Have you ever wanted to smash a plate without consequence? What about taking a sledge hammer to a television? Or a baseball bat to the windshield of a car? When I heard about a place in Champaign where all of that was possible, I wanted to check it out and destroy some things.
Rage Room Champaign is a business where customers can release pent up energy without worrying about cleaning anything up — or the consequences of destroying property.
Originally, I planned a trip to Rage Room Champaign for my husband and me as an anniversary gift. What says “I love you” more than working together to smash bottles and shatter plates?
The rage packages seem a little hard to understand online, but the Rage Room staff are more than happy to help you find the right package if you call. The cheapest package is the Rage package which includes 30 items for 30 minutes with each person costing an additional amount. I booked a Rage package for two people for $77.
The other packages are Enraged which includes 30 minutes to smash 30 items plus two large items. Enraged+ package gives 60 minutes with six large items and 80 items. The Uncage the Rage package includes two hours, ten large items, and 140 items. Wreck package gets you a car to smash for up to 20 people. Bang offers a vehicle plus ten large items and 130 items for two hours for 30 people. Finally, the Lethal package includes a vehicle, 20 large items, and 270 items for two hours with unlimited amount of participants. There’s a package for it all: whether you want to go by yourself, on a date, with the fam, or for a large group.
I had to postpone my anniversary Rage due to sickness, and when we finally went, we also took our two kids and an extra two adults. Participants must be at least 18 years of age; if they are younger (which my children are), children can participate with consent of a parent or guardian. I had paid in advance, and the staff was accommodating on moving my appointment and helped me add additional participants to the reservation. We kept our original two person Rage package and added an Enraged package for four people ($153).
When we arrived, the staff told us the rules and gave tips on how to make the most of our time. The Rage Room rules were simple: don’t swing a tool at a person and don’t hit the walls. We suited up in provided thick ponchos, head protection, eye protection, and gloves.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
There was a wide variety of poncho sizes and colors. Make sure to wear pants and closed toed shoes for this.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
There are child sized ponchos available, but the head protection and gloves were more adult sized. Be prepared to help your children try on several options because my kids started out wearing helmets but ended with hard hats and protective glasses. Because their heads are small, it was difficult to find the right fit on the helmets and shields.
Everything that was worn for raging was put aside for washing which I really appreciated. The ponchos got hot fast, especially in pants and in the warm warehouse. Our 30 minutes of raging was the maximum time I would enjoy being in the gear, so it worked out great.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
Then we each picked our tools. The selection included lots of hammers, crow bars, baseball bats, golf clubs, and sledge hammers. I went straight for the crowbar, one child picked a hammer, another a baseball bat, and my husband picked the sledge hammer. We were allowed to switch out our tools at anytime and for an unlimited amount of swaps. We tried out one of each kind during our rage session, and my favorite was definitely the baseball bat.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
Our rage rooms were set up with bottles and items precariously placed. There were tons of bottles, glassware, a dog crate, some electronics, and a few appliances for our Rage. Since we had two packages, we had two rooms available to us.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
The different spaces aren’t really different rooms but divided sections of an airy warehouse. The staff asked if we had a playlist in mind for our rage session, but we didn’t, so she picked something loud and rage-inspiring. If you have some songs you want to rage to, let the staff know, and they can play it during your session. She set the timer for 30 minutes, cranked the music, and let us go to town smashing things.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
At the beginning, it was actually hard for me to smash things. Not because I’m weak but because they were real things! Plates, televisions, copy machines, filing cabinets, wine bottles: all the things that I usually try not to break. Once I took a crowbar to the copy machine and saw the glass shatter, it felt was so satisfying that I really got into it. That copy machine did not deserve it, but I raged.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
During the Rage, I looked over and see my youngest child taking beer bottles above his little head and then slamming it on the ground, smashing it to (literal) pieces. My husband happily destroyed a television, and my oldest took his baseball bat to anything he could with glee.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
The aftermath of our rage was wild. Shards of glass were everywhere, and everything was broken. We were pretty warm and running out of things to smash around 25 minutes, so 30 minutes was an ideal amount of time.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
The group before us had purchased a package that included a vehicle and destroyed the car during their session, but it hadn’t been picked up yet. The super nice staff offered us a few minutes to rage on the already-raged Hyundai. I honestly did not know how bad I wanted to take a baseball bat to the side body of a car until I was bashing the Elantra.
Photo by Bryan Buckley.
Photo by Bryan Buckley.
If you’ve been wanting to (legally) destroy a car, I highly recommend it.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
There’s a lot that breaks in the Rage, but the tools are pretty indestructible. If you do break a tool during your rage, you can sign it. We didn’t have the honor of breaking one, but we did admire the broken clubs and signatures of those who did.
Photo by Alyssa Buckley.
Our session was so much fun. The lights and music made it feel like a party. Raging at the Rage Room was quite a unique experience. My kids will never forget the day we let them break shit.
Is it expensive? Oh yeah, for sure, but I think it was worth it. The amount of damage we did was well above the price we paid. Moreover, I don’t think this would ever be a regular weekly activity — not even monthly. For an unforgettable experience, Rage Room Champaign crushes it.
Book your package online in advance. Remember to wear pants and also closed-toed shoes. Flying glass shards don’t do well with exposed skin. Also, if you have bottles, glassware, plates, or electronics to donate for smashing, you can do that. Rage Room Champaign accepts donations during regular business hours when a staff person is present. Call 217-402-1177 to arrange.
Rage Room Champaign
602 South Staley
Champaign
M-Th 3 to 9 p.m.
F+Sa 3 to 10 p.m.
Su noon to 5 p.m.
Top image by Alyssa Buckley.
