If you’ve watched The Cube on telly and thought, ‘I could do that‘… well, you probably can’t.
But you can still have fun trying at this new activity bar inspired by the gameshow, which – despite a few initial hiccups with the app system guiding you from game to game – we really enjoyed, especially if you’re in the market for some team bonding/merciless ribbing of your friends and colleagues.
It’s all housed in a giant, industrial space in Canary Wharf (tucked just behind Dishoom, and conveniently near Roe and Hawksmoor for a post-game debrief). Here, 21 Cubes sit glowing ominously across three levels, alongside bars, street food stalls, and private hire areas for the 1,454,902 office Christmas parties that will inevitably take place here.
Of those 21, you’ll get to play 7 Cubes, some of which are solo games, and some of which require you to synchronise with your team-mate with the harmony of a pair of zen monks. As you go along, you’ll win points (the fewer lives you lose, the better), and one team will eventually be crowned the winner.
You’d be forgiven for thinking, as you approach each Cube, that the task inside is relatively simple. Swap all the balls in one box with the balls in another box? Easy. Toss foam bricks to your team mate in under ten seconds? No problem. Balance a ball on a tray in each hand? Piece of piss, mate. Well, just know that this is nothing but pure hubris on your part. Trash talk your opposing team at your peril. Because once you’re in there, under the glare of the spotlight and surrounded by your friends, colleagues, and indeed several nosy strangers looking in through The Cube’s glass walls, the pressure can get to you laughably quickly, and you will crumble, at least once.
The joy of the whole experience is that it’s so varied – if you have the hand-eye coordination of a three year old but a razor-sharp memory, there’s guaranteed to be at least one challenge you can nail. And as the session progresses, the stakes get higher – you’ll be battling for more points each time, closing the gaps between teams and building up to some genuinely nail-biting finales.
Once you’ve crowned a victor and wrung out the sweat from your clothes, you can celebrate/commiserate as appropriate in the main bar area downstairs. There’s a couple of kitchens down here slinging burgers, pizza, and smaller bites like slow-cooked ribs, bang bang cauliflower, and buttermilk fried chicken. And the bar’s well stocked, too, with a lengthy list of cocktails accompanying the usual wine and beer. Take the Caribbean Daiquiri, whose spiced rum blend is topped with coconut foam, or the Smoking Aces, which pours bourbon, chocolate & maple…
…over plenty of cubes.
NOTE: The Cube is open now. Tickets cost £57.50pp, and you’ll need to book in as two teams of two. You can find out more, and make a booking, on The Cube’s website.
The Cube | 14 Charter Street, London E14 5GZ
Feeling competitive? Bet you haven’t done all of these activity bars.