The Infinity & Beyond and X-Warrior challenges at X-scap8 at Orchard Central, Singapore, are exciting and loads of fun for kids and adults!
Finally got to visit the newly-opened X-scap8 (pronounced escapade) at Orchard Central! My girls went for the Infinity & Beyond High Element Challenge and X-Warrior Challenge and they had so much fun! I think the fact that we almost had the whole place to ourselves because we visited on a school-specific holiday before the Chinese New Year public holidays also added to their enjoyment of X-scap8😉
The space is really cool as well. It's bright and spacious, and comes with an awesome view from the 7th floor of Orchard Central. While the girls went for the challenges, my hubby and I hung around X-scap8's' RestoBar, which serves food and drinks. You need not worry about not being able to keep an eye on your kids as the RestoBar is right smack in the centre of the venue, so you can still see your kids if they are at Infinity & Beyond and X-Warrior.
There's also Balls & Birdie Virtual Golf, Smash Lab and Retro Arcade Zone at X-scap8, so the venue is really an all-in-one playground the whole family can have fun at. But since we didn't visit these, our review only applies to Infinity & Beyond and X-Warrior. So here are 10 things to know if you're taking your kid to X-scap8:
1) What's the Infinity & Beyond High Element Challenge?
This is a three-level, 10-metre high obstacle challenge and given that my girls love obstacle courses, this was right up their alley!
The obstacle course has some interesting and unique elements too like the bicycle...
...and these cheese walls.
It does remind me of the obstacle course at Nerf Action Experience, which is good because my kids liked the latter's variety of obstacle course and the fact that it's indoors meant that we could go whether rain or shine.
Note that there is a 45-minute time limit at Infinity & Beyond. It was sufficient time for my girls to complete the course and go for a few more times at some of their favourite courses.
2) What's the X-Warrior Challenge?
The X-Warrior Challenge is a Ninja- Warrior-like obstacle course.
The space is not very big and initially I had thought my girls would be done with it in a jiffy but they hung around there for an hour and declared it was "so fun"! So, yes it was money well spent despite my initial reservations.
There is a two-hour time limit at X-Warrior Challenge. You can enter and exit the space as and when during your session, so we ordered some finger food at the Restobar (it was near lunch time and we had planned to go elsewhere for lunch) and the girls played and exited to eat a bit during our time at X-Warrior.
3) How much time to budget?
You can budget according to the time limits above though my girls only spent about an hour at X-Warrior. You might also want to factor in whether it's near lunch or dinner time when you are there. We had arrived at X-scap8 when it opened at 11am, so it was really near lunch time for us and I thought the girls might get too hungry and would want to leave soon. But as mentioned above, we ordered some finger food while they were at the X-Warrior to tide them through until we could head out for lunch.
That said, the menu at the Restobar looks pretty good and reasonable. If we haven't already made lunch plans elsewhere, we might have stayed for lunch. My younger one said their fries (we ordered the cheese fries at $10 and truffle fries at $14 each) were the best she ever had!
4) Any age/height restrictions?
For Infinity & Beyond, you will need to be at least 120cm tall and less than 100kg. Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.
For X-Warrior, there is no age/height limit but X-scap8 strongly encourages that children are accompanied by adults. That said, our girls at 10 and 12 years old were perfectly fine on their own there. During our time there, there was also another family with two kids who look to be a pre-schooler and a tween - they seemed fine on their own in there too while their guardian, like us, waited at the RestoBar.
5) Are the challenges suitable for young children?
The height limit for Infinity & Beyond probably means younger kids can't go for it. I asked my kids if they found Infinity & Beyond scary and they said no but my younger one was a bit hesitant when she just started on it - she got the hang of it eventually. That said, my kids love obstacle courses since young and my younger one has been to obstacle courses since she was 7 years old.
I don't believe in forcing my kids to try out such obstacle courses. So I think if such high element obstacle courses are new to your kids, it might be good to go up there with them or be prepared for them to "chicken out" when they are there.
For X-Warrior, I think younger ones might not fully enjoy the experience but for the upper primary school kids (9 years and up), it should be pretty fun for them.
6) Was it crowded?
We were the only ones at Infinity & Beyond when we were there on a school-specific holiday on a weekday, while there were another two kids at X-Warrior. I think it's safe to say it's not crowded on weekdays.
I asked a staff there if it gets crowded on weekends but he said over the past two months it hasn't been too crowded during the weekends, which is the case for many local attractions - I supposed that is likely because many have been heading overseas during the holiday period? But anyway, there is 15-person maximum capacity per session at Infinity & Beyond which I think would ensure it doesn't get too crowded. There is no capacity limit at X-Warrior but the staff noted that it usually doesn't get crowded there as people move in and out of the area.
That said, I reckon it might not be as fun if X-Warrior is crowded. My girls had noted that though there were just four person at the Challenge when we were there, because the space is quite small, they had to wait for another person to complete an obstacle course before they could go on it.
7) How much?
Infinity & Beyond costs $38 per person for a 45-minute session, while X-Warrior costs $25 for a two-hour session. Each ticket come with a $5 F&B voucher which you can use at the RestoBar. If you purchase an Infinity & Beyond ticket, you can add on X-Warrior at $17 per person but the X-Warrior ticket would not come with the F&B voucher. Tickets can be purchased online at X-scap8's website or at the door.
I didn't see any existing discounts or promos for X-scap8 when I searched online but the closest would be with the shopFarEast app (Orchard Central is one of Far East's malls). If you don't already have the shopFarEast app, you can get a $5 e-voucher when you first download the app by using promo code <JOINSFE> in the app. This promo which I saw at Far East's FB page is ongoing at time of writing. You can redeem the e-voucher when you purchase X-scap8 tickets at the door.
8) Are bookings required?
As there is maximum capacity of 15 for Infinity & Beyond, you can purchase tickets online at X-Scape8's website in advance to secure your slot. However, we did not book online but chose to buy at the door as we weren't expecting the place to be crowded on a weekday (also we wanted to use our shopFarEast e-voucher). Do note that Infinity & Beyond sessions are by the hour and start on the hour. So if you arrive at 1130am, you'd need to go for the 12pm session.
9) What to bring?
Covered shoes are required for Infinity & Beyond. Socks are required in the shoes-off X-Warrior zone. If you forget socks, they are available for purchase at the venue. Also, bring water! My girls were sweaty and thirsty from the two activities but of course, drinks are sold at the Restobar too!
10) Where is it located?
X-scap8 is located at Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #07-02, Singapore 238896. It is open from Monday-Sunday, 11am-10pm.
Infinity & Beyond at X-scap8 definitely ranks high among my girls' favourite obstacle courses - if you've been following my blog, you'd know that they have been to quite a few (e.g. Forest Adventure, Nerf Action Experience, MegaClimb at Mega Adventure and Houbii Spot) - and they really enjoyed X-Warrior too. So, we'd probably visit X-scap8 again!
Did you visit any fun attractions this Chinese New Year holiday? If so, do let us know in the comment box below!
Disclaimer: We paid for our tickets, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.