Round 1 Osaka Review (Spocha)
Last Updated on November 14, 2024 by Kay
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Round 1 is a popular multi-floor entertainment store chain located throughout Japan that has games, karaoke, and bowling. However, if there’s only one Round 1 to visit, it’s one with a Spocha.
Spo-cha (Spocha) is a combination of the words sports (spo) and challenge (cha). This indoor facility contains plenty of fun, sports-related activities for people of all ages, making it especially perfect for days when the weather isn’t great.
In this article, I’ll share my family’s experience visiting Osaka’s Spocha near Dotonbori.
Table of Contents
How Much Does Round1 Spo-cha Cost?
Prices vary depending on when you go. For instance, weekends and holidays are more expensive. The cost includes free use of all the facilities, which is a really good deal, especially if you have children ages six and under.
For unlimited hours (called “free time・フリータイム”) adult admission costs 2890 yen and up. Children of elementary school age and older cost 1990 yen and up and ages two to six are 1050 yen. (Note that with free time, depending on the branch you can use the facilities until 6 AM the next day.) If you are visiting with six or more people, you get to pay the same price as the 3-hour pack.
For three hours, adults are 2690 yen and up, 1790 yen and up for students, and 1000 yen for kids ages two to six. If you visit with a child ages six and under, there’s a special price where you only have to pay 1000 yen per person. This is what we used and only paid 3000 yen total for three hours.
For 90 minutes, adults are from 2190 yen and up, 1790 yen and up for students, and 850 yen for kids ages two to six. The 90-minute pack also has the same special price for families with a preschooler (age 6 and under), so you may as well stay for three hours in this case!
Children under age two are always free.
You can also add unlimited soft drinks for an additional charge.
Note that you need to use a machine to purchase tickets and everything is in Japanese. If you are having trouble, ask a staff member to help you.
A Look Inside Round1 Spo-cha in Sennichimae, Osaka
One of the most convenient Round1 Spo-chas, Round1 Stadium Sennichimae, is in Osaka, located less than five minutes on foot from Dotonbori. It’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can visit anytime!
Round1 Sennichimae has a whopping 11 floors. The basement floors up until floor 3 consist of crane games and arcade games. Floor 3 is the reception for bowling, darts, table tennis, and Spo-cha. Floor 4 is karaoke, floors 5-7 as well as 11 are for Spo-cha, floors 8-10 are for bowling, and floors 8-9 are for table tennis.
So if you want to use Spo-cha, you need to first go to Floor 3, purchase tickets, and then take the elevator to floors 5-7 and 11 to use the Spo-cha facilities.
My family of three visited when it was raining at around 7 PM on a Saturday night. Surprisingly, there weren’t too many people and we were able to purchase tickets quickly. There are only two machines so I imagine you may need to wait if it’s busy.
Since our daughter was five at the time, we were able to get the discounted 3-hour package and only paid 3000 yen for all three of us.
After you enter Spo-cha on the third floor, you’ll see a few activities that you can do right away.
Since a lane was open, we decided to do mini-bowling. My husband and I had never done this before but it was really fun! This was also our daughter’s first time bowling and she had a blast. The bowling balls are the perfect size for little kids so she even managed to get a strike!
We then headed for the fifth floor so that our daughter could play at the Kid’s Spo-cha.
Spo-cha 5th Floor
The Kid’s Spo-cha is a small indoor playground on the fifth floor consisting of a ball pit, slides, little houses, and tunnels to crawl through.
Children up until the third grade of elementary school (around age 9) can use this playground until 8 PM when anyone can use it. Make sure to take your shoes off before entering!
We arrived there at around 7:30 PM and my daughter had the entire playground to herself! She had a lot of fun running around and spent an entire hour playing here. Meanwhile, my husband and I took turns watching her and exploring the rest of the floor.
There’s a massage chair nearby that you can use (for free, of course) and manga you can read as well. (All in Japanese, of course.)
Now, although my daughter enjoyed her time in the playground, I thought that it could use some updating. Some of the equipment was torn and despite that you need to take your shoes off, it was obvious that some people didn’t and the mats were dirty.
I did see an employee cleaning up and vacuuming the mats but they really need a scrub down. Had my daughter been a baby, I may have thought twice about letting her play here.
The 5th floor also has an arcade area filled with various games like Mario Kart, Luigi’s Mansion, and Taiko no Tatsujin. These games are older than the ones on the lower floors, which is probably why they’re free and a part of Spo-cha.
It was really enjoyable to be able to play games as many times as we liked without worrying about money. I especially liked the Space Invaders game on the giant screen. Watching my daughter play was surreal (I also got to introduce her to retro-style Pac-Man!).
I will say that these games are probably appropriate for preschoolers and up. Younger children might have trouble playing them.
Note that from 7 PM, children ages 15 and under may not enter the arcade area unless they are accompanied by a guardian. From 10 PM, children ages 17 and under cannot enter even if they’re with a guardian.
There are also several karaoke booths where you can sing for up to 40 minutes. Note that the rooms are being used if the ON AIR sign above the door is lit up.
You can also ride drift trikes but we decided not to. (Make sure to wear a helmet!)
Note that you have to use a timer whenever you do an activity so that others can have a turn as well. No one checked while we were there but Japan is very much about the honor system, so be kind and let someone else have their turn when your time is up.
The sign below shows that the time limit is ten minutes (10分).
6th Floor
The 6th floor has more sports activities that are suited for adults and older children, such as simulation golf, smash ping pong, badminton, kickboxing, archery, catchball, and tennis.
By the time we got up to this floor, two hours had already passed (!) and it was getting late, so we didn’t partake in anything. Not to mention we had a five-year-old and none of the activities seemed suited for her. However, I saw lots of adults having a great time!
7th Floor
Similar to the 6th floor, the 7th floor has more activities oriented toward adults and old children. For instance, throwing hoops, bubble soccer, darts, mini bikes, gun shooting (!), and segways.
My daughter was able to go on the Air-poline, which is basically six rectangular trampolines. I found that it wasn’t as bouncy as the trampoline at PLUS KIDSLAND ACADEMY but it was still fun.
It would have been fun to try roller skating as a family but the smallest skates were 19 cm (in Japan, shoe sizes are measured according to the length of your foot in centimeters). At age five, my daughter’s feet are at 16 cm right now so perhaps when she’s in elementary school we’ll be able to try together.
The 11th floor has a batting cage, which we didn’t have the chance to see since our daughter was getting quite tired and we figured it was time to go.
When we left, we received three coupons to use at one of the crane game machines in the basement (B1). Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t able to get anything but a very sweet tourist gave my daughter one of the Kuromi plushies she had won. Thank you, kind stranger!
Is Round 1 Spo-cha Good for Kids?
Considering my five-year-old found plenty to do for the full three hours, I think this place is great for kids! I think children in elementary school and up will especially have a blast.
Of course, babies and toddlers might have less to do here, but they’ll at least enjoy the indoor playground. If you only have time for one indoor playground that’s perfect for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, I would suggest PLUS KIDSLAND ACADEMY. But if you have older children, Round 1 Spo-cha offers a variety of fun things for kids of different ages.
Overall Impression of Round 1 Spo-cha
I’m a huge fan of Spo-cha and if you like being active and having plenty of indoor activities to choose from, it’s likely you’ll enjoy this place. Considering everything you get to do for free, the cost is a steal, too!
It was also not very crowded when I went, despite that it was a Saturday night. So if you feel like you want to escape the crowds, Spo-cha is a good option.