends.*

• Our mixed reality videos, which show your group inside and outside the virtual world, are included for free!

• The experience you want to have with us can also be changed at the beginning of your reservation.

*Prices vary according to the number of participants.

Yes! We always attach videos showing your team playing in VR.

Our staff are also happy to take photos and additional videos of you during your session — just ask them.

Don’t forget to join the thousands of other players who have tagged us on social media! Use @sandboxvr_de and #sandboxvr.

The duration of individual games cannot be varied. However, if you want to play two or more experiences back-to-back, we can try to arrange a follow-up booking for you with a discount on the second booking as well as any additional bookings (if possible). For questions regarding follow-up bookings and multiple experience bookings, please call us or send us an email.

Our opening hours can be found at https://sandboxvr.com/oberhausen/location. From Monday to Friday, the first experiences can be booked starting at 11 AM, and on Saturday and Sunday starting at 10 AM. Our last start times can be booked from Sunday to Thursday at 9:20 PM and from Friday to Saturday at 10:20 PM.

For groups of 20 or more, we can arrange separate opening hours upon request. Please contact us by phone or email.

If you would like us to help you book a group of more than six people, please submit a request on our private events page or email [email protected]. You can also express special requests there. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the store directly by phone. You can find the phone numbers on our website and on Google.

The Sandbox VR location in Oberhausen is easily accessible by bus, train, and car.

Arriving by Car You will find over 80 free parking spaces directly at the location. For navigation, it’s best to use "Brammenring 129, 46047 Oberhausen" as the address.

Arriving by Train The main train station in Oberhausen is about a 6-minute walk from the location. You can arrive by both train and bus.

Yes, we would love for you to share your experiences with friends and acquaintances! Don’t forget to tag us on social media with @sandboxvr_de when posting. You can also ask your host to take photos and videos of you during the game session. Additionally, props are available in the reception area for you to take great photos before and after the game. Of course, you are also free to publicly post the videos you receive from us and share them with friends.

The default language is set to German.

In addition, the following languages are available: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Arabic.

Please let our guides on-site know in which language you would like to play.

Please note: When a new experience is released, it may initially only be available in English.

Our experiences can be played together by 2 to 6 people in one Holodeck.

However, it’s no problem at all if your group is larger than 6. In that case, we’ll simply split you into multiple teams and schedule the sessions so that your groups are close to each other both in space and time. Of course, we will welcome and say goodbye to your entire group together.

For public bookings, it’s also possible to join as a solo player. In this case, you will automatically be placed into another group for the session you selected.

If you’d like help booking a group of more than six people, please let us know on our private events page. You can also mention any special requests there.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the store directly by phone. You can find the phone numbers on Yelp, Google, and on the location page at SandboxVR.com.

We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before your booked time. We can only start when your group is complete. Please consider traffic, parking options, and the time needed to walk from the parking lot to the store when planning your arrival. To avoid affecting subsequent group bookings, we have a strict tolerance period for your reservation.

• If you are up to 10 minutes late for your booked game time, the experience will be shortened accordingly.

• If you arrive more than 10 minutes late, we may not be able to conduct your experience in full or may even have to cancel it to avoid impacting the bookings of subsequent guests.

• If you do not show up, the booking will be automatically canceled and the payment will be retained.

If you realize upon arrival that you will not make it on time, please call us as soon as possible. We will try to reschedule your booking to a later start if availability allows.

We recommend booking the experience online in advance to secure your desired time. Walk-ins are possible depending on availability; however, in this case, we only accept EC card payments or an online booking on-site, where the above payment options can be used. Ideally, even for spontaneous bookings (a few minutes before), you should book your experience online – for example, just before you head out.

We generally recommend Sandbox VR for ages 12 and above.

However, due to the intensity and immersion of the experience, it is ultimately up to the parents to decide whether their child is ready. If you’re unsure, feel free to call us or send an email.

For underage players, a parent or legal guardian must either participate in the session or be physically present in the store during the entire session to sign a liability waiver form.

Players must:

• Be at least 1.2 meters (approx. 4 feet) tall to participate.

• Be able to comfortably carry the weight of the VR equipment for up to one hour (minimum 20 pounds / 9 kg).

• Be able to walk continuously for 30 minutes without assistance while using both hands freely. Unfortunately, this experience is currently not wheelchair accessible.

• Pregnant women and people with heart conditions are strongly advised against participating in this experience.

We recommend wearing light and comfortable clothing. This is an active experience, so please choose something that doesn’t restrict your movement in the play area.

We also provide changing facilities and lockers where you can safely store your belongings.

It’s the closest thing to a real “Holodeck.”

We combine motion capture with the latest VR hardware to create the best VR experience in the world. It’s very different from the VR experiences you may have tried at home or elsewhere. That’s why it’s actually quite difficult to explain.

The only way to truly understand it is to experience it for yourself.

We recommend wearing contact lenses or glasses if needed.

You can wear most standard glasses with our VR headsets, as long as the frame width is less than 160 mm.

Alternatively, we can insert corrective lenses into our headsets, ranging from +200 to +800 diopters. You don’t need to reserve them in advance — our friendly staff will be happy to help fit them before your experience begins.

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

Please plan for approximately 1 hour for your entire Sandbox VR experience. This includes:

• Arriving 10–15 minutes before your booking time to check in and ensure your experience is not shortened.

• 10 minutes to put on the equipment and complete a virtual tutorial that shows you how to move in your chosen world.

• Around 30 minutes of gameplay.

• 10 minutes to remove the equipment and relive your experience with cinematic video highlights featuring your team.

Yes, we program our own VR experiences. Some of them are games, others are adventures, and all are fun both to play and to watch. With Sandbox VR, you won’t just be transported into new worlds – we want to give you the chance to become one of the stars in those worlds. You can’t do that anywhere else! Some of our experiences are developed in collaboration with partners like Netflix.