There’s a new attraction coming up in town and it is truly mind boggling, literally. Jumble, after spending the last month teasing Dubai residents through ads on social media, opens its doors mid-December this year.
What is Jumble?
From November 1, @jumble.ae has been teasing Instagram users with this question and we got an exclusive look in to the mystery space at Al Barsha.
Jumble, pegs itself as an unconventional gaming experience in the UAE. Loosely compared to the numerous escape rooms scattered across the city – Jumble kicks it up a notch as the world’s first indoor urban maze, full of twists, turns and mind-bending challenges. Located near the Ibis Hotel in Al Barsha, the venue takes up two entire floors of a massive warehouse-like space.
And when they say ‘mind-bending’ challenges – they really mean it. We had a sneak peek prior to the launch and we’re not ashamed to say that we could only complete two or three out of the dozen or more challenges we tried.
Here’s what to expect
Once you enter the venue and register, you receive wrist bands that unlock rooms and tracks your progress through the session. Each session is either two hours or four hours and you can extend it to full-day at the venue.
Deposit your belongings in the locker room and then head out to the playing zone. You can choose to start at any room in the venue. Most challenges feature rooms or sections of rooms connected to each other.
Several teams can play this at the same time, as there’s always a spare room or two between teams. Just imagine the entire venue filled with several random people scurrying through the maze from room to room.
Start your Jumble
Once you choose a room to start your Jumble adventure, you scan your wrist band at the door and get locked in. Depending on the challenge, you then must use your physical, mental and problem-solving prowess to progress from room to room. Some challenges require teamwork and some pure physical strength. Luckily our Dep Editor Yousra is a gym rat, so the physical parts of our Jumble experience were sorted. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Teamwork is incredibly important on several challenges and communication between your team is an absolute necessity. If young residents or tourists aren’t running around here – Jumble is a perfect venue for teambuilding activities. It can effectively gauge the problem solving skills, stress management levels and sportsmanship of each team member.
Each series of challenges, or Jumbles as they call it, are designed to build confidence, aid personal development, foster collaboration and encourage a bit of healthy competition.
Get ready to sweat and yell, you will be hanging off monkey bars and crawling on your stomach across the floor. You will get frustrated and feel ecstatic. My only tip to you without spoiling anything would be: Think differently, your first solution and initial instincts might just be right. Lateral thinking is key here.
You might think it’s easy – but trust us, it isn’t. Moreover, this isn’t a venue you will visit just once. You will be perplexed and obsessed by your failure and will be constantly drawn to head back there to complete the challenges you failed. There are over a 100 puzzles to try out and they do change as well.
The entire venue is controlled by incredibly friendly and not very helpful staff (not helpful on purpose so you don’t cheat). And if you find yourself locked in, worry not, there’s an entire control room watching your every move and will step in to help if you’re absolutely hopeless at it.
The venue
As well as the main Jumble maze, the 3,500sqm activity space is home to a series of uniquely-themed hang-out rooms and interactive corporate rooms too. You can really spend an entire day here. With French Bakery opening up within the venue, you won’t want for sustenance either. All this makes Jumble an ideal destination for birthdays, large group events and corporate team building.
Scoreboard
From when you’re registered till the end of time as they say, your scores will be stored based on the challenges you completed each time you visited, even if you came with different teams. There is a mobile app as well, a link to which is sent at registration, where you can track your progress and leader board stats at any time. There is also a scoreboard in the store showing the best Jumblers of the day and of all time.
Prices
Dh149 for 2 hours until Jan 1st (Dh155 including VAT from Jan 1st): Dh199 for 4 hours (including VAT)
An upgrade from the 2-hour ticket is available (in store only) after players have completed their 2 hours as an extension for just Dh60. If a player has completed 4 hours and wants to continue, an extension for the rest of the day is available for just Dh50 (based on capacity).
Who can play?
Anyone above the age of 8. All children aged 8-12 must be accompanied by an adult on their team at all times.
Teams
The minimum size for teams is three people and the maximum is six people.
Opening hours and pre-booking
The venue will be open from 10am to 10pm from mid-December. Pre-booking is strongly advised to avoid wait time and players are advised to arrive 30 mins before their booking time.
Location Jumble, Al Barsha, on Shaikh Zayed Road, walking distance from the Sharaf DG Metro Station Opening date Mid-December (TBC) Buy tickets online here from November 25 onwards
