Japan: Joypolis

In Joypolis, I experienced an extraordinarily new type of amusement park. This indoor amusement park had two roller coaster type rides. One of the rides was a half-pipe skateboarding ride. There were two people per ride and a total of 8 people of the ride. It was 2 people per skateboard and the ride was interactive. Each of the four pairs were playing against each other. Every person was supposed to lean forward and backward in sync with their partner. to gain points and spin even faster. This game encouraged teamwork and coordination. Without working with your partner, there would be no way to win the game.

The indoor roller coaster had a cool “Dance Dance Revolution” theme to it. Rather than stepping on certain pads, you would hit them with your hands on beat. Then it brought the players to a point where it was just a roller coaster and at the end, it showed who the winner was. The idea of combining the game aspect with the idea of a roller coaster was extremely ingenious. Personally, I am not a fan of roller coasters but I definitely enjoyed my visit to Joypolis and appreciated their rides.

The other rides were more like virtual reality games but with better motion. There was also a Sonic game that encouraged being active. It had track events including 100m dash, 100m hurdles, and long jump. The game offered 8 players that filled up each lane as if it were a real track. I thought this group game was a great way to encourage engaging in active sports rather than just sitting in front of a TV.