LIBERTY, NY —  Birthday parties have always been a time for celebration.  Historically, they have been held in the home; more recently, they have been held in a bowling alley or in a restaurant that offers birthday parties.  In 2019, Liberty Heights came to Sullivan County and brought birthday parties into the 21st century. 

Liberty Heights is an indoor adventure park that features arcade games as well as virtual reality games and rides.  “With the exception of updated graphics, traditional arcade-type games have been relatively unchanged for decades,” said Chris DaSilva, Liberty Heights’ general manager.

He went on to explain: “The virtual reality revolution took playing a game on a two-dimensional screen to playing a game while immersed in a three-dimensional world.  Then virtual reality rides took virtual reality games to a whole new level by adding motion and environmental effects like wind to that immersive experience.”

One of the virtual reality games at Liberty Heights is called Rec Room, which allows players to play sports-related games such as golf, table tennis or bowling.  “You wear a headset and it’s like you are immersed inside the game,” DaSilva explained.

Unlike two-dimensional video games where the player is looking at a screen, “You’re in a virtual world and you can turn 360 degrees and see everything around you.  You can swing your arm and you’re swinging the tennis racquet or you move your arm and you’re bowling,” he continued.

Liberty Heights also offers virtual reality rides that accommodate more than one person at a time.  One is a five-person ride, with 64 different scenes, including one where the players are interactively hunting dinosaurs.

Another, a four-person ride, simulates a roller coaster.  It has 70 motions—up, down, left and right—and spins upside down.  “It gives you the whole roller coaster effect,” DaSilva said.  “So, if you’re doing a loop-de-loop on the tracks, you’re doing a loop-de-loop on the ride.”  The ride has hydraulic harnesses that strap players in, just like on a real roller coaster.

Virtual reality games and rides can appeal to older kids and adults who might not find attractions such as trampolines and climbing walls as entertaining as younger kids would.  “Virtual reality attractions can offer different experiences every time, even if the same person uses them multiple times in a row,” DaSilva noted. 

He had a warning, though. “Unfortunately, the older you get, the more susceptible you are to some of the side effects of the virtual reality.  A lot of people, especially older people, can suffer from motion sickness and stuff like that.”  To deal with that possibility, there is an attendant who monitors all of the standalone and virtual reality games and rides.

Liberty Heights is open all year round.  During the summertime, the adventure park is open seven days a week and offers a fully-equipped kitchen.  Between Mondays and Thursdays, it hosts day camps and sleepaway camps.  “It’s very intense in the summertime,” DaSilva said, adding that campers can arrive at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. and often don’t leave until midnight or later.

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the adventure park is open to the public for birthday parties and other celebrations.  “We’re one of the few venues in Sullivan County where you can actually have a birthday party,” he noted.  “Our birthday party packages are customizable.  If you want to do laser tag, you can add that on.  If you only want to do virtual reality, you can do that.”

Information about what Liberty Heights offers as well as its pricing can be found on its website, libertyheightsny.com.  The phone number is 845/747-8080.  DaSilva suggested leaving a message because it is often too noisy to hear the telephone ring.