The Cube, the experience, began its life as \u201cThe Cube,\u201d the television show. The rules of the British program are simple: contestants must complete mini-games within an allotted time span. But like any good game show, there is a twist: contestants play the deceptively simple games within the confines of a large, clear plastic cube. Gameplay begins when the LED screen floor flashes red.<\/p>\n
This new, in-person Cube has taken up residence in a former TJ Maxx, fitted out to suggest all the hallmarks of the television program. Here, there is not just one cube, but many, spread across the floor and joined by bars and tables, a sleek, shining indoor carnival. That atmosphere is thanks to Cube director and creator Edward Mellors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a showman,\u201d he told the Tribune at an opening event Thursday night. \u201cI was born into a carnival family.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Edward](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-l-cube-0716-12_264842653.jpg\")
Edward Mellors, center, director of The Cube, talks with attendees on July 16, 2026, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
His family runs the UK-based Mellors Group, an entertainment company that operates carnivals, amusement parks and fairs. The company traces its roots back more than a hundred years, to Mellors\u2019 great-grandfather, who ran a shooting gallery and a swing boat ride in the 1890s. Mellors grew up watching \u201cThe Cube\u201d on television, and he knew it would be worth adding to the company\u2019s slate of projects \u2014 tapping into the \u201ccompetitive socializing\u201d trend which had taken root in the UK.<\/p>\n
The Cube currently has locations in London and Manchester. Now, Cube has come to Chicago, which Mellors said won over other American cities due to its connection to the television show \u2014 the American version of \u201cThe Cube\u201d on TBS was hosted by Chicago\u2019s own Dwyane Wade, who contributed to the conversation when Mellors was searching for a U.S. location.<\/p>\n
Once Chicago was chosen, Mellors said finding the address was not difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichigan Avenue is the equivalent of Oxford Street in London,\u201d he said, \u201cso it didn\u2019t take an awful lot of convincing that it was the right location.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cube is the latest venture to add to Michigan Avenue\u2019s revival,<\/a> in which the draw is less retail sales, more experiences. Attractions like the The Hand & The Eye<\/a> magic venue, new investment in the Lookingglass Theatre<\/a>, the Museum of Ice Cream<\/a>, outdoor sculpture exhibits<\/a> and stores like the Harry Potter Shop<\/a> and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery<\/a>\u00a0offer more than just shopping.<\/p>\n Mellors said that venues must be able to offer in-person experiences to get people out of the house. That goes for The Cube.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to create a live TV game show,\u201d he said, \u201cand you\u2019re in it. You\u2019re living it.\u201d<\/p>\n A typical Cube experience involves playing seven of the 21 mini-games available across the 25,000-square-foot space. After downloading an app and registering members of your team (which must be an even number of players), the computer randomly assigns your run of games for the evening. The games themselves, with names like \u201cDual Aperture\u201d and \u201cFormation\u201d and \u201cDrop,\u201d are simple on the surface, and most of them involve moving a ball or series of balls from one receptacle into another, though sometimes memory comes into play. Tickets cost $52.50 and up.<\/p>\n Host Peter Ruiz, who guides guests through their Cube experience, said that the company has the rights to all of the games from the television show, so games could be swapped out at any time. The cubes are built to the same scale and specs as the television soundstage version, as well.<\/p>\n He added that hosts can customize gameplay to accommodate guest\u2019s needs, so no one will feel like they\u2019re assigned a game they physically cannot do.<\/p>\n Beyond standard play, there is also the \u201cCube Royale.\u201d At the sound of an air raid siren (which, Mellors says, he chose without realizing how much it sounded like a tornado siren), one game is chosen at random and its players compete for real-world prizes like cash and vacation packages.<\/p>\n At the opening on Thursday, guest Toni Hopkins said The Cube differed from other establishments where you \u201cjust sit down and talk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like this kind of gets your body moving,\u201d she said, adding that people \u201clike to make an event out of hanging out.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cube is not a pop-up; it was built as a permanent attraction that Mellors hopes will become \u201ca staple of Chicago.\u201d He\u2019s next planning to add cameras with the goal of turning visits into live-stream-ready events. He wants to pit international locations against each other in live competitions and hopes to expand elsewhere in the U.S.<\/p>\n And when that happens, he says, \u201cChicago will be raising a flag on this, going, \u2018We had it first.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0rtrimble@tribpub.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flashing lights. LED screen floors. Sixty seconds to complete a challenge. All this in a large, transparent cube,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":946198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,171,20596,5386,1818,1370,1072],"class_list":["post-946197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-entertainment","tag-fun-and-games","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-latest-headlines","tag-things-to-do"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116948956092857856","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Wilson](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-l-cube-0716-05_264842467.jpg\")
Wilson Mefford, left, and Pat Salibi celebrate after playing the game Circumvent at The Cube on July 16, 2026 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Attendees](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-l-cube-0716-09_264842529.jpg\")
Attendees and staff watch participants play games at The Cube on July 16, 2026 in Chicago. The ticketed venue features 21 glass cubes with immersive games inspired by the TV game show. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n