Rakuga Kids (Ario Soga)

Fun and gamified indoor playground

Rakuga Kids (ラクガキッズ) is an indoor playground chain, and I visited one of them at Ario Soga with my children. Upon visiting for the first time, the kids are given a “watch” and they draw/design/color a character that is then stored on the watch. Through doing activities at the playground, they can level up their characters and eventually send it to battle other kids’ characters in a battle zone. (Apparently, there was a Nintendo 64 game in Japan called Rakugakids, though made by Konami while Taito runs the playgrounds. The concept of kids’ drawings coming to life and battling one another is very similar!) Watches and characters aside, the playground is a pretty good set-up. There is climbing equipment and ropes, swings, and it’s all set up in a fun but safe way. There are ball pits, including one where you can throw balls at/to your character, and there are quieter areas where kids can modify their characters on tablets or even just sit and color if they so do desire. It’s also pretty parent-friendly. There is a large table set up in the center of the space with tablets loaded with ebooks and magazines, a vending machine, and a water fountain. Free wifi is also readily available, and the very clean, kid-friendly shopping center toilets are just outside. In addition, there is a zone set up specifically for very young kids, and there is a nursing room and change area.  There are only two reasons that I’m giving it four stars rather than five. First, it really does rely a lot on yet more screens. For all the non-screen activities there, the two most appealing activities are those that involve watching the creatures battle and the one where you throw the balls at them. Secondly, it tries a little too overtly to direct you and the kids towards the Taito Game Center next door, with coupons and reward points that you can convert to turns on the UFO catchers… but only if you pay for a game first. It’s what it is, but given that entry fee of 1500 yen for first time users and 1200 for return visitors can add up when you have multiple children, it feels a bit rich. Still, as long as you can go in aware that Taito runs it and that’s where its interests are, there are plenty of things to like and enjoy about it. My kids love it, and it makes for a fun occasional treat.