Ding Dong Lounge
Rock, punk and metal, five nights a week. Live bands upstairs, jam nights, and karaoke after midnight.
Entertainment & Fun Things to Do in Auckland
Do Auckland lists 26 entertainment venues across the region. Bowling from $14, mini golf from $16, arcade credit from $5 and comedy at $25. Most take groups of thirty to fifty and most run into the evening, which makes them the default answer for a work do or a birthday.
Zone Bowling Botany
Twelve lanes sharing a building with an eighty-machine Timezone, plus laser tag and bumper cars. Groups over six should book for lanes side by side.
Live Wire Super Park Highbury
Indoor entertainment hub with trampolines, foam pits, inflatable zone, ball pit, mini town playground, 6-lane bowling alley, laser tag, mini golf and arcade games.
Metrolanes
Twelve lanes on level three of Skyworld, a bar, and an outdoor deck over Aotea Square. Under twelve can walk in. Card only, no cash.
Whammy Bar
The heart of Auckland's independent music scene, in the basement of St Kevins Arcade on K Road.
Zero Latency VR Auckland
Free-roam VR on Cook Street. No cables, no backpack, a two hundred square metre arena and up to eight of you at once. From thirteen, or ten with an adult.
Game Over Auckland - Jurassic Mini Putt
Twelve indoor holes through full-size animatronic dinosaurs. Twenty to thirty minutes a round, so pair it with the karts. If they can hold a putter, they can play.
Game Over Auckland
Indoor electric go-karts on a two hundred metre track at Albany, with laser tag and a forty-machine arcade in the same building. Book ahead.
Odyssey Sensory Maze
13 zones of lighting effects, illusions, sounds and obstacles in the heart of the CBD. A self-guided 20-30 minute sensory adventure that all ages can enjoy. Open daily.
Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq Newmarket
Circus-themed arcade bar on level three of Westfield Newmarket. Bowling, dodgems, VR, cocktails. Over-eighteens only after 8pm Friday and Saturday.
Treasure Island Adventure Golf
Pirate-themed mini golf with two 18-hole courses near Auckland Airport. Features shark-infested waters, blasting cannons and a pirate ship. Great for families and birthday parties.
Gloputt Mini Golf
Sixteen holes under blacklight in Takapuna. Fully indoors, no kitchen, bring your own food. Cheap, weatherproof, and you can usually just turn up.
Escape HQ Auckland CBD
Five sixty-minute rooms on Lorne Street. Dreams of Alice if nobody has done this before, Titanic if they have. Four to six players is where the puzzles land best.
Afterlife Billiards
Twelve pool tables at the top of Queen Street, hired by the hour. Booths, coffee, bubble tea, and the latest hours of anything on this page.
Rainbow's End
New Zealand's largest theme park with over 20 rides and attractions, including a roller coaster, log flume, drop tower and Kidz Kingdom for under 8s. Located in Manukau.
Timezone Queen Street
Over a hundred machines across two floors on Queen Street, plus karaoke booths and mini bowling. Best as an hour in town, not an afternoon.
Holey Moley Auckland
Eighteen new holes of mini golf built as a bar on the Viaduct, with karaoke rooms and darts. Under-eighteens until 7pm, ID after.
The Mothership
The closest club to the Viaduct. Independent, house and techno led, with international bookings.
Sweet Axe Throwing Co.
Five lanes just off K Road with coaching before you throw. Structured games, not just an axe and a target. Licensed, from twelve, closed shoes. Book.
Neck of the Woods
K Road club and live room that its own crowd paid to keep open. Friday and Saturday only.
Newmarket Tenpin Bowling
Sixteen maple lanes and twenty pool tables under one roof on York Street. The pick for a big group that will not all want to do the same thing.
The Tuning Fork
The small room attached to Spark Arena, and the best-sounding venue of its size in the country.
Escape HQ Takapuna
Four rooms and an outdoor game, five minutes from the beach. Mountain Blizzard is built as two identical rooms so two teams race each other.
Escapism Escape Rooms
Six rooms at Stanmore Bay, each rated for difficulty out of five, so you can pick properly. Forty-five minutes north of town and worth the drive.
The Classic Comedy Club
New Zealand's home of stand-up for twenty-five years, on Queen Street. Friday's ten o'clock L8 show stacks eight professionals and is the one to see.
PINS Tenpin Bowling
The west Auckland lanes in Henderson, with a tap room called Pints attached. Disco bowling Friday and Saturday. Runs later than anything else here.
These are the venues that do the heavy lifting for groups. Bowling alleys in Botany, Newmarket and Henderson, escape rooms in the CBD and Takapuna, VR at Zero Latency, and mini golf at Holey Moley and Gloputt.
Common questions
What fun things are there to do in Auckland?
Bowling, escape rooms, VR, mini golf, arcades, axe throwing, billiards and comedy. Twenty one entertainment venues are listed, most of them open into the evening.
How much is bowling in Auckland?
Zone Bowling Botany is $14 a person, Newmarket Tenpin is $16, Metrolanes is $18 and PINS is $15.50. Shoe hire and peak time pricing can sit on top.
What entertainment venues take big groups?
Game Over Auckland, Metrolanes, Zone Bowling Botany, Newmarket Tenpin, Archie Brothers, Timezone Queen Street and Sweet Axe Throwing Co. all take fifty.