Is this low-key our own version of Physical: 100? I tried Bomb Battle’s new outlet in PJ.

Remember last year when lots of local lifestyle content creators shared videos of themselves being blasted with colourful neon paint? 

That’s Bomb Battle, a digital interactive gaming experience in Berjaya Times Square.

A few days ago, the company behind it, Mission Group Pte. Ltd. officially launched its second Malaysian outlet called Bomb Battle Elite. And we were invited to test out its four new mission-like multiplayer games. 

Combined, all four experiences reminded me of Physical: 100, Netflix’s South Korean reality competition that tests your physical fitness in a series of gruelling challenges.

But as experiencing the whole outlet would take nearly four hours, I chose to play just one game—The Greatest Lava. 

A childhood game recreated with a twist

Drawing inspiration from the childhood game, “The Floor is Lava”, The Greatest Lava requires players to skillfully navigate 500 lava tiles. There are over 50 modes available and three difficulty levels, which means you have 150 variables to try out.

Thankfully, though, it’s the shortest session compared to the other three games. Each round lasts about 15 minutes. But in my experience, it didn’t feel short at all. And it certainly defied my expectations in terms of thrill and excitement.

The gameplay is quite simple—collect points by stepping on the green tiles and avoiding the lava (the red tiles). Your mission is to collect as many points as possible. 

Each time you step on a green tile, you’ll collect five points, while a red one will deduct five points.

The floor sometimes lights up in blue too, which acts as a safe zone. By standing on a blue tile, you (or rather your points) won’t get burnt by the lava. Though you also won’t earn any points by staying there.

Keeping to the thrill of its inspiration, the lights on the floor are dynamic and will change throughout the gameplay, regardless of which of the 50 modes you choose. 

Along the walls, there are also six poles with mini platforms to hop onto if you’d rather avoid the floor entirely. Again, these won’t grant you points either.

Testing your speed and agility

In total, there were about seven of us playing.

We were briefed on the coloured tiles and what they meant before the doors closed behind us. Since the game didn’t feature any blasts of paint or powder, we didn’t have to suit up in disposable hazmat suits like the Bomb Battle experience before this.

But this doesn’t mean you should wear just anything. All the games at Bomb Battle Elite require some level of physical mobility, so I’d recommend wearing pants and shoes with good grip.

Once inside, the room was relatively dark with only the lights on the tiles and the TV screen on the wall illuminating us. On the screen was a short countdown to the start of the game. 

When the number hit zero, it was time to put our physical capabilities to the test.

In the beginning, it felt pretty easy as there were only a few tiles lit up. But I was fooled. Not a minute after I thought that, all 500 tiles glowed bright in shades of blue, green, and red. 

Everyone in my group scrambled to get away from the lava that they had stood on. Some hopped onto nearby blue and green tiles, whereas others made use of the poles by the walls.

Both were good strategies but each came with their risks. You either stay on the ground long enough that the tiles you’re on change colours, or you risk wasting time that could be used to collect points.

At times, we had to hop on the green tiles while waves upon waves of red lava rolled over. I realised just how tricky it is to time your steps right for this.

To up the challenge, there were moments where every single tile turned fully red, making no spot on the ground safe. That’s when the poles come in handy.

Each pole can supposedly hold up to three people at a time based on what the brand shared. But in my experience, this is only possible if two people are on the platforms while another person dangles on the attaching overhead beam.

This was the point that reminded me most of Physical: 100 as contestants in the show would be challenged to hang off tall beams and prove their endurance abilities.

The mini platforms are not too high off the ground, with even my shortest group member being able to reach. Just be careful when jumping down from the poles. 

A game best suited for friends and family?

Remember when I said that this 15-minute game didn’t feel short at all?

Whenever I thought the game was close to ending, the time on the screen said otherwise. My group members seemed to echo my thoughts as they loudly expressed, “When will this end?” multiple times.

Having said this, while some might pin this to the duration of the game being too long, I don’t find that to be the case. Instead, it was probably because we were a group of strangers playing together.

So I strongly believe that if you came with a small group of at least four (and maximum twelve) friends, time would fly by and you’d want to continue playing. I can see this being a good game for family outings and team building sessions too.

If you’re someone who has light sensitivity, this game might not be for you. Personally, I have astigmatism (which causes light sensitivity to varying degrees) and there were times when I found myself getting a little dizzy if I stared at the floors too long.

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Currently, Bomb Battle Elite has three other games available:

As for The Greatest Lava, it’s priced at RM40 (flat rate) per person for one session.

At the end of the game, you won’t immediately win any prizes. But Bomb Battle Elite will keep track of groups with the highest scores through its leaderboard. Those that top the list each month will receive a mystery gift.

If you’re interested to try these out for yourselves, tickets for each mission can be purchased through Klook here.

The minimum age requirement for participants is 7 years old, though Datin Sheehan, founder of Mission Group, told us that this outlet caters to all ages. “We do have kids that come in with their parents at 5 and 3 years old.”

As for the brand’s future outlook, she teased that they will be opening a new outlet in a neighbouring country. “We do have a few plans for 2024, which hopefully we will be announcing soon in a few more months.”

• Learn more about Bomb Battle Elite here.
• Read other review articles we’ve written here.
• Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post