If you ever wondered what it would be like to have Eleven’s powers, Sandbox VR now offers that chance. The nationwide chain of immersive VR experiences just added its latest Netflix collaboration, Stranger Things: Catalyst, inspired by the Duffer brothers’ hit retro ’80s series. Its entertainment partnership with the streamer also includes playable stories within the Squid Game and Rebel Moon franchises. Just in time for Halloween and the release of Stranger Things season five, io9 was invited (media tickets were provided) to experience the new horror-tinged offering at a local Sandbox VR location. Having enjoyed the Squid Game VR, I was keen to try this one out, as it seemed like it would really bring you into the world of the Upside Down and have you face the scarier elements of the series. The Squid Game activation was just entering the dystopian tournament with mostly just games like “Red Light, Green Light,” rather than, say, a concrete narrative. In Stranger Things: Catalyst, players become Dr. Brenner’s test subjects and experience a different perspective of a Rainbow Room type of break-in. You and your group start by practicing your powers through a wand to channel telekinetic abilities—think Nintendo’s Wii and Switch controllers, held in the hand to supplement the powers and seen through the headset VR setup. During the in-world power honing at Hawkins Lab, which is just practice, the training gets interrupted by an attack on Hawkins Lab, and you’re thrust into the fight against the forces of the Upside Down. The premise serves as an excuse to engage in what’s more of a chaotic free-for-all than a fleshed-out story. Players work together to escape the lab while confronting the monstrous threats of the Upside Down, navigating through the trees of Mirkwood and ultimately battling the Mind Flayer in the distorted version of Hawkins. The powers are really fun; you can grab items to throw at the supernatural threats in the form of the Demobats, Demodogs, and even the Demogorgon, but also telekinetically push them away from you or your friends. The big boss attacks are your standard co-op fare; you all focus on different weak points of, say, the tentacles coming out of the rift or the Mind Flayer’s spider legs and bring them down as a group. But that’s pretty much it; there’s not really a larger story you’re a part of that has anything to do with characters you’re familiar with. You don’t get to interact with Eleven or the Hawkins heroes—just dear old Papa Brenner. The immersion is pretty much a greatest hits of the ops you’d want to face from the Upside Down, except Vecna. While overall, Stranger Things: Catalyst is enjoyable and filled with jump scares while you mind-blast (trying hard to not say “Force push”) through hordes of Vecna’s forces, be aware that it is a workout. The more people in your group, the more ops get added to the experience. Our group found that it was just too much coming at us all at once. During the team-ups you’re trying to grab things to attack your opponents, but also randomly possessed Upside Down hazmat agents while getting them off your teammates, which overwhelmingly would take up most of the experience. You don’t really get a sense of why this is happening because too much is happening. Do I wish there were more of the characters we know and love? Yes, but these sorts of activations don’t really need it to be a good time. So if you’re looking for a cohesive side-quest narrative in the Stranger Things universe, this isn’t it. But for a group outing to a private Halloween season activation or just to get the Stranger Things binge crew off the couch, it’s well worth it. There are a lot of thrills, chills, and laughs to be had. The Demogorgon might get you, but it’s when the ground beneath you gives out that your mind plays tricks on you. I found myself dropping to the floor to make sure it was still there. And yeah, you might die a lot, but at least you can revive an unlimited amount of times; respawns only take a few seconds to get back into the game. Once it ended, I thought, despite the sheer amount of times I would not have made it in the Upside Down, I’d definitely play this again with friends to be our own Scoops Troop and all be powered like Eleven. For a list of Sandbox VR locations offering Stranger Things: Catalyst, visit here. The final season of Stranger Things begins November 26 on Netflix.