Tokyo Joypolis

Tokyo Joypolis is slightly different from amusement parks with thrilling rides like Tokyo Dome City or Fuji 🗻-Q Highland. This immersive entertainment venue focuses on video games, arcade machines and virtual reality (VR) simulators. Located inside the DECKS Tokyo Beach 🏖 shopping mall on Odaiba island, it is the last remaining theme park 🎡 belonging to Sega, after the group let go its other Joypolis centers in Japan, and has stopped operating its arcade game centers in 2022 (taken over by GiGO).

About 20 attractions and games are dispatched over 3 floors, aiming mainly at amateurs of Sega’s early days’ games (through its mascot Sonic) and at Japanese-speaking visitors. As a matter of fact, while occasionally translated in English, all games are in Japanese and it is important to know of the local culture and the Japanese folklore to better enjoy the place. Moreover, as Tokyo Joypolis is featuring many multiplayer games, it is particularly suitable to groups of friends or to families with teenagers. Japanese couples also enjoy visiting the place on a date.

As a general rule, the activities are mainly collaborative games, with teams competing in sports, shooting (FPS), spaceship piloting, music simulators or conducting an investigation. Tokyo Joypolis has several large virtual reality simulators to live, physically and mentally, a fantastic adventure. These attractions will be better enjoyed on an empty stomach and we recommend avoiding the ride in the digestion period especially, as they involve having the head upside down or spinning on oneself for the players.

The 1rst floor caters to a general public, recreating the atmosphere of a matsuri festival. It displays the usual arcade machines of a Game Center, and the Sega Carnival games area gathers among others UFO Catcher claw machines and various fun fair stalls. Note that all these games charge a fee that is not included in the park’s admission fee.

Collaborative games and virtual reality simulators

Our short-list of the best installations to enjoy at Tokyo Joypolis includes:

• Gekion Live Coaster, the only roller coaster in the indoor park, it is combined with a rhythm game;
• Halfpipe Tokyo is a music game simulator shaped in a pendulum, for 2-players teams;
• Pirate's Plunder is a fun shooting game, ideal for a family or a group;
• Spicy Taxi is a recent "tuktuk" ride, that is to be played as a team for more fun;
• Sonic Athletics is a treadmill arcade game for a very fun race to compete and play with several other players;
• TRANSFORMERS HUMAN-ALLIANCE SPECIAL is a RV simulator where players help transformers robot fight the Decepticons. The game involves 360° spins;
• Storm G is the park’s iconic simulator game;
• Attack on Titan THE ATTRACTION is an interesting immersive adventure, with beautiful decors, based on the popular manga / show Attack on Titan. It is only in Japanese.

• Ace Attorney in JOYPOLIS is an adaptation of the Ace Attorney video game where players are investigating a crime, a game also only Japanese;
• Mystic Mansion - Tale of Pandemonium- is a successful immersive 3D attraction in the slightly frightening world of the yokai, the traditional monsters of the Japanese folklore;
• She’s on her way… SADAKO -The Curse Psychic Manor- is a kind of haunted house based on the horror story of Sadako Yamamura (The Ring); and,
• Lola and Carla the Beauty Contest a game on the Japanese photo booths purikura.

Digital shows with video mapping projections are also held several times a day on the central stage.

Several food stall, including an original place selling bead-shaped ice cream, are available at the theme park. The Frame Cafe offers a panoramic view on Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge. You’ll also find a souvenir shop.

We recommend visiting Tokyo Joypolis on a weekday to benefit from shorter waiting lines at attractions. Weekends and national holidays are indeed usually overcrowded and the lines lengthen accordingly, to which adds up to the unavoidable time spent for safety instructions that are repeated every time at every ride. The park can be explored in half a day on a slow business day.