Dylan YoungOne thing I miss about being a child is being able to play whenever I want. The exhilaration of running as fast as I can to avoid being tagged or the excitement of hiding in the dark, trying to keep quiet—oh, how I miss that!
Fortunately, I can channel my inner child with Activate Toronto. It’s like an adult playground with neon lights! There are many games here, including an intense version of The Floor is Lava and a virtual dodgeball.
So many exciting moments await anyone who’ll stop by. Here’s a guide for a seamless experience.
Things to Know
Address: 30 Weston Rd, Unit C209
Operating Hours:
- Monday to Thursday—9:30 am to 10 pm
- Friday—9:30 am to 11 pm
- Saturday—9 am to 11 pm
- Sunday—9 am to 10 pm
Contact Number: +16474834799
Admission Fee: C$29.99 (plus tax)
How to Get There
By Train: Take a Line 1 train and stop at St. Clair West. Transfer to tram 512 and stop at St. Clair Ave West and Weston Road/Keele Street West Side. From there, walk to your destination, which should take about three minutes.
By Car: The closest car park is Parkade B, which is located on 1980 St. Clair Ave West. It’s only about a five-minute walking distance to the gaming facility.
How It Works
Activate Toronto offers game rooms equipped with LED lights that you can interact with. In a way, it feels like you’re in a video game!
Here’s how it works:
- First, you select a room. An Activate room is a micro-arena with its own theme and equipment.
- Once you have your room, you pick a game. There are many high-tech games in every room, and each lasts for about one to three minutes. These games also vary in difficulty, so please read the description so that you can pick the right game for you.
- Now, it’s go time! Once you’ve picked everything, it’s time to get inside the door and conquer the challenge that awaits you. Have fun!
Visitor Tips
- I recommend booking ahead of time. While walk-ins are accepted, it’s not guaranteed that there’s always an available spot.
- You might want to register a player account ahead of time. You can do this on-site, but it’s better that you do it at home to save time. Having a player account lets you keep track of your progress and scores.
- You’ll be active, so it’s best that you wear clothes that feel comfortable to run, jump, crawl, and climb in. Clean running shoes are also a must. You won’t be permitted to participate if you wear heels, open-toed shoes, or sandals (including the Crocs-type).
- You need at least two people to participate here. So, feel free to bring your friends and/or family.
Play Rooms
Press
– From: activategames
As you can gather from the name, Press is a room that’s full of multi-colored buttons to press (about 452 of them!). But you won’t just press buttons haphazardly. No, there are push patterns, and you and your teammates have to work together to memorize the patterns and follow them.
Your hand-eye coordination, strategy, and communication skills will be put to the test. It’s actually quite hard to memorize the push patterns, so my friends and I usually assign each other to a specific section to be more efficient.
Laser
– From: activategames
When I was a child, I used to love pretending like I was a spy sneaking inside laser-protected rooms. Now, I can fulfill that fantasy with the Laser Room at Activate Toronto!
Inside this room, there’s an ever-changing sequence of lasers, and even just one finger out of place will trigger an alarm. So, you need to be agile and precise as you dip and dodge all the lasers. My heart always pounds hard every time I play here!
Grid
– From: activategames
The best way I can describe the experience inside the Grid Room is that it’s like The Floor is Lava Game—except now, it’s much more intense.
The main goal is to step on certain light-up tiles and avoid others (usually, the ones that light up red). It sounds simple enough, but the tiles change colors pretty fast, so you have to be quick on your feet!
I admit I’m pretty bad at this one. That’s why whenever my friends choose the competitive mode, I always lose.
Mega Grid
– From: activategames
Mega Grid is basically the Grid Room, but this time, it’s much bigger. It has over 500 LED floor tiles! The goal is still pretty much the same: you step on or avoid certain tiles.
The games here are so thrilling. I’m pretty bad at it (to no one’s surprise), so I’m always out before the game gets super hard. I’ve watched my friends play this to the end, and I’m actually convinced that they’re ninjas or something!
Portals
– From: activategames
The Portals Room has four different segments with 24 pipes and neo-pixel screens in total, and the objective is to put the water-filled ball into the right pipe. In other words, this room will test your ability to work effectively with a team.
This room is actually super fun. It’s nerve-wracking trying to quickly scan the room to spot the right pipe (which is lit up in neon green) and then shout to my teammates so that we can shove the ball inside.
Hoops
– From: activategames
I’m almost 100% sure that you’ve never played basketball like this—in darkness with only the hoops that are lit up in bright colors. It feels like I’m playing basketball in a disco room because of the way the lights change colors often.
But my favorite part about this room, though, is that it becomes more exciting once the clock starts the countdown. I always falter (I’m bad at working under pressure), but my friends still get a few shots in before the buzzer goes off.
Hide
– From: activategames
The traditional hide-and-seek game is already fun and exciting. But the Hide Room takes it to a whole new level!
Instead of having someone look for you, the room itself is the one observing your every move. There are four glowing eyes all around the room, and you have to hide behind pillars to avoid their attention. One simple mistake, and you’re out!
This room actually reminds me of that Red Light, Green Light game from Squid Game—except, of course, without the murder. This game always keeps me on my toes!
Control
– From: activategames
The Control Room brings me back to my childhood days when I used to play in those dance machines at arcades. This room doesn’t involve dancing, but the controls are under your feet.
My favorite game here is the one that’s like Pac-Man; your objective is to collect pixels without getting caught by the enemies!
Strike
– From: activategames
Do you enjoy playing dodgeball? Well, now you can enjoy a digital version of it by entering the Strike Room.
What you and your teammates have to do is strike specific glowing wall targets. It sounds like a piece of cake, but be warned that the targets change lightning-fast.
The cooperative mode is already enough to get us screaming, but the competitive mode takes it up a notch. It’s sure to test friendships!
The Tournament of Champions
– From: activategames
If you’ve frequented Activate Toronto and you’ve noticed that you’re actually pretty good at all these games, then there’s a possibility that you’ll be invited to join the Tournament of Champions.
It brings together Activate players from different cities to compete against each other to win the ultimate title of champion. Of course, there are fantastic prizes to win (up to C$1,500!) as well.
To qualify, you just have to climb the leaderboard to the top five spots at the end of the month. You can do this for the whole year—from January to December. Usually, the tournament is held in February of the next year.
Parties and Other Group Bookings
– From: activategames
You know what they say: the more, the merrier! That’s really true in Activate Toronto where you can host a party or a large group gathering.
I’ve managed to convince my supervisor to have our team-building activity here. It was so much fun, and I actually became close with some of my co-workers.
If you want to book an event here, fill out this form.
