Ninja Age: the indoor assault course venue on Mercer Street, Preston

The assault-course format, with no trampolines, and the most central of the activity venues.

Ninja Age is an indoor activity venue in Preston on Mercer Street, built on the assault course model — obstacles, climbing and timed courses, with no open trampoline floor.

Being on Mercer Street makes it the most central of the commercial activity venues in this directory; the trampoline parks are both on retail parks on the edge of the city, and karting and laser tag are similarly out of the centre.

What it holds is an indoor ninja adventure course: padded obstacles, timed runs and a floor plan built for repeat attempts rather than for a single circuit.

The comparable venues are Flip Out, Energi and Wacky World.

Why this sits where it does

The assault-course format takes the height a trampoline park needs and turns it on its side: climbing, traversing and timed circuits instead of a sprung floor. That trades floor area for structure, and structure can be fitted into an existing frame, which is why this is the one venue in the category that could take a street address instead of a retail park.

The assault-course format is the newest of the group, and the one that has changed the category most, because it takes the height a trampoline park needs and uses it for climbing and traversing instead of bouncing. It occupies the middle of the age range, above soft play and below the adult formats, which in a group with mixed ages is often the only workable choice.

Getting there, and who it suits

Mercer Street is the exception in this list. It can be planned around the station rather than around a car park, which is worth saying plainly because nothing else in this category can — the things to do index is where the rest of the walkable afternoon is.

The rest of the range: Wacky World for the youngest, Flip Out and Energi for older children and adults, and TeamSport for the adult end.

The free alternative: Winckley Square Gardens

Being central, this is the one entry in the category with a green alternative inside walking distance: Winckley Square Gardens on the southern edge of the centre, and the fall through it into the river parks below.

The assault-course format sits between soft play and the adult formats, which for a group spanning several ages is often the only workable single choice. The activities index sets out how the whole category divides by age.