Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe.
With London Experience Week having wrapped for another year, we move into May, another jam-packed month for extraordinary experiences around the world. Competitive socialising is in the spotlight this month as Gameshow Live! prepares to make its debut in central London, where as many as 200 players will try to outwit each other in fast-paced challenges.
A little smaller in scale, at The Cube in Canary Wharf teams of four compete in seven games from the hit TV show inside one of 21 glass cubes that test their physical and mental agility. If you prefer your games with more of a vintage feel then head to Mr. Fogg’s Game Parlour near Liverpool Street for parlour quoits, bagatelle and mini golf with a Victorian twist.
We’re cursed with living in interesting times, and if Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror is anything to go by, the future feels even more terrifying. Fans of his dystopian TV show can live the Black Mirror experience IRL in Montreal in an hour-long adventure involving an AI companion that goes rogue. At the New Museum in New York, its latest show explores how advances in tech are reshaping what it means to be human, and what our AI-driven future might look like.
Immersive storyworlds also abound this month. In Kyoto you can step back in time to the Edo period at Uzumasa Kyoto Village, where dressing up as a samurai and taking part in an ancient tea ceremony is encouraged. Over in the US, The Wedding Party in Boston puts you at the centre of a wedding reception gone wrong, while over in Chicago all is not as it seems at The Hand & The Eye, a sprawling magic Mecca where you should expect the unexpected…
19. Radiohead Motion Picture House
Opens: 6-31 May 2026
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Hot on the heels of its launch at Coachella, ‘90s favourite Radiohead is taking its Motion Picture House concept on tour, beginning with a 26-day run in Brooklyn. The large-scale audiovisual installation and art gallery was purpose built by the band to showcase KID A MNESIA, a 75-minute film featuring the artwork Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood created during the recording of landmark Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac, set to a soundtrack that includes a new mix drawn from the Kid A and Amnesiac multitracks rendered in 6-point surround sound and designed specifically to work with the architecture of the theatre.
Gorgeous, visceral and slightly anxiety-inducing, KID A MNESIA features a narrative in which a monster is trapped in a derelict museum of the lost and forgotten, so enter at your own peril… Motion Picture House is also home to galleries featuring full-scale artwork by Yorke and Donwood from that era. Each two-hour visit includes a screening of the 75-minute film, with additional time allotted for people to explore the galleries at their own pace. After its May run at the Agger Fish Building in Brooklyn, Motion Picture House will move to Cinespace Studio in Chicago in August, then on to La Maravilla Studios in Mexico City in October.
18. Gameshow Live!
Opens soon
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Competitive Socialising
Competitive socialising is about to be cranked up a notch with the imminent launch of Gameshow Live! in central London. Created by Josh Ford (of Swingers crazy golf fame) and Tristan Hoffman, former chief operating officer at Outernet Venues, Gameshow Live! will take the quiz show concept to new heights, pitting up to 200 players against each other at a time. Billed as ‘the world’s first live, interactive game show experience’, players will feel like they’ve stepped onto a TV set during the 90-minute session guided by a professional host.
Sleek production, dramatic lighting, a stage, and a giant spinning wheel ramp up the feeling of being on the small screen. Groups sit at tables with giant red buzzers and compete in fast-paced challenges including trivia, music, picture rounds, and speed tests. There are chances to go on stage, and cocktails and nibbles can be ordered directly to your table so you don’t miss a minute of the action. In true game show style, among the prizes up for grabs are fondue sets, giant teddy bears, smart TVs, air fryers, and robot vacuums.
17. Hendrick’s Anotherland
Open: Now until 31 May 2026
Location: Milan, Miami, Chicago, LA
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
With its quirky addition of cucumber as a botanical, Hendrick’s Gin has never been afraid to go against the grain and celebrate its idiosyncrasies. To mark the first new expression in its portfolio in nearly a decade – Another Hendrick’s – which features orange blossom and cacao beans among its botanicals, fans can step inside Hendrick’s Anotherland, an immersive environment that brings the gin to life. The activation kicked off in New York with a participatory theatre experience developed by Dr. Ilana Gilovich of Sleep No More, which took guests on a journey through old apothecaries and botanical-inspired environments.
Featuring gin tastings, mischievous performances, and atmospheric rooms, the experience invites guests to discover what happens when the familiar takes an unexpected turn. Inside you’re free to roam, linger, and follow your curiosity, with each choice opening the door to another perspective and possibility. The experience is limited to 25 people per performance to make it feel personal, surprising and unrepeatable. In addition to New York it’s been rolled out to Chicago and Miami in the US, and Milan in Italy, where it will run from 19-21 May.
16. Minecraft Villager Rescue
Open: Now until 13 September 2026
Location: Singapore
Experience Sector: Gaming
Singapore-based Minecraft fans are in for a treat, as a new immersive experience based on the game has landed at Green Canvas within Mandai Wildlife Reserve, marking its debut in Asia. Created by Montreal-based multimedia studio Supply + Demand in partnership with Experience MOD and Mojang Studios, interactive experience Minecraft Villager Rescue invites players to journey through eight themed rooms, transforming the video game into a real-life quest. Inspired by Minecraft, which has sold over 300 million copies, the hour-long story-driven adventure sees players working together to save a village from a zombie siege.
Following on from successful activations in Dallas, London, and Toronto, standout players can win a coveted in-game cape as a reward for completing the quest. Combining immersive large-scale projections, theatrical sets, motion-tracking gameplay, and storytelling, gamers enter the Minecraft Forest, explore recognisable biomes, gather resources, and interact with iconic Minecraft mobs. Each player receives a unique ‘Orb of Interaction’ to influence their environment and affect the outcome of their adventure. Afterwards you can celebrate your win over the zombies at the Trading Post bar and shop for Minecraft-branded merch.
15. Mr Fogg’s Game Parlour
Open now
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Competitive Socialising
If you like your competitive socialising with a Victorian twist then be sure to swing by Mr Fogg’s Game Parlour in London’s Broadgate Circle. Housed in the basement of the 5,000sq.ft Mr Fogg’s City Tavern near Liverpool Street, venture down the stairs and you’ll find familiar favourites – from darts to shuffleboard – have been reimagined through a Victorian lens. All the action at the multi-game experience happens inside the venue’s booths, which can accommodate up to eight players and offer six different games during the 80-minute session.
Expect Victorian versions of mini-golf, beer pong, shuffle puck, bagatelle and parlour quoits – an indoor ring-toss game that gained popularity during the Victorian era. If you work up a thirst during your gaming session it can be quenched at the bar, which serves classic cocktails and bar snacks in addition to pints. Mr Fogg’s founders, Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling, were so serious about delivering an authentic Victorian gaming experience they spent two years road testing it. Unashamedly analogue, scores are kept on an old-fashioned chalkboard.
14. The Engine
Open now
Location: New York. US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
New York’s Mercer Labs has launched a new installation that plays with your sense of space. Created by artist Roy Nachum (the guy behind Rihanna’s Anti cover) using mirrored architecture, large-scale screens, and responsive technologies, The Engine room’s first installation – Field of Light – functions as a portal where light, sound, and sensory elements continuously transform, reshaping the room in myriad ways. Forming part of the museum’s ongoing Maestros and the Machines activation, the room, which is infused with a bespoke scent designed to evoke rain water and rose petals, responds to human movement, shifting its composition, meaning the space is never experienced the same way twice.
Visitors enter an expansive space where constellations of particles travel through the air and light falls, gathers, and dissolves in continuous cycles, producing an atmosphere that feels suspended between stillness and movement, and a feeling of travelling through space and time. Mirrored surfaces multiply fragments of light and reflection, dissolving the boundaries of the room and extending the environment into what feels like an infinite field. It’s a place where perception slows and the environment seems to breathe. The Engine room will transform itself through future installations and collaborations, allowing visitors to experience entirely new worlds through shifts in image, sound, and sensory experience.
13. Legends: The Home Of Football
Open now
Location: Madrid, Spain
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions
Home to one of the best football teams on the planet, Madrid has opened a four-storey museum dedicated to the sport – a shrine of sorts, celebrating the biggest moments in the history of the game – in the city’s Puerta de Sol district. Called Legends: The Home of Football, the museum’s collection features iconic jerseys worn by Pelé in 1970 and Maradona in 1986, alongside trophies, cleats, medals, and other historical treasures. Home to 4,000 original artifacts spanning over a century of soccer history, including a Uruguay jersey from 1916 worn in the first Copa América ever held, the museum boasts several rooms offering immersive experiences dedicated to some of the sport’s most memorable moments.
In one, Andrés Iniesta’s goal in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa is re-enacted through a documentary that revisits the moment. Another installation traces the history of football through major international tournaments with a 3D projection that makes the viewer feel as if they’re are inside a packed stadium via vibrating seats, sound effects and a special effects machine that whips up wind and splashes you with water. Inside you can also explore virtual renderings of some of the world’s most iconic stadiums, play FIFA on a PlayStation, pose with David Beckham’s Real Madrid jersey, and take photos with replicas of major football trophies.
12. The Cube
Open now
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Competitive Socialising
If Mr. Fogg’s Victorian games parlour in London’s Liverpool Street has got you in the mood for more competitive socialising, then you can get your fix at The Cube in Canary Wharf. Based on the hit TV show, the space sees groups of four face seven games featured on the show, which get progressively harder as they go, testing players’ physical and mental agility. Designed by architects Baranowitz + Kronenberg, the environment allows for fluid transitions between player and spectator, blurring the boundaries between gameplay and leisure.
The 27,000-square-foot venue is conceived as a single, continuous interior landscape that blends the analogue with the digital. Concrete, steel, and Douglas fir plywood nod to the area’s industrial history, while LCD floors and walls put it firmly in the present. At its heart are 21 glass cubes that test different skills, such as balance, memory and speed. Just seven of the cubes are allotted to each booking, ensuring a high number of repeat visits. On the food front expect burgers from Amsterdam’s The Butcher and 20 inch pizza pies from Toni Loco Pizzeria. Live DJ sets and classic cocktails are also on the menu.
11. The Wedding Party
Open now until 14 June 2026
Location: Boston, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
From The Perfect Couple to Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, narratives about weddings that don’t go to plan are in vogue right now, so it comes as no surprise that the concept has been given the immersive treatment. Following sold-out runs in Toronto and Vancouver, The Wedding Party has descended on the W Hotel in Boston. Blending live theatre, interactive storytelling, and puzzle-solving, the experience is based on ‘Night at the Wedding’ developed by Canadian Caper in partnership with Greendoor Labs. Up to 78 guests unite for the wedding of Norah and Jack, but something isn’t right.
Invited by the bride as a wedding guest, attendees mix and mingle at a reception full of secrets lurking beneath the surface. As the evening unfolds, you’ll get to interact with a cast of live performers, including the bride, groom, and wedding party, uncover hidden clues, and work with your table mates to solve a mystery before it’s too late. Wedding attire is encouraged and the evening includes a three-course meal with wine pairings. During the experience your game play and detective skills influences how the story plays out. Best of all, you’ll get a special room rate at the hotel if you tell them you’re part of the wedding party
10. Black Gold Museum
Open now
Location: Riyadh, UAE
Experience Sector: Museums
It’s no secret that Saudi Arabia is an exceptionally rich source of oil. The world’s leading exporter of petroleum, it produces around 10 million barrels of crude oil per day and holds the second-largest crude oil reserves globally. Those keen to learn more about its oil-rich legacy should head to the newly opened Black Gold Museum in Riyadh, which explores the history and influence of oil through modern and contemporary art. A first of its kind, the venue, housed at the Zaha Hadid-designed King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, looks at the transformation of oil and its impact on global development and societies.
Choosing to examine oil through an artistic lens, the museum features a permanent collection of more than 350 artworks from over 30 countries, created by 170 leading Saudi and international artists. It also features four interactive sections: Encounter, Dreams, Doubts and Visions. Encounter showcases the global story of oil’s discovery and its early uses in the 19th century, while Dreams investigates how oil became a vital resource and drives global development. Doubts, meanwhile, is an important reflection on oil’s impact and the world’s reliance on it, while Visions muses on the future of oil through dialogue and discovery.
9. Space Station Earth
Opens: 28 May 2026
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Experience Sector: Concerts, Live Events
If the recent Artemis II lunar flyby mission lit a fire in you then this classical concert with a cosmological twist is for you. Composed by Ilan Eshkeri, Space Station Earth is a powerful piece of music performed by an orchestra, choir and synth pop band presented alongside high-definition film footage captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The profoundly moving live performance allows concertgoers to experience planet Earth and the vastness of space through sweeping visuals across three large-scale screens, paired with emotionally charged music that moves from intimate moments to awe-inspiring grandeur.
With no dialogue, the concert allows the music and imagery to speak for themselves, creating an atmospheric journey through Earth, the stars, and humanity’s exploration of the universe. Combining cinematic scale with the intensity of a live concert hall performance, Space Station Earth is a rare opportunity to witness epic space footage woven into a rich musical score. It’s perfect for those keen to experience The Overview Effect: the profound awe astronauts feel when viewing the Earth from orbit. You’ll leave the concert hall filled with wonder and armed with a new perspective about the fragility and unity of our planet, and your place within it.
8. New Humans: Memories Of The Future
Open now
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
New York’s New Museum in Bowery has unveiled its long-awaited new building; a 60,000-square-foot expansion designed by OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas boasting a 74-seat forum for talks and screenings. Marking the opening is the launch of a new exhibition called ‘New Humans: Memories of the Future’, which features works by more than 200 artists, writers, scientists and filmmakers exploring how technology and social change keep reshaping what it means to be human, shining a light on artists’ evolving visions of the future.
Boasting works by Salvador Dalí, Hannah Höch and H.R. Giger, alongside contemporary artists such as Hito Steyerl, Wangechi Mutu and Anicka Yi, the exhibition ponders the myriad shapes that humanity might take on in the future, from robots and cyborgs to alien lifeforms. The show moves beyond the field of art by bringing together architects, sci-fi filmmakers, and writers who imagine physical, virtual, and even post-human worlds. In an age when technological advancements and their unexpected consequences are accelerating at alarming rates, New Humans hints at what we may become if technology is given free rein.
7. Dolby House
Open now
Location: Shanghai, China
Experience Sector: Immersive Audio
Immersive entertainment juggernaut Dolby Laboratories has opened Dolby House Shanghai, its first global flagship experience centre and a new platform to showcase Dolby’s prowess across entertainment, tech and culture. Located in the historic Zhang Yuan neighbourhood, the purpose-built space is designed to bring Dolby’s cutting-edge imaging and audio tech to life by delivering next-gen immersive experiences across entertainment, electronics and automotives. The space has already hosted an immersive pop-up concert, album launch pop-up, and a racing-themed collaboration with Mercedes tied to the F1 movie.
Spanning two floors and 11 experiential zones, Dolby House Shanghai boasts a series of curated environments, from immersive listening rooms and a main experience hall to interactive demos. Each experience is designed to showcase how Dolby technologies transform the way content is created, delivered and experienced. The space launched with an immersive music experience celebrating singer Charlie Puth’s Whatever’s Clever in Dolby Atmos, inviting fans to step inside the creative world behind the album, with dedicated spaces to explore its music, visuals, and storytelling through Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
6. Stories Brought To Life
Open now until 12 September 2026
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Two of London’s leading art institutions – the National Portrait Gallery and Frameless – have joined forces on a bold new exhibition that shines a light on five iconic global figures. Hosted inside Frameless’ blank canvas gallery, Stories Brought to Life transforms portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, William Shakespeare, Amy Winehouse and Malala Yousafzai into a multi-sensory journey through animation, storytelling and immersive visuals. The experience is included with a standard entry ticket to Frameless, making it widely accessible.
Lasting 15 minutes, the experience reimagines traditional portraiture using cutting-edge digital techniques, inviting visitors to learn about the stories behind some of the world’s most influential figures. Each portrait goes beyond the surface, offering a deeper look at the lives and legacies behind the faces we think we know, offering a fresh perspective on portraiture. By using immersive tech, Stories Brought to Life aims to create a more personal connection between visitors and the artworks, redefining how audiences engage with art.
5. The Hand & The Eye
Open now
Location: Chicago, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Chicago has a shiny new immersive entertainment Mecca that we’re excited about. Called The Hand & The Eye, it’s an adults-only magic theatre housed inside the recently renovated, 36,000-square-foot McCormick Mansion. Spread across five floors are 37 immersive spaces, including theatres, bars, lounges, dining rooms, and an atelier. The five levels of the mansion have been dubbed: The First Portal, Mezzanine, The Hourglass Floor, The Conservatory and The Underground. Each room has its own character and mood, and there are various ways to navigate through them. With magic delivered by Jeff Kaylor, Michael Ammar (aka The Professor) and Nicholas Locapo, the space is for over 21s and has a dress code.
Among the rooms are the Coliseum, a 30-seater golden theatre, and the Red Herring, a 10-seater bar. With locally owned Levy Restaurants running the food element, the brains behind the venture are entrepreneur Glen Tullman and architect David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, who boldly claim it to be “the most unique magic experience in the world”. Tickets for the three-hour experience start at US$225, and include a $75 dining credit. There’s also the option to become a member of the club, which boasts a members’-only restaurant. On the food front expect classics like chicken Vesuvio, prime beef carpaccio, and baked Alaska.
4. Uzumasa Kyoto Village
Open now
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions
If you’ve ever wondered what it was like living during the Edo period in Japan then this new immersive experience in Kyoto will take you there. Called Uzumasa Kyoto Village, the themed land for adults has just opened at what used to be Toei Kyoto Studio Park. Inside it you’ll find Cho-Han, an Edo-period gambling house experience, and for more intrepid visitors there’s a ‘torture house’ that offers an interrogation simulation minus the physical violence. The park boasts various restaurants where visitors can feast on classic Kyoto cuisine, alongside cultural experiences in an Edo-era townscape, including ikebana flower arranging and theatrical plays.
There’s also a tea ceremony experience where you can make your own matcha and gorge on traditional sweets while watching a tea master in action. Uzumasa’s signature live show -Bridal Procession: A Feast of Cherry Blossoms – brings to life a full day in Edo-period Kyoto and sees the entire village become a live stage, where the drama unfolds around guests who become part of the story. Along the way you’ll meet the odd ninja and samurai who will reveal the tricks of their trade. If you really want to get into character you can don a kimono, get dolled up as a geisha, or put on a Shinsengumi warrior costume to turn back the clock.
3. The Black Mirror Experience
Opens: 21 May 2026
Location: Montreal, Canada
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
It was only a matter of time before Charlie Brooker’s devilishly dark TV show Black Mirror was given the immersive treatment. Making its debut at Infinity Experiences Inc in Montreal, the experience, masterminded by UNIVRSE and Banijay Live, allows fans to enter the dystopian world of Black Mirror and live inside it for an hour. Taking storyliving to new heights, the interactive journey takes you to Phaethon laboratories where you’ll meet the LifeAgent, an advanced AI companion designed to make your life easier. Programmed to think like you, anticipate your needs, and cater to your every whim, everything runs smoothly until it doesn’t…
To configure your LifeAgent, your group will undertake a series of challenges at the lab where you need to stay vigilant, because everything isn’t what it seems and things don’t go as planned. Eventually the truth emerges and with it, a question: where do your choices end and those of LifeAgent begin? While inspired by the show this is a brand new story with similarly thought-provoking content, which blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction, putting players in the driving seat and giving them main character energy. Don’t miss the Phaethon boutique, where you can stock up on Black Mirror merch before you leave.
2. David Bowie: You’re Not Alone
Open now until 10 October 2026
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
David Bowie has never been out of fashion, but the singer is having a real moment in London right now. Fans can admire his Ziggy Stardust costumes at the V&A East, and his childhood home in Bromley will be open to the public next year. In the meantime, immersive space Lightroom in King’s Cross has launched a Bowie-themed experience called David Bowie: You’re Not Alone, that explores the singer’s many faces and eras through iconic performances, rarely-seen interviews and never-before-exhibited material, allowing you to take a deep dive into the creative mind of one of the world’s most visionary artists.
Bowie himself does all the narration in this revealing self-portrait of the artist as a young man. Directed by Mark Grimmer, You’re Not Alone uses the Lightroom’s world-class digital projectors and sound system to great effect, giving you a front row seat to the Bowie gig of a lifetime. The show begins with the singer playing Rebel, Rebel on his final tour before segueing back through 30 years of performing the song. A 1973 live performance of Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide will give any Bowie fan chills, as will his look down the barrel of the camera during a Top of the Pops performance of Starman. The live clips are interspersed with his musings on the creative process and the art of song-writing, which help to build anticipation.
1. Hospital Of Emotions
Opens: 27 May until 31 July 2026
Location: Los Angeles, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
We’ve had the Hospital of Emotions on our radar for some time, which will finally open its doors on 27 May. Masterminded by House of Art and Dreams, along with ROYVA, the pop-up exhibition within the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus in Los Angeles will turn a real hospital into a living museum. Inside it 70 contemporary artists have designed their own assigned rooms within the hospital based on one of eight emotions: joy, love, fear, anger, hope, sadness, gratitude and resilience. Spread over four floors, the artists have taken over all areas of the hospital, including the operating rooms, patient rooms, ER spaces, nurses’ stations and corridors, turning them into unique emotional environments.
The chosen 70 work across visual art, installation, architecture, illustration, street art, and set design. Exploring the full spectrum of human emotion, among the artists to have designed rooms are: Mônica Lóss, David Otis Johnson, Anna Matsumoto, Bhumikorn Kongtaveelert, Javiera Estrada, Heather Bellino, Evan Wood and David A Knudsen, whose resilience-themed Prepper’s Paradise room features a blacklight environment filled with hand-painted pieces that tells the story of someone who’s been preparing for anything and everything. Using the building as their canvas, the artists have transformed every part of the space, from the walls and ceilings to the floors and furniture, creating fully immersive environments. The goal of the pop-up is to make contemporary art more accessible to the public.
