“When can we come back?” That was our first thought after visiting Activate, the new experience centre that’s just opened at Itis shopping mall - a place where your own body doubles as the game controller.
Activate is made up of ten game rooms, each offering several different challenges that blends physical movement with quick thinking. In one game you creep through a laser maze like Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible; in another you hide from a watchful, all-seeing eye; in a third you jump and dodge in time with lights racing across the floor.
This is gaming that pulls you out from behind the screen and drops you straight into the action. At times, the atmosphere feels a bit like Squid Game - thankfully without the life-or-death stakes.
The games are impressively varied. Some are all about teamwork, others let you compete head-to-head against friends.
You book a one-hour slot and can play as many games as you like: try everything once, or keep going back to your favourite room until time runs out.
Each game comes with multiple difficulty levels, which makes Activate suitable for pretty much everyone - from small kids to pensioners. And yes, you genuinely should bring your grandparents along: combining movement with fast reactions is great exercise for them, too.
Above all, the games reward sharp thinking. They’re not especially physically demanding, unless you crank the difficulty up, at which point you’ll definitely break a sweat.
The hour flies by without you noticing. Any downsides? So far, none. The staff are friendly and encouraging, and once you’re done playing, you can keep the day going - perhaps with a film at Finland’s only IMAX cinema, just next door.