Two Bit Circus to Open World’s First ‘Micro-amusement Park’
American based experiential agency ‘Two Bit Circus’ will open the world’s first ‘micro-amusement park’ this September in Los Angeles. The company’s previous work focused on experiential marketing activations, using both virtual reality and physical installations for well known sporting institutions such as the NBA and NFL as well as global brands like Intel.
Two Bit Circus CEO and Co-founder Brent Bushnell is the son of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese founder Nolan Bushnell. Brent obviously shares his father’s passion for gaming innovation and family friendly amusement arcades. Bushnell explained in an interview with The Verge – how he came to coin the phrase ‘micro-amusement park’: ”What we really wanted to convey is, ‘Hey, this is small compared to Disneyland, but huge for a retail complex.’”
Having previously travelled throughout the United States, moving their VR amusement park from town to town; Two Bit Circus decided that it would be more feasible to move to a permanent location. The new indoor complex is broken into several sections, much like a regular theme park. There is an arcade with a wide selection of immersive technology based games. For the more old-school amusement park enthusiasts amongst us – you can still find traditional arcade attractions like skee-ball, air-hockey and pac-man scattered throughout the building. There is also a 150 seat theatre with 75 shared touch screens. This ‘interactive game show theatre’ will have a host to guide guests through interactive games and quizzes.
Two Bit Circus has used its previous working experience to create a series a technology based amusements. One attraction named ‘Demolition Zone’ let’s players physically shove a padded ‘wrecking ball’ toward a projection-mapped screen in a race to destroy a building faster than their opponent. Roughly 80% of the games are purpose built, according to Bushnell.
There are a series of ‘Escape Room’ style areas where players must “work together to solve action-packed challenges on the life-sized bridge of a Space Squad starship” and “defend the swamp against an infestation of supernatural creeps” in VR. There is an emphasis on social interaction throughout the park; from multiplayer games to communal dining tables. The park is family friendly during the day, but at night the content of the games is switched up to be more adult focused and alcohol is served up by a robot bartender; giving the 700 capacity complex a nightclub feel.