For ages 12 to 17, and it never rains inside
Interactive game park · Beverwijk
A kids' party
at 12 or 13
from Alkmaar, and entirely indoors
Game rooms where you run, aim and climb while a band on your wrist counts the points. Half an hour south of Alkmaar, with a direct train to the door.
- ± 30 min drive from Alkmaar
- Direct train every half hour, then an 8-minute walk
- 9 game rooms, all of them indoors
You search for a kids' party and you mean something else
Almost everyone who lands here typed in kids' party 12 years or kids' party 13 years. Not because it's still a kids' party, but because there's no better word for it. We call it a teen party: a birthday for someone who is too old for face paint.
PlayKinetix is on the Handelskade in Beverwijk. From Alkmaar that's about half an hour's drive. Not an around-the-corner distance, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. Further down you'll find exactly how to get here.
What you get in return is an afternoon or an evening that takes place entirely indoors. For a birthday in November, that takes the whole weather question off the table.
Turning twelve isn't just a bigger kids' party
Somewhere in the final year of primary school it tips over. The list of outings that worked for years is rejected in one go, and the birthday kid has an opinion of their own. More than that: at this age the birthday kid decides. You get to do the searching; they say yes or no.
What does work is usually the same for a group of girls as for a group of boys. With the girls it's louder and there's more filming; with the boys it takes longer before anyone admits they lost. Either way, the phone disappears into a bag within five minutes.
Isn't the birthday child twelve yet? Then have a look at the kids' party from Alkmaar. Same rooms, different set-up.
What they actually do here
It isn't an escape room and it isn't laser tag. This is what happens in the rooms.
Playing with your legs
The floor reacts to your feet, the walls are covered in buttons that light up. No controller, no screen. They're worn out afterwards, and that's the idea.
The score counts itself
Everyone gets a wristband that keeps track of the points. No arguing afterwards about who won — it's simply there on the screen.
Every room a different game
Across 9 game rooms there's climbing, aiming, running and puzzling things out together. LAVA ARENA plays nothing like APEX CLIMB, and STRIKE ZONE is different again from FREEZE GAME.
Also for the ones who hang back
There's always someone who stays on the sidelines. In some of the rooms that doesn't work: the challenge only comes off if the whole team joins in.
From Alkmaar to the Handelskade
By car. From the centre take the Bergerweg onto the A9, then head south past Heiloo, Akersloot and Uitgeest. One thing to remember: at the Beverwijk interchange, don't carry straight on into the Wijkertunnel — keep right onto the A22 and take exit 1 straight away. We're on the De Pijp business park, just behind the station. Parking is free and right outside the door, so unloading eight teenagers involves no hunting around.
By train. Alkmaar is on the same line as Beverwijk, so there's a direct train every half hour, with no changes. From the station it's an eight-minute walk.
That difference counts for more than you'd think, because twelve and fourteen are not the same age. A group of twelve-year-olds you drive over in two cars and collect again yourself. Fourteen-year-olds you put on the train in Alkmaar and see again at the door. Do agree which train they're coming back on, though — half an hour of travelling is not the same as a quick bike ride.
Address for the sat nav: Handelskade 2, 1948 NA Beverwijk.
What it costs
Two versions, both priced per player.
Teen Party Battle Standard
- Two rounds of play in the game rooms
- A break between the rounds
- A wristband that keeps track of the points
Teen Party Battle Extended
- Everything in the Standard
- Ask us exactly what gets added
You can hold a date with no obligation before you book for real.
From Alkmaar, Friday evening is the smartest slot
In Alkmaar, Friday morning belongs to the cheese market. Friday evening can belong to the teenagers: it's the one weekday evening when play here runs late, because on Friday you can still start until 22:00. Saturday too, but the daytime is busier then.
The rest of the week: Wednesday and Thursday open at 12:00, with starts until 18:00. Saturday and Sunday open at 10:30, and on Sunday the latest start is 18:00. We're closed on Monday and Tuesday — worth checking before you settle on a date.
One more local detail: if the birthday falls around 8 October you're in the middle of Alkmaars Ontzet, the city's liberation festival, and half the town has other plans.
Questions we get from Alkmaar
Can they come by train on their own?
From Alkmaar, yes: a direct train to Beverwijk every half hour, then an eight-minute walk. With fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds that works fine. If you book a Friday evening, do look up the last train beforehand.
My son thinks he's too old for this sort of thing. Is he right?
That's the objection we hear most, and it's fair enough: most indoor venues in the region aim at ages 3 to 12. There's no ball pit here and no face paint, but there is a result. In practice this works up to about sixteen.
Isn't it boring after half an hour?
That's why it's two rounds with a break in between, and 9 different rooms instead of one hall. Look through the game rooms with the birthday kid — that convinces better than any explanation.
There are eight of us. What if it turns into twenty?
Both work. The park holds 70 people at once, so twenty players is no problem; with a small group it all gets rather more direct. Don't know the number yet? Ask us via contact.
Other towns nearby
Is your group coming from somewhere else? The route and the journey time are set out separately for each town.
Fix the date, decide the rest later
Hold a date with no obligation. Who's actually coming can follow afterwards.