Boom Battle Bar in Swindon: We tried axe-throwing, crazy golf and more in new town centre attraction

He cut the ribbon to officially open the new Boom Battle Bar in Regent Circus during a preview event on Friday.

Coun Garry Perkins and other guests, including the Adver, got the chance to try axe-throwing, shuffle-board, electric darts, beer pong, American pool and ‘crazier’ golf among other activities as the large new £1.5 million addition to the town centre complex opened its doors.

An axe throwing expert offers guidance to the Mayor of Swindon

An axe-pert offered guidance and showed off demonstrations but the mayor’s throws bounced off the target. Turns out there’s a knack to it and power isn’t everything – the Adver managed to wedge the weapon into the wood on our third try, much to our surprise.

I thought I’d be good at the crazy golf and bad at the axe stuff but the opposite turned out to be true. The circus-themed mini golf area has some fiendish tricks and unusual challenges that often require more physicality than just putting a ball across some astroturf.

Circus-themed crazy golf

Circus-themed crazy golf

Playing shuffleboard is similarly harder than it looks. A representative from the SHUFL company explained how players can carefully push a piece so that it glides smoothly across the long, curved and sand-strewn board to stop on one a points area.

A friend and I took turns trying to score just one point but we shoved the pieces too hard or not enough so that they either flew off the other end of the board without any signs of stopping or slowed to a crawl in the no-man’s-land middle area and became obstacles for the next person’s attempt.

It does have an addictive one-more-go quality and we could probably have spent all night there trying to be the first to 15 points.

Coun Garry Perkins tries to score points on the shuffleboard

The electric darts seemed like an innovative twist on a classic sport, with a screen automatically totting-up your points and showing selfies of each player as well as offering different types of competitive games.

The battle bar welcomed its first customers over the weekend and held a spectacular circus show on Saturday to kick things off with a bang.

The two units next to Korean restaurant Funky Grilla and opposite Cineworld Cinemas host the games, restaurant and bar while the ‘Beer Hall’ units opposite Lamaya Lebanese Kitchen host the special events, so people could still enjoy the games while other guests were wowed by a contortionist, hula hoop artists and ribbon dancing next door.

I’d definitely come back again to play again. Oh, and make sure you do the axe throwing first as you’re not allowed to have a go if you’ve had any alcohol beforehand.

Guests enjoy the new bar, restaurant and games

Guests enjoy the new bar, restaurant and games

Guests enjoy table tennis