I brought my girls to City of Dreams Manila this week to try the new virtual reality (VR) games by Bandai Namco at The Garage.

Because they are already bored to death at home.

But this adventure was not cheap. For PHP 450 per person/game. What was I thinking?!

The girls were allowed to play Mario Kart since they could already reach the pedals. Much to their dismay, they couldn’t play the ski VR game as they were too short to reach the ski handles and too light to turn the skis using their body weight.

I tried all games, including that horrrible Hospital Escape Terror VR game. 😭 More of that later.

Mario Kart was fun but was too short. 😣 You can play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and another character that sounded like Japanese. The goal there is to be the first player to reach the finish line through fire, water, cliffs, and what-have-you. You have King Koopa to foil your attempts at winning first place.

With the help of VR sensors strapped on your hands and wrists, you can grab bananas, hammers, and turtles to throw or hit your competitors with to slow them down.

I got disoriented with the foot pedals because I am a stick shift driver, ergo, I use my right foot to slam on the accelerator and brakes. My brain is wired to use my left foot for the clutch and NOT the brake.

Or I’m just making excuses because I sucked at Mario Kart. (who fails Mario Kart???)

The most fun part of this game is when I jumped off cliffs and needed to use a hang glider. It really felt like I was flying (or I may just be whoozy due to lack of sleep and hunger that time😜).

As for the ski game, all I can say is I am a terrible skier. If it was in real life, I would have ended up dead within a few minutes after strapping myself onto the skis. I keep flying off cliffs, ravines, and down into abysses.

Now for the Hospital Escape Terror…

I will never ever try that game again in my entire life. Ever. 🤬

Only a minute into the game I was already having panic attacks and I could feel vomit coming up to my throat. That game is so claustrophobic and felt real that my heart was palpitating like crazy.

The goal of the game is to get out of the hospital alive within 9 minutes (and it seemed like forever), which was impossible given that hospital is filled with crazy creatures thirsty for blood while you are strapped to a wheelchair. And you only have a flashlight on your hand.

I really couldn’t go through it. Screw PHP 450, I would rather not risk having a full-blown panic attack. Judging from the screams of terror from the other players before me, my decision to quit the game was wise or else I would have died of a heart attack. For real.