WhirlyBall game center opening Saturday in Naperville: What it will have
There's a whole new vocabulary to fun at WhirlyBall in Naperville, which opens Saturday.
For starters, there's the meaning of "WhirlyBall" itself.
The sport is a mashup of basketball, lacrosse and hockey, played in vehicles a lot like bumper cars, says Adam Elias, WhirlyBall's vice president of strategic planning.
Then there's the "WhirlyBug," a vehicle similar to a carnival bumper car. It travels 4 mph across a magnetized floor and allows WhirlyBall players - as long as they're at least 4 feet, 6 inches tall - the freedom to roam the court, all at the same speed.
"You don't have to be an athlete," Elias said.
Also relevant to the game is the "Scoop," a netted implement that's a close cousin of the lacrosse stick, used to toss the WhirlyBall itself to teammates or toward each backboard-style goal. Using a flick of the wrist is the best technique, Elias said, as with a baseball-style throw, the WhirlyBall will simply fall out behind the tosser's shoulder.
"And your friends all laugh," he said.
Even outside the two WhirlyBall courts, one on each side of the ground floor of the new facility at 3103 Odyssey Court, there is new gametime terminology, mainly at the bowling lanes.
"HyperBowling" combines the throwing technique of bowling with the point-scoring methodology of pinball. Players ages 4 and older can choose this style of play or traditional bowling at the facility's eight first-floor lanes or four private lanes on the second floor.
In a game of HyperBowling, the bumpers are up, and sections along them light up in different colors, signifying point values players can achieve by bouncing their ball off each segment. Knocking down the pins scores points at various values, too, but being able to roll turkey after turkey doesn't necessarily make a player a HyberBowling star.
"It really levels the playing field, just like WhirlyBall," Elias said.
The new WhirlyBall game center is scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Saturday, also offering a laser tag course for players age 8 and older and a restaurant and bar called The Pivot Room.
The Pivot Room's American-style menu and craft beer list will cater to all private events hosted in the second-story banquet hall as well as to guests hanging out aside the bowling lanes or WhirlyBall courts.
The restaurant and bar take up the front of the building as gamers walk into the 41,000 square-foot space near the interchange of Route 59 and I-88.
WhirlyBall will be the second entertainment destination to open, following Topgolf in 2015, at what is planned to become CityGate West, a mixed-use center with residences and a hotel as well as public art and other features.
The Naperville game center is the company's fifth location, joining established facilities in Chicago, Vernon Hills, Colorado Springs and Brookfield, Wisconsin. Its original site in Lombard is now closed.