Launching in 2022
Private or Group tour only
The Cape Town Gaming Safari is our latest creation.
The new experience, available as a full day and half day experience, immerses guests in video gaming culture, from the earliest arcade games to the latest in virtual reality gaming.
“The idea for the Gaming Safari was my son’s,” says Coffeebeans Routes director and founder iain Harris. “During 2018 my son, then 8 years old, said ‘Dad, what about a tour that lets people play all different kinds of video games across Cape Town?’ I thought this was a great idea, a totally new and different way for visitors to immerse in the city. I bought my son a book on the history of video gaming so that he could do the research. He read that book from cover to cover several times, and then we started to play around with narrative ideas and places to visit.”
The first element of the safari explores arcade games, and takes participants back to the early days of arcade gaming, visiting a classic video game arcade. Then it takes in an eSports arcade, focusing on gaming PCs and the current video game trends. The final element is focused on virtual reality and the latest consoles.
While the focus is on gameplay, from classic arcade, through eSports and VR, the tour is still story oriented, like all of the Coffeebeans experiences.
“We want guests to leave having not only enjoyed a lot of diverse gameplay, but with new knowledge too. So we focus on the stories of the origins of the global gaming sector, from Atari through Nintendo, Sega and beyond. We explore the impact of video gaming in South Africa, historically and with a glimpse to the future. We look at the local video game industry within the context of the African gaming industry, and what role Africa is playing and can play in the future of video gaming, from a content, economic and cultural point of view.”
As the experience is available as a private or group tour only, guests can shape the experience to a degree. A group of friends who grew up playing video games might be interested in the stories as well as the gameplay. A family with teenagers might want straight up gameplay for the kids, and a narrative focus for the parents. The structure and content can adjust accordingly.
The Cape Town Gaming Safari
Private or group tour only
Full day tour 10h00 – 17h00, including three gaming elements. From ZAR 2031 pp
Half day tour 10h00 – 14h00, including two gaming elements. From ZAR 1504 pp
