{"id":329919,"date":"2025-08-09T06:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T06:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329919\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T06:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T06:57:16","slug":"we-visited-manchesters-arcade-arena-for-mario-and-pac-man-experiences-unlike-any-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329919\/","title":{"rendered":"We visited Manchester’s Arcade Arena for Mario and Pac-Man experiences ‘unlike any other’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two experiences are under the same roof\"Emma<\/p>\n

Emma is the parents editor for the Manchester Evening News. She covers news and events for families across Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n

(Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

If you’ve not played a game of Mario Kart then chances are you’ve at least heard of it.<\/p>\n

But there’s one place in Manchester that lets people experience it from inside the game – as a character, on the track, driving their very own kart.<\/p>\n

Chaos Karts combines real-life racing with augmented reality<\/a> and since launching in 2023 has become a massive hit with groups and families looking for a unique experience.<\/p>\n

The UK’s first live action video game karting experience, praised by customers as ‘unlike any other’, works by tracks and the surrounding landscapes being projected onto the floor and walls. One minute you’re avoiding the meteors crashing around you in space, the next you’re in a desert.<\/p>\n

For the best ideas on days out, shopping and parenting issues, get the Manchester Family newsletter here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TracksTracks and surrounding landscapes are projected onto the floor and walls(Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

Just like Mario, players get to pick their own avatar and colour of their vehicle and the whole time you’re racing, you’re collecting points and using your weapons to battle it out with your opponents, who in turn are launching their weapons right back at you.<\/p>\n

You use the buttons on your dashboard to fire forwards or backwards, dodging virtual obstacles like splattered eggs as you go.<\/p>\n

You can pick up quite some speed as you make your way round, but thankfully the in-built collision reduction technology prevents any big crashes.<\/p>\n

I certainly felt like I was going fast as I competed against my son and his friends, although the final scoreboard told a different story as I was labelled both ‘sloth’ for having the slowest lap and ‘peacemaker’ for having the worst shot.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe whole time you’re racing, you’re collecting points and using your weapons to battle it out with your opponents(Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

Admittedly I did keep firing my weapons the wrong way, but it’s easily done when you’re under pressure.<\/p>\n

I thought perhaps I could redeem myself at the arena’s second attraction, the new Pac-Man Live Experience<\/a>, which opened at the site earlier this year.<\/p>\n

This interactive, immersive experience lets you take on the identity of Pac-Man himself and again drops you into a real-life video game where you are chased by ghosts.<\/p>\n

Entering the arena is exciting in itself as a player is tasked with putting a large fake coin into the ‘insert coin to play’ slot before the smoke is released and the door slides open to reveal one huge Pac-Man Arena, using up the entire floor space that hosts those Mario tracks.<\/p>\n

\"AA player is tasked with putting a large fake coin into the ‘insert coin to play’ slot (Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

You have your very own ‘Pac Master’ to oversee proceedings and tell you what game is coming next – reminding those whose vest becomes a ghost to take a breather as players take it in turns to take short breaks from the action.<\/p>\n

Two separate teams of eight play separately on either side of the room and the goal is to beat your opponents by running around and collecting power pellets and fruit while desperately trying to avoid those pesky ghosts, Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.<\/p>\n

You can walk if you like and it was refreshing to see a young man taking part in a wheelchair on the other team, as so many activities like this are simply inaccessible.<\/p>\n

It’s quite tiring running around the game and of course I stood no chance against seven athletic 14 year olds.<\/p>\n

\"EachEach player wears a specially-designed Pac-Vest(Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

Players wear a specially-designed Pac-Vest where no headsets are required. I’d stupidly let my team give me a name on my vest when I’d nipped to the toilet, only to return to find myself labelled as ‘poo’. I’d been for a number one I might add.<\/p>\n

Pac Master was quite amused by my new moniker, saying I was the first ‘poo’ to have ever graced the arena – and I have to admit, the name pretty much summed up my performance. But I loved it all the same and so did the lads.<\/p>\n

Join our Family WhatsApp group HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The experiences don’t last too long – you get around 20 minutes on the Chaos Kart tracks and around 30 minutes in Pac-Man Live – so each one goes fairly quickly.<\/p>\n

But time flies when you’re having fun as they say and there’s certainly lots of it here. Anywhere that makes a group of teenage boys happy has surely passed the biggest test of all.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Pac-Man Live Experience at Arcade Arena (Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

Where is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both experiences are under the same roof, with Pac-Man LIVE and Chaos Karts taking place at different times inside the Arcade Arena, in Lower Byrom Street, close to the Science and Industry Museum.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man Live can be booked between 9am and 4pm, with Chaos Karts available between 5pm and 10pm. Pac-Man is closed on Fridays when Chaos Karts runs from 10am to 10pm.<\/p>\n

How old do you have to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Chaos Karts, drivers have to be a minimum age of 11 and be at least 5ft tall (1.5m) to take part.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man LIVE is suitable for anyone aged eight and above. It is a physical experience so you are on your feet for the duration.<\/p>\n

How much is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chaos Karts tickets cost \u00a326.50 and can be booked online on the website<\/a>. Guests who aren’t playing can book a free companion ticket online.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man Live tickets start from \u00a322 each, with a discount applied for family bookings. Tickets can be booked here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TheThe immersive experience lets you take on the identity of Pac-Man himself and drops you into a real-life video game where you are chased by ghosts(Image: Manchester Family \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

How many can compete?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Chaos Karts, eight people are on the track at once. You can book for one person or more and other people will be added to your session if your group is smaller than eight.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man Live is designed for eight people, with two teams of eight playing on separate mazes at the same time. If you have fewer than eight in your group, you may be joined by other players. If you don’t want to play you can accompany ticket holders and watch from the viewing platform. Only ticket holders can play the maze.<\/p>\n

How long does it last?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can expect to be in the attraction for around 50 minutes for each experience, including time for the briefings and set-ups.<\/p>\n

With Chaos Karts you’ll be on the tracks for around 20 minutes. With Pac-Man Live you play the maze for around 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Get yourself signed up to the Manchester Family newsletter here<\/a> for other ideas of ways to keep the kids entertained this summer<\/a>. And don’t forget to join our Family WhatsApp group HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two experiences are under the same roof Emma is the parents editor for the Manchester Evening News.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,12232,393,4884,2465,8086,485,10968,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-329919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-days-out","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-city-centre","14":"tag-manchester-family","15":"tag-things-to-do-manchester","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114997510215432073","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}