Fun in Korea: Jumping Battle

Why I Ended Up Practicing Golf in a Dress that Day

I’m a true night owl, and honestly, unless it’s for golf, I rarely step outside. Call me an expensive homebody. But on September 6, I made the exception and went all the way to Gangnam—to meet my friend’s son.

And because I’m a hardcore J (yes, MBTI J-type to the bone) and secretly wanted to hear “You’re the best auntie ever,” I searched for something fun we could do together. I ended up booking a game I had tried twice before—Jumping Battle, the stepping-pad game. (Sorry in advance, my friend. 😂)

How It Works

You enter a small room full of stepping pads. 

(Depending on the group size, there are 3 room size options to choose from. We chose the smallest)

The rules are simple:

• Green = safe

• Blue = points

• Red = minus points

You stand on green, avoid the red, and step on as many blue pads as possible. Easy, right?

The price was reasonable too: about 7,000 KRW for adults and 5,000 KRW for kids. With three of us, the total came out to 19,000 KRW.

Pros

• Kids love it. They go absolutely wild running around.

• Adults (at least I) love it too. You’ll find yourself running around like a kid again.

• Depending on the branch, the shops even records a timelapse video for you.

Cons

• It’s exhausting. You can literally taste iron in your mouth after a while.

• Fifteen minutes feels like an hour.

• Some of the missions are tough. If kids fail, they get discouraged—and then the adults are stuck fighting to protect their sense of wonder.

But all in all, I did get to hear “You’re the best auntie ever” — so I guess it was worth losing my breath for those few minutes.

If you ever come to Korea, give Jumping Battle a try. It’s fun, affordable, and a memory you won’t forget.

There are various places that offer the same service, so try searching for stepping pad game or the shop names Jumping Battle, Active Mode, and Active Arena. They all offer the same service :)