/THE BEST OF MANCHESTER
Total Recoil Shooting Range The latest opening in Manchester’s quirky nightlife scene is Total Recoil, a shooting simulation at the BEYOND complex, which also includes the Chill Factore indoor ski slope. You are given a choice of different ‘weapons’ and are faced with a large virtual reality screen. Sometimes that screen will place you on a simple shooting range, sometimes it’ll have you roaming around abandoned buildings. One thing’s for certain - a steady hand and strong nerve are essential. Total Recoil also has a full cocktail bar on site, so if you are drinking, you can do it in style.
Unit 15, Beyond / totalrecoilshooting. co.uk / From £20 per range (four people max) Treetop Adventure Golf Relatively new to The Printworks is Treetop Adventure Golf, a pair of long winding mini golf courses peppered with jungle-inspired props and sculptures - some of which interact with players. The two 18-hole courses are Ancient Explorer and Tropical Trail, and you’ll find running waterfalls and streams, a giant fig tree, singing frogs, and a mountain zone with a view across the whole course. A bonus hole at the end of the courses will give you the chance to win a free extra round if you can land a hole-in-one. There’s a full Brazilian-inspired menu of cocktails and food, with a coffee shop on site as well as a street food restaurant and bar.
The Printworks, Dantzic Street / adventuregolf.com/manchester / From £9.50 per adult Whistle Punks Urban Axe Throwing Take a group of highly competitive friends and let them loose with axes. What could possibly go wrong? Essentially darts on steroids, Whistle Punks Urban Axe Throwing lets you have a go at hurling real metal hatchets at wooden targets, because why not? The action takes place in four lanes caged off with chain-link fencing, with two targets at the end of each. A bullseye bags you five points, while the inner and outer circles are worth three and one - and for the super skilled (or plain fluky) throwers, there are two corner points worth seven apiece. Players are given a full safety briefing and throwing lesson before being unleashed on the lanes in pairs.
Great Northern Warehouse / whistlepunks.com / From £20 to £25 per person Junkyard Golf Club The craziest of crazy golf courses has become a wildly popular night out and has now moved to a new, bigger home at First Street. Built from all manner of recycled rubbish and secondhand junk, there are three courses to choose from - Bozo, Pablo or Gary with obstacles including UV slides, a hip hop farm and a tree house bar to navigate. There’s a bar and fairgroundstyle food to keep you fuelled up as you go round - think hotdogs, cheesy nachos, popcorn and pic’n’mix.
First Street / junkyardgolfclub.co.uk / From £7 Base MCR Manchester’s first baseball bar has three batting cages where you can practise your swing over a few beers. Players are talked through the technique by a coach before being let loose with a bat to take turns hitting rounds of 20 balls. The venue also has a separate bar area which welcomes guests with or without batting cage bookings.
5 Millow Street / basemcr.co.uk / Free entry, games from £25 for groups of up to five people per half hour Bongo’s Bingo The sozzled, madcap take on your nan’s favourite game has taken Manchester by storm, selling out Albert Hall nearly every week. Men dressed up as old women, loud music, mid-90s RnB, Frozen singalongs, people throwing Coco Pops at each other - really, anything goes at Bongo’s Bingo. If you do manage to stay focused on your bingo card long enough to mark off a full house, there are ‘biggish cash prizes and crap prizes’ to be won.
Albert Hall / bongosbingo.co.uk / Every Tuesday from 6pm / £7 The Crystal Maze Live Experience Based in Manchester’s Old Granada Studios, this interactive experience recreates the original Channel 4 game show for YOU to play. Teams get a video briefing from legendary host Richard O’Brien before a team of actors lead participants around the labyrinth of games and puzzles in the Aztec; futuristic; medieval and industrial zones. Just like on the hit 90s show, contestants have to complete the tasks successfully to win a crystal and earn that all-important time inside the Crystal Dome at the end.
Old Granada Studios / the-crystalmaze.com / From £30 Roxy Ball Room Manchester’s huge new games bar Roxy Ball Room includes a UV ping pong room where you play in the dark. It’s also got regular table tennis, a number of full-size pool tables and beer pong to play. The bar serves range of craft beers and themed cocktails, along with pizzas, burgers and sharing platters of snacks. 76-78 Deansgate / roxyballroom.co.uk / Free entry, games from £4.50 per half hour Twenty Twenty TwoManchester’s original ping pong bar offers free games every Monday, and on Thursdays you can take on the bartenders for a chance to double your round. The basement arts venue also hosts regular club nights and events.
Little Lever Street / twentytwentytwo.co.uk / Free entry, ping pong £5 per 30 minutes The Green sports bar The green has six indoor golf simulators where you can play rounds on some of the world’s most famous courses on giant screens. The booths can also be used for video game tournaments or karaoke if you like to belt out a tune after a day on the green so all bases are covered.
Ducie Street / thegreen manchester.com / Booths from £20 per hour