Dreamscape in Dubai: A Virtual Reality Escape Game You Absolutely Must Try

When Anh suggested doing an escape game in Dubai, I was pretty skeptical. The possible activities in the emirate are countless and pricey, and an escape game didn’t seem essential, even if it was in virtual reality.

I let myself be convinced and we went right after a skiing session (yes, in Dubai). Dreamscape is located in the mall Mall of the Emirates.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised 🙂

We hadn’t booked and didn’t have to wait. You can choose between several “adventures”; we chose “Alien Zoo” which would have us meeting extraterrestrial animals that look strangely similar to prehistoric animals.

The entry cost us 63 AED per person, knowing that we already had a 20% discount by showing our Emirates boarding pass (remember to keep it if you flew with this airline). There were only 2 of us, but the experience can be enjoyed by up to 6. That seems like a big maximum; limiting it to 4 seems much more comfortable. Note that even though we were lucky to have a “private” session, it’s not guaranteed; you might share your session with other people.

Next, we have to “check in” using a tablet. This operation mainly involves collecting our personal data (email, date of birth, …) but also choosing our avatar. You can ask for subtitles to appear during the experience (the audio is in English). That’s what we did, and we don’t necessarily recommend it; you’re way too caught up in the adventure to take the time to read subtitles ^^.

We wait barely a few moments in a comfortable lounge area before boarding; an employee takes us to a room where we gear up and can leave our belongings.

The equipment consists of putting on sensors: on both feet, on both hands, and slipping on a sort of backpack.

We then enter the small room where the adventure will take place. The employee gives us some instructions. Anh is worried about the handrail in the room that we might bump into once we have our virtual reality headsets on. The employee explains that it will clearly appear in the video and that we can grab onto it.

The employee helps us put on our headsets and off we go for a good fifteen minutes of exploration.

I told you, I was skeptical. But wow, I immediately realized my mistake, what a sensation! We are instantly plunged into a parallel universe. We have a 360° view, up, down, the immersion is perfect!

I look at my hands, I see gloves I’m not actually wearing. I look at my feet, I see closed shoes when I’m in sandals. I look at Anh, I see the avatar she selected! It’s incredible.

Without spoiling the story, we’ll go from moments of pure contemplation of a magical landscape to stressful moments where we have to fight to defend our lives.

The immersion experience is total, here are a few examples of what happens:

• When our ship moves, we feel wind and vibrations
• At one point, a sort of diplodocus approaches, and we can stroke its head. I don’t know what we touched in reality, but the sensation was so realistic it was mind-blowing.
• When it sneezed on us, we felt the droplets on our faces
• When giant dandelions approached us, we could “pop” them by touching them (the realism didn’t go so far as to make me sneeze, me being allergic)
• …

I had already had the chance to try out the Oculus headsets when they came out a few years ago. The experience was quite disappointing then: we were mere spectators, not actors, and the image resolution wasn’t great. Now the technology is spot-on, and I came out very impressed.

You may have heard of the Metaverse, a virtual world, presented as the future version of the internet by Facebook. I was watching it from afar without really seeing the possible applications. After this experience with Dreamscape, I’m convinced it’s going to be a hit in the coming years, even though I find it a bit scary.

You’ve got it: we came out enthusiastic about this experience that we recommend to you. We’re even going to try to find time to do another adventure before we leave Dubai.

EDIT: we came back to do two more experiences, and we’re still just as impressed 🙂

• The Blu lets you virtually swim with three whales. You will be virtually separated at one point
• Curse of the Lost Pearl is an Indiana Jones-style adventure. You will be virtually separated at one point

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