We had a work’s Christmas party here this week, so I wanted to share my thoughts on what to expect from The Cube London, which is based in Canary Wharf.
What is The Cube?
Most people in the UK will probably be aware of what The Cube is, as it was a staple of weekend TV a decade or so ago, and ended up becoming hugely popular.
I work in a pretty multi-cultural office though, and a significant percentage of our group had no idea what to expect. In a nutshell, it’s a series of physical and mental based challenges that take place in a clear cube, so now you know where the name comes from.
If you want a bit more information, then the official Cube website will give you a full rundown of what to expect.
How to get there:
The company I work for is based in Canary Wharf, meaning we had a super simple journey to the destination. If you’re coming to Canary Wharf via tube, DLR or the Elizabeth Line, I’d say it’s a ten minute walk max from these places, so not too long at all.
The building is well signposted, and there is actually a staff member from The Cube waiting downstairs, as the action takes place on the second floor of a pretty nondescript building.
I can’t remember if there was a lift up to the second floor, but it’s quite a few steps up so prepare for that. Consider it a warm up for what lies ahead. On The Cube website, it does say it is accessible, and I think there was an alternative entrance, but please double check before going.
Entering The Cube:
When you get to the second floor, you open the door, and the first thing we noticed was, there were a lot of people. The queue for the cloakroom greets you as you walk in, and it gets a bit busy, but we walked past that, and found a host.
None of my party used the cloakroom, so I can’t comment on costs of that etc, but there are plenty of places to leave your coats and bags when taking part in the games.
We met our host, and we were sent around the corner to check in. We were a group of 7 (one of our party couldn’t make it), and split into two teams. One person from each team then had to download The Cube app (there is free wi-fi available on site), and you set your teams there. We then had to wait a while in a very narrow corridor, waiting for our turn.
Before it all started, I presumed we’d be going round as one big group, but this isn’t the case. Instead, you’re split into two groups as mentioned above, and you play against the other team in your group.
So, we were now in a holding area, and after a brief run-through of what to expect, you head off into the world of The Cube, with your app telling you which cube to head towards. There is a map available on the app, so hopefully you won’t get too lost, and the game hosts (there is one on each game) are also super helpful, as it is quite a big space.
What does the app show you?
I didn’t take too many screenshots, as I was fully immersed in trying to destroy the team we were playing against (which included my boss), but as soon as you complete one game, a big red button pops up. You press that, it tells you which game is next, and you have a few minutes to make your way there.
You can also see the latest scores in your epic duel, but don’t worry too much about that, as the hosts will also update you before every game. Around half way through you get a notification telling you there is food and drink available, but we skipped that, and powered through.
You then get your score at the end, and that’s that! I of course screenshot this, after victory against our rival team. Side note, if I get fired soon, it might have something to do our domination.
Elsewhere on the app, there are a load of FAQ’s, so whatever comes to mind, you should be covered.
Playing the games:
I’m sure this is the reason why most of you are here, so let me talk about the actual games. You have seven to play, and this is split into 1 and 2 player games. And straight off the bat, this is one of my main issues with The Cube.
There is a lot of talk about seven games being included in your ticket, but in reality, if you’re in a team of two, you’ll split the one player games, so at most you’ll play six games, but this could be five as well. Just something to keep in mind when you look at the ticket price.
Our first game was Arc, and this was one of the dreaded one player games. My colleague went first, meaning that I was left to watch how she got on. This all sounds a bit dramatic I can appreciate, and of course it’s fun to watch and see how your partner will fare, but I did find myself wanting to play the game right away, and it was a bit frustrating to wait.
In this game, you had to roll a ball over an obstacle, and land in the area on the other side. As per the show, you get three lives, and you can also simplify any game on your journey (our host recommended using this for the harder games, which of course makes sense).
The other ‘lifeline’ you can use is, when you’ve started a one-player game, if you decide it’s not for you, you can swap with your teammate. Considering you’ve paid for your game, I’d say the chances of you giving that up are slim, even if you know you’ll suck at it.
Back to the game, and my colleague was done in less than a minute, so incredibly short, and not so sweet, as we failed to score any points.
As mentioned, the games are so simple, they usually take a couple of minutes max (for the one player games I saw at least), and personally, I don’t see why everyone can’t have a go. For example, you could let every member of every team have a try, and the highest score between you, is the one that represents your team.
I get that places like The Cube want a quick turnaround, as money talks, but I think even this little change would make a huge difference, and add to the feeling that you’re getting value for money.
The second game was a two player game, and you compete with your teammate to try and complete the challenge. So even though you’re in competition with the other team in your group, you don’t directly face off against them. Rather, you try to beat The Cube (this makes sense), and your score goes against the other team in your group.
In this game, we had to put balls into a hole using just one hand, in twenty seconds. A simple concept, but pressure is real (not for my team as we did it first time), so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some people struggle here. For instance, one member of our rival's team picked up two balls at the same time, which means disqualification. The Cube can be ruthless.
At this point, let me mention the ‘hosts’ of each Cube, who are there to tell you how the game works, and to keep an eye on proceedings. The Cube’s themselves are not automated, the hosts press buttons depending on how you’re doing. So if you mess up, they press the button showing you’ve lost a life, if you’ve won, they press the challenge completed button etc. They’ll also control the games where you have to interact with the floor, or room, which I’ll expand on later.
The third game was the hardest one (from my perspective at least because we failed miserably), and you have to balance a ball on a piece of wood, whilst navigating to the other side of the cube, whilst also pressing coloured points on the Cube floor. This is where the hosts perform their magic, so when your foot touches the red square, they’ll press the button to turn it green.
As you head through your Cube journey, the points for each game increase in line with difficulty, so this time around, we left a lot of points on that cold Cube floor. Shout out to our rivals in this game, they nailed it.
Next up, we moved to the bottom floor of the building (I think there were 3 or 4 floors), to take on Drop. In this game, both members of your team grab hold of these giant metal bars, a ball is placed on top, and you have to drop it into a hole. Cue controversy.
First time around, we dropped the ball, it went into the hole, and bounced back out. The onlookers were shocked, I was outraged, but my host was nonplussed. She’d clearly seen this happen before, and we’d clearly dropped the ball from too high.
Second time around, height adjusted, and we nailed it.
The fifth game was another 2 player one (these form the majority of your games), and you and your teammate have a ball, and have to throw it at a panel on the other side of the cube. My teammate and I were on a roll at this point, and we got it on the first time. You have to throw at the same time, and the two balls have to separately hit the opposite panel within a fraction of a second.
I don’t know if this game was automated, but it didn’t matter, we were one and done, and had taken the lead in our company stand-off (again, sorry boss).
Next up, it was a one player game, and your boy stepped up. In this game, you had to bounce a ball, hit three descending platforms, and land in the area at the end. I stepped up, got it first time (previous games of beer pong might have been a help), and that was that.
Lastly, there was a game where you had to work in sync with your partner, and press a button, your teammate presses theirs, and so on. We used our simplify here, as we still had it, and the time to complete the task increased from six to eight seconds.
This is also a very tough game, and we didn’t really get close, but it was a fun one to wrap things up. Obviously every group of people who visit The Cube will play a different set of games, and I can’t comment on those, but based on our games, it was a lot of fun.
Food and Drink:
Our group didn’t eat at The Cube, as we had food booked for after, so I can’t comment here. They have two bars that I saw (the main one downstairs, and a mini one on the top floor), and there are lots of spaces for eating and drinking.
As mentioned, on the app it will even prompt you to see if you want to take a break, and enjoy some food and drink (it allows you to pause the games), but this isn’t something we took advantage of.
Leaving The Cube:
Upon finishing the last game, both teams return to The Cube, and the winner is announced (I may have hinted at the result a few times, but we dominated). We then took a group photo (shout out our host who took the photo), and headed out. There is a wall with all of the scores on, including global and daily leaderboards.
You make your way through the load of people who are just starting their Cube experience (it is definitely a bit bottlenecked at this point), and head back down the stairs you entered through. The app keeps your scores for a while, but soon reverts back to the default stage (I deleted the app at this point), so if you want screenshots of your success, I’d recommend taking them the same day as you play.
Final Thoughts on The Cube:
I can’t lie, it is a lot of fun, and I think most of our group were happy with the experience. It is expensive though, even for London, and I left the facility wanting more.
As mentioned, I think being able to play every game your team is a part of should be the bare minimum, and considering it’s pretty well managed (the longest we had to wait for a game was around five minutes), I don’t see why they couldn’t increase the amount of games to 10, instead of the 7 it is at the moment.
When you’re a Cube machine and dominate some games like myself, some of the turns are over and done in 30 seconds. Even the ones we were rubbish at, I’d say the maximum amount of time spent on a game was 4 or 5 minutes. In total, I’d be surprised if total gameplay was more than 15 minutes, and for £62.50, that’s a hell of a lot of money.
The games are well presented (it's exactly as you'd imagine after watching the TV show), everything is clean, and the hosts were great, but again, I just left feeling like we were a tiny bit shortchanged.
You’ll have fun, I am sure of that, but we were left waiting at the beginning, and communication wasn’t great at this point. I think most of us wished we got to experience a bit more of what The Cube has to offer.
Remember, that groups are split up, so keep that in mind as well. Even taking that into consideration, it’s perfect for a work trip etc, so if you’re looking for that kind of thing, you’ll be in luck. If you’re thinking date night, then remember that if you’re in a group of two, you’ll be competing against two random people, which doesn’t scream romance.
Ultimately, it’s a lot of fun, but for that price, I don’t think I’d return. If you’ve got the money though, it’s definitely worth trying out. The music was great as well when we visited, just wanted to throw that in.
As always, any questions, feel free to leave a comment, or send me a message!
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