I should probably only give Big Time four stars because it could definitely be better, but I'm giving it five stars because I'm still surprised we actually have something like this in Calhoun County.
Like someone else mentioned, your experience will vary based on the day you go. I've been on a Saturday night when it's super busy and during the day on a Sunday when the crowd felt just right for most things.
This venue has a variety of different activities which is cool, however, because they have so many different activities there is not a ton of space for some of them.
Arcade - My biggest disappointment is that the arcade area is rather small and the game selection is limited. If you are really wanting to have an arcade experience you're probably better off going to Dave & Buster's in Birmingham. They do have some fun games. I particularly liked the Jurassic Park game and the Led Zepplin pinball machine. Most of the games are $1-2 each. They have some classic games which are $1 each which is definitely too high. Space Invaders looks really cool but cost $2 a play and is super short. I would not recommend it.
VR Holo Game - $7 each for up to four players for about a 4-5 minute experience. This was fun to splurge on. It's too expensive to do often but was a nice treat. There are about a dozen different games to choose from however there's no information available to help you pick a game, just a title graphic. Providing a little information about each game to help players choose their experience would be an easy fix.
Laser Tag - Probably my favorite thing. It's $7 a person for about a 13 minute laser tag experience. The laser tag area is a little small, but it has two levels and is fun. I think you can have up to about 20 people which is definitely too many. I think 8-12 people per battle would be ideal. Once in the room everyone is divided onto either the blue team or the red team. You can request what team you're added to. I think the phasers were pretty responsive but it's really hard to see the targeting laser.
*Lockers are not provided to stash your stuff like they are for go-carts which is a bit disappointing.
Axe Throwing - I like axe throwing, but after having a great experience at a different location I was very disappointed in Big Time's setup. There are cages around each lane so you have to go in and out of a door. No scoreboard is provided, and there are no holders for the axes. I get that the cages are for safety but I greatly preferred the other venue I visited because the cages ruin the social experience and make it a pain to take pictures. I've yet to see someone throw an axe behind them but maybe it's happened...
It's $50 to rent a lane for one hour and up to five people can play.
Go-carts - Big Time has a really cool 2-level indoor track. It's $15 each for about a 5-6 minute experience. The go-carts go really fast which is super cool, however, they are incredibly hard to steer--I gave up at one point because my arms were worn out from trying to turn the wheel and my arms remained sore for hours afterward. The helmets and go-carts are on the small side. If you are large in size or super tall you will probably be very uncomfortable. No instruction was provided on how to adjust the seats but I've seen someone else mention it is possible. Free lockers are provided for you to stash your stuff while you ride. There are some buttons on the go-carts to reverse and boost but our instructor made it sound like we shouldn't press them so I missed out on trying the boost feature. My husband loved the go-carts despite us having to wait over half an hour. I found them too hard to steer and I, and several of my friends, felt motion sick for hours afterward.
Bowling - There are bowling lanes upstairs and downstairs, probably about 15-20 in total. Our group purchased a lane and was put on a list. However, the staff did not handle our request very well and most of us missed out on bowling. We wanted to do several things and requested a lane no earlier than two hours after we arrived yet were forced to accept one earlier which meant that over half our group couldn't participate because the line for go-carts and laser tag took too long. I still don't fully understand how they were trying to explain their lane reservation system. If I could do it all over again I would wait to reserve a lane separately and closer to our desired time but the place was super busy and we were encouraged to go ahead and reserve a spot.
I've been twice and had a good experience overall. I'm excited we have something like this locally. There are definitely things that could be better but it's still super cool. All of the staff we interacted with were super friendly, but some were unable to answer basic questions. I think a little more training would be beneficial. read more