NightLife: Level Up

Grab your Player 2 (or 3 or 4) and level up your Thursday night with an evening dedicated to gaming.

Sounds by RIETA

Featured Cocktails

• Princess Peach Margarita – peach infused tequila, triple sec, lime juice, simple syrup
• Q*bert Punch – vodka, blood orange vodka, cranberry juice, pineapple juice

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Story Mode
Swamp
6 - 10 PM

• For one night only, find out more about video game history…literally, we mean find it. Join the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) in a scavenger hunt and look for plaques scattered around the museum to learn more about this entertaining and evolving medium.

Arcade Mode
Piazza
6 - 10 PM

• Check out our makeshift Academy Arcade and play the world’s only 10-player strategy arcade game, Killer Queen, vie for the high score on pinball machines from the Pacific Pinball Museum, or test your luck at winning a Claude plushie in our Claw-de machine (see what we did there?)

VS. Mode
African Hall
6 - 10 PM

• Ready, set, smash. Watch 64 players go head-to-head at the Academy’s first-ever Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament, hosted by YungWaff.

Free Play Mode
East Garden
6:30 - 9:30 PM

• From on-screen to in-person, let the nostalgia commence and jam out to the sweet sounds from your favorite video games with local orchestral powerhouse, Awesöme Orchestra.
  • 6:30-7:00: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • 7:00-7:30pm: "To Far Away Times" music from Chrono Trigger
  • 7:40-8:30pm: Celeste Symphonic Suite
  • 8:40-9:05pm: "Clip Joint Calamity" from Cuphead
  • 9:05-9:30pm: "Floral Fury" from Cuphead

View Collection
Science Today
7 PM

• Omanyte, I choose you! Enter the Pokémon universe and learn about the real-life inspiration behind some of your favorite Pokémon with our very own Curatorial Assistant in Geology, Maricela Abarca. And as an added bonus: we’ve hidden a few Pokéballs around the museum for those that “gotta catch ‘em all”.

Power Down
Curiosity Grove
6 - 10 PM

• Don’t worry, board game lovers, we know gaming isn’t just digital. Local SF gem, Game Parlour, is back for another round at NightLife with a variety of classic board games.

A few don't-miss NightLife details:

• To help keep staff and guests safe, proof of full COVID-19 vaccination OR a negative test result from within 48 hours of the event is required for entry, and boosters and indoor masking are strongly encouraged. Feeling under the weather? Please NightLife another time! View health and safety information here.
   
• Last entry into the rainforest exhibit is 7:30 pm—our animals need their sleep.
   
• Morrison Planetarium is now open at NightLife with 4 showtimes. To maximize staff and guest safety, planetarium passes are required and capacity is limited. Passes are available online in advance for an additional $5 while supplies last to reserve a seat at a 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, or 9:30 pm planetarium show. Please see our FAQs for more details. (Please note: A limited number of standby seats will be available for all showtimes as space allows on a first-come, first-served basis. Food and drink are not permitted inside the planetarium.)
   
• Beverages are available at various bars throughout the building, but food must enjoyed outdoors or in the Academy Cafe only.
   
• NightLife is for adults 21+ only. Photo ID required.
   
• Still have Qs? See our FAQs here.