Beat The Bomb is a real-life video game experience in which teams collaborate to solve puzzles, evade lasers, and compete against the clock through a series of five high-tech rooms. In the final room, the time they have built up throughout the experience counts down as they race to disarm a bomb before an explosion of paint, foam or slime.
Since launching in Brooklyn, New York, in 2017, the experience, which won third place in the Game on Category at the blooloop Innovation Awards 2024, has expanded to several other US cities, with more on the horizon.
Creator Alex Patterson calls Beat The Bomb ‘The world’s first immersive social gaming experience.’ He speaks to blooloop about what inspired the concept, where he sees it fitting into the trends for immersive experiences and gamification, and his future growth plans.
The Beat The Bomb experience
Describing what makes the concept unique, Patterson says:
“Beat The Bomb is the world’s craziest team game—think Mission Impossible meets Double Dare. It’s a high-energy challenge where teams try to disarm a giant bomb before getting blasted with paint, foam, or slime—each an epic, social media-worthy finale.
“Since 2017, we’ve designed a five-room sequence of digitised, networked game rooms where teams of four to six, suited up in hazmat gear, tackle unique challenges. Each room earns them time on a bomb clock, which they use in the final showdown to disarm the bomb or face the blast.”
Patterson’s career journey shaped his perspective on what really matters in building a company and an engaging product. He started as a corporate attorney at a big law firm, practising tax law for two years before moving to Tough Mudder, an obstacle course company.
“There, I transitioned from legal to marketing, then product development, overseeing obstacles and course design. That’s when I started thinking about teamwork-based experiences. Tough Mudder was about getting through challenges together.
“After five years, I had worked across law, marketing, product, and culture, which gave me the confidence to start something new. I loved ticketed experiences that brought people together, got them off their phones, and were highly shareable on social media.”
Levelling up the escape room concept
Tough Mudder had those elements, but it also has limitations such as physical fitness barriers, logistical challenges, and infrequent events.
“I started wondering: What if you could create a teamwork-driven experience that was more accessible and scalable?”
Patterson studied game shows like The Cube, Crystal Maze, and Double Dare, and played dozens of escape rooms.
“While I enjoyed escape rooms, I found them isolating. People worked in parallel rather than together. The gameplay relied on solving clues, which often led to silent individual problem-solving rather than true collaboration. They also weren’t replayable, had anticlimactic endings, and weren’t easily shareable on social media.”
Patterson knew he wanted to create something different—an interactive, high-energy experience focused on teamwork:
“What if, instead of clues, the challenges required every player to contribute? Games where coordination mattered, like playing a sound sequence together, piloting a shared robot, or physically navigating obstacles as a team. And what if the experience culminated in something thrilling, like disarming a giant paint bomb?
“That’s how Beat The Bomb was born. Teams play through a series of 10-minute games, earning time for a final challenge: defusing the ‘bomb’ before it goes off. It’s a pulsed experience, like a haunted house or Tough Mudder start waves, designed to move people through efficiently while maximising engagement.
“The result? A scalable, immersive, and truly social game format that keeps people coming back.”
Beat The Bomb expands
In 2016, Patterson assembled a team of programmers and graduate students to develop the prototype.
“We built it over the winter of 2016–17, and by 2017, we secured our first location in Dumbo, Brooklyn. It was a small space, only 2,000 square feet, but it became the foundation for version one of our experience. We launched in December 2017, and by January 2018, our first full month, we had 1,000 players paying around $40 each.”
From there, Beat The Bomb experienced steady growth. In the first year, it welcomed 35,000 players; by year two, that number neared 50,000. Then came the pandemic, which had a significant impact. However, by 2021, the team had recovered, raised funds, and started expanding.
In October 2022, Beat The Bomb opened its second location in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by Washington, D.C., in February 2023.
“This rapid expansion tripled the size of our company, growing from one location to three within six months. Later that year, we secured additional funding, signed multiple leases, and entered our next growth phase, launching locations in Philadelphia, Charlotte, and Houston, with Denver on the way. This expansion will bring us to seven locations.
“Our vision has remained the same through it all: to create the world’s first immersive social video game. It is an experience designed to bring people together in a meaningful, interactive way.”
A universal experience
The experience is designed to be straightforward to expand to new locations without needing adaptations.
“Right now, we’re not tailoring the experience differently for each location,” says Patterson. “Our goal has been to create something that works universally, whether in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Denver, or even internationally in cities like London, Shanghai, Cairo, Frankfurt, or Mumbai.
“It’s a bit like ice cream. You don’t necessarily need a different recipe for the East versus the West Coast.”
The core of the experience is built around fundamental human interactions: playing games that involve shapes, sounds, colours, dodging lasers, and navigating spaces in a room. These interactive video games are designed to be intuitive and engaging for anyone.
“That said, we have a few games involving recalling words or following written instructions. We’d need to translate those elements if we expand internationally. But at its core, our gameplay is meant to be universal, like any great game, whether chess, basketball, football, or soccer.
“A great game works because it resonates with people on a fundamental level.”
The team intentionally avoided creating something hyper-specific to one geography, he adds: “Rather than crafting something bespoke and unique to one place, we aimed to create something that could thrive anywhere.
“That’s not to say we won’t introduce location-specific game sets in the future. There may come a time when certain experiences are exclusive to Atlanta or Houston. But for now, our focus is on building something that can be played and loved everywhere.”
The technology behind Beat The Bomb
This is enabled by the technology that powers the experience:
“One of the great advantages of our game system being digital is the backend infrastructure we’ve built,” says Patterson. “This system allows us to seamlessly integrate player information from the waivers they sign, assign them to teams, and manage their experience dynamically.
“Each of our three endings, paint, foam, and slime, now has a unique sequence of five games leading up to it. The first four game rooms follow a standardised design. They have a front-wall projector, six touchscreens along the sides, and RFID readers beneath each screen. Every player wears an RFID wristband linked to their identity.
“The laser maze rooms also feature ceiling sensors to track player positions, RFID readers along the long sides, a projection wall on one side, and a TV on the other.”
Finally, the bomb room is designed with six controllers, a giant television, immersive audio, special effects, and, of course, the large-scale paint, foam, and slime systems.
“Thanks to our proprietary hardware and software ecosystem, every room can support multiple different games. For example, if a game requires six touchscreens, RFID readers, and a projection wall, we can program that into the system. The possibilities are endless, and what we’ve built is unlike anything else.”
Traditionally, video games are developed for platforms like tablets, phones, or consoles. “Our system is different. It’s a physical game environment, powered by Unity, that blends digital and real-world interactivity.”
As Beat The Bomb scales to new locations, the team’s goal is to continually add new games to this system:
“Similar to how karaoke bars introduce new songs, we’ll be able to introduce new experiences across all locations. Ultimately, we are building a platform for interactive gaming. That is something truly unique.”
The world’s first immersive, social gaming experience
Patterson and his team have deliberately chosen not to tie the experiences to existing intellectual property (IP).
“While leveraging well-known characters can attract attention, it can also become a crutch, leading companies to create experiences that may be familiar but ultimately underwhelming. Relying too heavily on IP can distract from a company’s core purpose, and we’ve seen cases where the experience itself takes a backseat to the brand recognition.”
Instead, he says Beat The Bomb’s focus has always been on gameplay that fosters real human interaction.
“Our game design encourages players to step away from screens, collaborate, strategise, and engage with one another, rather than simply getting lost in an interface. That’s why we call ourselves the world’s first immersive, social video game, where players are truly stepping into the experience. We believe we can back up that claim.”
Many brands are emerging in this space, each with its own approach to social gaming. Some focus on physical sets enhanced with digital elements. In contrast, others build on the growing trend of competitive socialising, modernising traditional games like mini golf, shuffleboard, or bowling through projections, sensors, and other tech.
“We’ve seen innovations like microchipped golf balls at Topgolf or digitised ping pong and billiards versions. While these updates to classic games have their appeal, there’s a natural limit to simply modernising the past.
“Looking 10, 20, or even 40 years ahead, as technology, especially AI, continues to evolve, traditional games may feel antiquated. People may one day be surprised that there was ever a time when interactive experiences weren’t guided by intelligent, adaptive systems.
“Many companies today are focused on refreshing the games of yesterday. But with Beat The Bomb, we’re bringing forward the games of the future.”
Beat The Bomb and AOA
Beat The Bomb works with AOA, a design firm renowned for its work in themed entertainment. Speaking about how this partnership came about and the benefits it brings, Patterson says:
“Beat The Bomb is known for its grand finale, the world’s largest painting bomb. We developed that technology in-house with a small team in the early days. However, we always knew that to scale effectively, we would need to professionalise it.
“For about five years after launching the company, we worked with an incredible outside expert, a special effects specialist with experience in Hollywood, Universal Studios, and music videos. Sadly, he passed away early last year, which was a tough loss for our team.”
As the company grew, it became clear that it needed a long-term partner capable of scaling with it. “That’s when we launched an RFP process, seeking companies with large-scale special effects expertise. Through that process, we discovered AOA, and from the moment we met them, we knew they were the right fit.
“They brought the perfect combination of creativity and technical expertise.”
When AOA visited Beat The Bomb and experienced it firsthand, the team immediately understood the vision: that the experience must be memorable, the technology must be highly specialised yet extremely reliable with minimal downtime, and the system must be user-friendly so staff without special effects expertise can maintain it.
New opportunities
“Since partnering with AOA, they’ve taken the foundation we built and elevated it, enhancing reliability, improving safety, and making the experience even more immersive. That’s no small feat, considering our previous expert was a genius. However, moving from a small, brilliant team to a national-scale firm like AOA ensures that we can continue to grow without limitations.”
“Looking ahead, Beat The Bomb is at seven locations now, but we believe we can scale to 50–100 company-owned venues in the US. Beyond that, we see considerable opportunities to license the concept, integrating it into family entertainment centres, theme parks, and even water parks.
“AOA will be an invaluable partner in helping us execute this vision. Not just for our special effects, but across all our game room technology.”
Tom Acomb, AOA chief creative executive, says: “Lately, the experience design industry seems to be describing itself with big words and lengthy explanations for the “how” we did it and the “storytelling” behind it. Super serious deep thoughts behind everything. Well, what if you have a client that quite simply hopes their guests have fun, laugh and make great memories?
“Beat The Bomb is that clear and that simple, and their experiences deliver on their mission. The whole Beat The Bomb team exemplify the saying, ‘It’s not work if you love what you do.’”
The future of social entertainment
Reflecting on the social entertainment trend and what the broader attractions industry can learn from experiences like Beat The Bomb, Patterson says:
“One of the biggest lessons that traditional entertainment venues, such as theme parks, museums, and others, can take from the rise of interactive social experiences is that people want to participate.
“For much of entertainment history, experiences have been passive. You sit on your couch and watch TV, following your favourite actors as they live out adventures. Even theme park rides, while exhilarating, still place visitors on a predetermined track where they observe rather than act. Traditionally, creative people have designed experiences for audiences to watch rather than engage with.”
Interactive entertainment flips that model. Instead of simply observing, guests become the main characters in their own experience.
“At Beat The Bomb, for example, players aren’t just given an Indiana Jones hat and told to “feel” like an adventurer. They are the adventurers. They are the ones solving challenges, working as a team, and ultimately experiencing something together.”
The key takeaway for entertainment designers is this: facilitate human connection. Instead of structuring everything around spectacle and scale, consider how guests can interact, not only with the environment but with each other.
“That’s the kind of engagement today’s audiences crave, especially in a world where people spend so much time isolated on their phones.
“Beat The Bomb is designed to pull people off their devices for the duration of the experience. But then it also gives them something highly shareable at the end, with photos, videos, and CCTV footage capturing their gameplay. This balance between real-life presence and social media shareability is key.”
Beat The Bomb makes people feel like they own the adventure
Another major factor in the success of interactive social entertainment is replayability. Many traditional attractions are one-and-done experiences. You ride it, you’ve seen it, and you don’t necessarily need to return. Competitive games, on the other hand, drive repeated engagement.
“Sports have always done this. Kicking a ball into a net may be simple, but competition makes it exciting again and again. Video games have also mastered this, encouraging players to improve their skills over time.”
“That’s why we’re evolving Beat The Bomb into new formats, including competitive team-based play. Traditionally, our game has been a one-hour cooperative mission, where teams work against the clock to disarm the bomb. Now, we’re introducing Arcade Bomb Battle, a format where teams face off against one another in a structured competition. It’s similar to how Topgolf reinvented driving ranges into a social, competitive experience.
“By incorporating head-to-head gameplay, we’re building more reasons for people to return, compete, and improve.
“In the future, I think theme parks and other entertainment designers should explore how they can create more interactive, repeatable, and socially engaging experiences; the demand for social, active, and replayable entertainment is only growing.
“The industry should lean into this trend and find ways to integrate true participation into their experiences. Not just in a scripted way, but in a way that makes guests feel like they own the adventure.”
The post Beat The Bomb: blending tech, teamwork, and thrills appeared first on Blooloop.