Bars
The 7 Best Activity Bars in London
Seven London bars built around a game first, a drink second, covering darts, mini golf, ping pong, shuffleboard, axe throwing and retro arcades.
In short: our top picks are Flight Club Shoreditch, Puttshack Bank and Bounce Farringdon. 7 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
Competitive socialising, the industry’s slightly clinical name for a bar built around a game, has gone from novelty to a proper category of its own in London over the past decade. The good ones get the balance right, a game with enough structure to feel like an actual event rather than a distraction, and a drinks list good enough that you would not mind sitting at the bar without playing anything at all. We have tried to cover distinct activities rather than seven variations on darts, so this list moves through mini golf with self tracking balls, ping pong, tech assisted shuffleboard, axe throwing and a retro arcade with an actual bar attached.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Club Shoreditch | Shoreditch | £££ |
| Puttshack Bank | Bank | £££ |
| Bounce Farringdon | Farringdon | £££ |
| Electric Shuffle London Bridge | London Bridge | £££ |
| Boom Battle Bar Oxford Street | Soho | £££ |
| Lane7 London Victoria | Victoria | £££ |
| NQ64 Soho | Soho | ££ |
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Editor’s choice
Flight Club Shoreditch
Why we pick itThe venue that effectively started London's social darts trend, using sensor tipped darts and screen based games rather than a chalkboard, across 12 oches with room for 390 guests. It is the original template most of the other darts bars in the city have since copied.
Social darts with automatic scoring
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Puttshack Bank
Why we pick itPuttshack's balls track themselves and log every player's score automatically, removing the usual arguments over whether a putt actually went in, across three courses plus three separate bars in a venue that can hold up to 650 guests.
Tech tracked mini golf across three courses
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Bounce Farringdon
Why we pick itBilled as Europe's first and largest social ping pong club, Bounce fits 17 bespoke tables into a Russell Sage designed interior, alongside an Italian food menu and a cocktail list built to be drunk between rallies rather than instead of them.
Social ping pong club
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Electric Shuffle London Bridge
Why we pick itSet inside the brick arches beneath London Bridge station, Electric Shuffle reworks the old pub game into four instant scoring digital games across ten boards, with groups of up to 16 able to play at once.
Tech assisted shuffleboard under the railway arches
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Boom Battle Bar Oxford Street
Why we pick itThis branch bills itself as the largest axe throwing bar in Europe, and pairs augmented reality axe throwing with AR darts, crazy golf, beer pong and karaoke across one basement and ground floor site directly opposite the Elizabeth Line exit at Tottenham Court Road.
Augmented reality axe throwing and multi game floors
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Lane7 London Victoria
Why we pick itSpread across three floors of the Zig Zag Building, Lane7 packs in eight bowling lanes, an 18 hole mini golf course, darts, beer pong and shuffleboard, plus an 18 plus arcade hall called Play Dirty in the basement, making it the most varied single site on this list.
Bowling, mini golf, darts and arcade under one roof
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NQ64 Soho
Why we pick itA wall of genuinely old machines, Street Fighter cabinets, Time Crisis, original PlayStations and Super Nintendos, sits alongside a proper cocktail and craft beer list rather than the usual bar snack afterthought, making this the pick for anyone who wants games without a group booking or a fixed session time.
Retro arcade bar
Before you book
Group bookings, especially for six or more people, need to go in a week or two ahead for weekend evening slots, and most of these venues charge per person for a fixed length game session on top of any food or drink. Weekday early evenings, before 7pm, are consistently the easiest time to walk in without a booking.
Common questions
What are the top picks in this guide?
Flight Club Shoreditch is our editor's choice: The venue that effectively started London's social darts trend, using sensor tipped darts and screen based games rather than a chalkboard, across 12 oches with room for 390 guests. It is the original template most of the other darts bars in the city have since copied. Flight Club Shoreditch, Puttshack Bank and Bounce Farringdon lead the guide, with 7 places in total, all chosen on merit.
How does Lamplit London choose its recommendations?
Every place is chosen on merit, after first-hand visits where possible, with no pay-for-placement. Read our full method at https://www.lamplitlondon.com/how-we-choose/.
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