When people think of self-care for mental health images of meditating, massages and yoga often come to mind. But, sometimes rather than deep breathing your troubles away you need something a little bit stronger. Welcome to the growing trend of Rage Rooms.
These smash rooms – that allow you to use a hammer, ax, crow bar and more to smash everything from computers to TV, printers and even cars – allow people who have pent up rage (or just frustration with a broken printer) to let it out in a environment created just for that. While fancy corporate smash rooms have popped up in major cities across the country, the first one in the Austin-area is Unchartered Adventures in Kyle. It opened just before lockdown and is a no frills work in progress, but provides what you need to turn your emotions inside out – and have some fun.
RAGE ROOM
Before entering the smash room, you suit up in protective gear because everything from plastic to glass could go flying. In the room there’s an assortment of weapons of destruction, one major electronic (that takes longer to smash than you’d think) and lots of glass bottles that you can smash or throw at the walls built for the blow.
SPLATTER PAINT ROOM
You can come do this room just for the fun of throwing paints without worrying about the mess and to create a one-of-a-kind work of art. Use the neon paints to channel your inner Pollock or pour them on the drum set and then play a tune as paint splatters around you.
AX THROWING
Before you dive into throwing axes, know that it’s harder than it looks! Not only does it take a minute to grasp you’re throwing an ax, but if you don’t hit the target just right, it will miss the mark and just fall to the ground…To increase your rage before you start, there’s a tub full of VCR tape, a vintage source of frustration. If you know, you know.