The 7 best team activity venues in Shoreditch

Release your inner child and launch yourself into a giant ball pit.

How giant you ask? Well, this one has over a million balls.

Just a short walk from Old Street station, Ballie Ballerson promises a night of hilarity. With karaoke, arcade games and multiple ball pits, this venue ensures entertainment and has a pretty impressive repertoire of previous customers to prove it.

Capacity is 600 with an exclusive private VIP area up for grabs for 50. Revolving DJs, bartenders with flair and cocktails galore accompany face painting and magicians, proving we are all young on the inside. With homemade pizzas and a late liquor licence this spot brings the party. And there is a photo booth to cement the moment forever.

Enquire now and take your team back to playground paradise.

Not content with the standard roster of darts, axes and ball pits, the good folks at Alcotraz decided to throw the industrial prison complex into the mix.

This truly one-of-a-kind team-building spot off Shoreditch's famous Columbia Road welcomes you to don an orange jumpsuit and be verbally abused by a professional team of penitentiary actors. It's the perfect place for anyone who watched Shoreshank Redemption and thought "yeah, go on then.".

In terms of drinks, the offering is also unique, You can actually 'smuggle' your own booze into the venue, with the trained staff mixing you up a bespoke cocktail with your ingredients. It's a good twist and means you'll be able to keep costs low. If you're feeling particularly American and want your own private prison experience, Alcatroz offer private hire for up to 180m guests, it's probably best to choose your more powerless friends, just in case things get... competitive.

What could be more conducive to team chemistry than a profanity-strewn race along that infamous childhood ender, Rainbow Road? Combining the beautiful arts of drinking and video games, Platform is a really good example of an activity bar that works.

If, understandably, you’re reluctant to share your gaming space with the public, you can in fact hire out the entire activity bar. You and 100 of your friends or colleagues can do irreparable damage to your relationship over Fifa, UFC, Mortal Kombat and many many more. Weekday rates start at £1,200 for the afternoon, and, having had our work party there, we can say it’s worth it.

Forget what you know about bingo; forget the beige halls, sea of pensioners and questionable carpets. Hijingo has brought your Grandmother’s favourite game into the 21st century. It’s a multisensory attack on restraint, with neon lights, live entertainment and a prize cache as impressive as it is absurd.

Hijingo can house up to 185 seated guests in the Hijingo room, with plenty more space for standing. While the Lucky Cat reception bar serves as an additional room for welcome drinks or breakouts.

Table tennis, ping pong, whiff-whaff, whatever you call it involves a table, a paddle and a small ball, and Bounce have mastered it. Located on Old Street (between Sainsbury’s and Shoreditch Fire Station) Bounce is an activity bar within easy reach of the two major Shoreditch stations.

The bar serves up an impressive array of cocktails, beers and spirits (the Rum & Bass is particularly good), while the food options lean heavily towards pizza and shareable bar snacks. Aside from ping pong, the activity bar also has various private hire options, all supported by AV tech, wireless presentation capabilities and a variety of setups.

One of the few sports (yes, sports) where it remains acceptable to sip a pint as you play, darts was always bound to perfectly suit the activity bar model. Held up in a building that sits on the intersection of Worship Street and City Road, Flight Club is within 10 minutes of Liverpool Street and brings darts to a whole new level.

The venue is spread over two floors giving you plenty of space and features two award-winning bars. The highlight of the venue, of course, is the twelve oches with innovative game-playing technology that brings entertainment to your event. For private hire, up to 390 people can occupy Flight Club Shoreditch, with booths and the basement catering to smaller groups.

No, it’s not a venue dedicated to foot-based violence; Bar Kick brings the 120-year-old pastime of fooseball to the industrial sprawl of Shoreditch. Occupying a terrace opposite the imposing Shoreditch Church, Bar Kick is a super fun activity bar set across the multi-floor Commercial Ironworks building.

The Basement, Game Space and Locker room are all spaces that can be hired out (fitting in 150, 20 and 20 players, respectively). Alongside the aforementioned football tables, there are TVs showing the real thing, and a wide selection of drinks to be enjoyed. Just remember, spinning is not part of the rules.