Stardate: October 2024. Location: Vauxhall. Time: Just after lunch.

My journey to the farthest reaches of the universe begins through an ordinary door as I am led from the crowded pavements of London to a large waiting area. I look around and find myself in an area that is part spaceport, part Starfleet locker room, with clipboards held by staff and racks of uniforms hanging at the ready. Will I have to take my clothes off in front of everyone? (Thanks to everyone who participated, thankfully, no.)

Eurogamer video producer Jim Trinca stands in front of me, thumbs up and wearing his own interstellar jumpsuit (a dark blue, practical design – think Enterprise-era Trek – that goes over your civilian clothes). I was given patches showing my character’s rank (something low) and the name of the ship we were assigned to: USC Havock. Along with five other eager space cadets, Jim and I help crew our intrepid spacecraft that becomes Bridge Command.

As interactive experiences go, Parabolic Theater’s Bridge Command is one of the most fun video games I’ve ever tried. Of course, there’s a small army of real human personnel to keep everything running smoothly, and in character, play the roles of other fleet personnel (or, over video communications, passing starship captains who need our help). And yes, it’s an experience played out on a physical set—and it’s a surprisingly grand one that also includes a large bar staffed by space station engineers who moonlight as cocktail makers (I’d rather have a can of beer, I prefer that). served in a futuristic space Thermos) and a warren of spaceship rooms filled with electrical wiring, switches and fuses (ready to explode and go wrong as our bog-standard space mission quickly descends into delicious chaos).

But for most of your time in Bridge Command, you’re, perhaps unsurprisingly, on your starship’s bridge and at touch-screen computer stations. Here, each player interacts with some pretty smart software that runs the entire spaceship experience via simultaneous input from all crew members on board (and, I suspect, the experience staff are effectively acting as digital dungeon masters behind the scenes). You can volunteer for specific jobs on the ship – sailor who steers the ship, gun operators who aim and fire its various weapons, etc. – but the mechanics of these mean that everyone plays a key role at certain points.

As communications officer, it was my job to speak via video link to our superiors on base and attempt to explain our hazardous spaceship usage to the nearby ship captain, whom we were required to escort. Amazingly, I could greet and send insults to space pirates who would immediately show up to cause trouble, and receive suitably creepy messages about how we were all going to die horribly. As I sat at my console screen, shouting critical information to the captain or navigator, setting waypoints, I found the whole thing to be a fun mix of video games, social interaction, and sophisticated Microsoft Teams (which actually sounds bad – let’s call it Google Meet). kept us tracked and hacked enemy ship systems in the equivalent of a lock-picking mini-game very similar to Minesweeper.

Jim excelled at what appeared to be one of the most challenging jobs, earning himself a great reputation. As chief engineer, it was his responsibility to keep the ship’s power levels under control through his display’s own interactive options. Power the engines with every decision! Raise the shields! fire the lasers! – there was an energy cost and the need to ensure that each system did not overheat. At the same time, the ship needed to produce fresh energy and balance output needs to avoid power bottlenecks. Moreover, there were cable channels, switches and fuses that I mentioned before. These quickly began to explode, meaning Jim had to go around various rooms of the spaceship to replace them. On one hand, I was a little jealous that he could see more of the set (there were really very few interruptions to messing around with other rooms). On the other hand, while Jim had to go for a run, I sat in a nice comfortable chair and chatted with the Bridge Command players. At one point his power level reached critical level, dry ice smoke was coming out of his console, I definitely heard him swearing a bit. But hey, I felt like this had a lot of character.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the experience came when the space dust settled from our fierce battle with the pirates in the quarter and the captain of the ship we were escorting pulled up to the bridge and joined us for debriefing. This is where we’re given options for how we want the rest of our mission to play out, as there are definitely more enemies out there. Shall we try to escape now? Would it be better to go pirate hunting and attack? We decided on a third option; We would lie in wait and act as bait, sending fake video communications stating that we were trapped and damaged beyond repair. At this point the cavalry would charge and catch the pirates off guard. It felt like a clever moment designed to encourage role-playing and team-wide decision-making, and it made what happened next all the more fun to play out later as I delivered a fake distress call via video message.

The rest of the experience evolved according to our plans, giving us an ending that felt organic. Chatting again at the bar later, mission accomplished, crew fully briefed, I learned from another participant who had been to Bridge Command multiple times that each visit he went on, the story – and how it ended – was completely different.

I would definitely recommend Bridge Command to anyone who is a fan of interactive experiences, cooperative sci-fi games, or just a fun activity to do with a group of friends. There are different missions you can book, including options that focus less on combat, focusing instead on themes of exploration, diplomacy or intrigue, and I’d like to try one of these as an alternative. Combat often felt all-encompassing and hectic, though perhaps fitting for that. I’d also love to see the ship’s escape pod area, which remains locked for the duration of our session, but I understand this will only come into play if things get really bad.

The whole thing, including some chatting at the bar afterwards, took about two hours without a second’s downtime. I think I would have liked to take breaks from the experience a little more often, or spend a little more time at some point to see what everyone was doing and shuffle the ship, but I certainly can’t fault it. marking experience at any point. Well priced – tickets start from £40 on weekdays or £50 on weekends; which feels good considering the experience’s set design and software, decent-sized cast and central London location (you’re also offered a free drink, though, so don’t save the floor thermos). And any return visit benefits from being able to retrieve your flight history, ensuring your service records and accolades (Jim was denied a promotion!) are carried forward. All in all, Space Command runs a tight ship. The question is; can you do it?