In the highlands of Colombia, there's a game people have been playing for centuries that ends with a bang. Literally. Players heave a heavy metal disc at a slanted board packed with clay, aiming for a small ring lined with paper packets of gunpowder, and when a throw lands clean, the packet pops. It's called tejo, it's the country's official national sport, and until recently most Americans had never heard of it. House Rules has decided to change that, and the version it built is now the headline act at its Old Town Scottsdale venue and the centerpiece of its second location, opening across from Area15 in Las Vegas this November.

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Meet Detonante

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The game is called Detonante, and it's House Rules' own creation, a reimagining of tejo that keeps the spirit of the original (the throw, the target, the satisfying payoff when you hit) and rebuilds it around modern technology and tracked scoring so it works in a bar full of groups rather than a dirt court in Boyacá. The company describes it simply as its explosive new game, which is about as accurate a pitch as you'll get.

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What makes it land for a party is that nobody walks in already good at it. Axe throwing has become a known quantity, and plenty of groups have at least one person who's done it before and won't stop mentioning it. Detonante resets the field. Everyone's learning at the same time, the skill curve is short enough that the quiet friend can win a round, and the moment a throw connects gives the whole group something to react to. That's the sweet spot for a bachelorette crew, a milestone birthday, or a team outing where half the room doesn't know each other yet.

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One Concept, Two Cities

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Detonante doesn't stand alone. House Rules was built on the idea of pulling games from around the world under one roof, and it sits alongside bar-style ice curling on real ice (no sweeping required; the stones glide between targets on a shortened lane), duckpin bowling with its small, hole-less balls and stubborn little pins, and axe throwing, plus tabletop extras like sapo and carrom scattered around the room. A scratch kitchen and full bar tie it together.

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In Scottsdale, that lineup is already up and running at 7232 E 1st St in the heart of Old Town, where the venue has been operating since 2023 (it started life as Lane Park before a 2024 rebrand). The Las Vegas location is set for 3071 S Rancho Dr in the Rancho Charleston neighborhood, just west of the Strip and directly across from Area15, as part of that complex's second phase of growth. Vegas is being built around Detonante, ice curling, and duckpin bowling, with the same scratch-kitchen approach, so a group that plays in one city will recognize the format in the other.

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The Vegas placement is smart. Area15 already draws the kind of group that wants to do something besides sit at a pool or a blackjack table, and having a competition bar across the street gives a weekend itinerary a natural next stop. It's also a relief for anyone planning a Vegas bachelorette who's tired of every activity costing a small fortune for ninety minutes of standing around.

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What Guests Keep Coming Back To

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The Scottsdale reviews have a consistent thread: most people show up having never curled, and several have never tried duckpin either, and the staff is what gets them comfortable. Guests describe patient, funny instructors who explain each game without making anyone feel slow, and a front-of-house team that handles everything from check-in to checkout. One group of eleven celebrating a special occasion said the staff couldn't have been more helpful, and a family visiting on a Sunday morning left saying the curling was much harder than it looks on TV.

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The food gets more praise than you'd expect from a games venue. The nachos come up again and again, specifically because the cheese and toppings are layered through the whole pile instead of dumped on top. Private event hosts, including one who threw a wedding welcome party on New Year's Eve and another who mixed teens and adults at the same event, point to a smooth planning process with clear deposits and no surprises on the day. The venue's own policy allows store-bought cakes for birthdays and celebrations, which is worth knowing if you're bringing the guest of honor a dessert moment.

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Picking Your Package

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Both cities run the same two formats on Batch, so the choice comes down to group size and how much of the night you want handled.

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Double Trouble is the flexible one. Your group picks any two games for a two-hour session, with two drink tickets per person included. It works for groups as small as four and as large as 30, and runs $60 per person Sunday through Thursday and $65 on Fridays and Saturdays. Food packages and open bar options can be added on request. If you want to try Detonante and pair it with a game your group already knows, this is the easy entry point.

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Rule The House is the full takeover: three hours with reserved lanes across Detonante, ice curling, and duckpin bowling, two drink tickets per person, and a spread of deep-dish pizza, chicken tenders, veggies, house salad, and funnel cake fries covering up to 20 guests. It's built for bigger groups, with a 20-person minimum and a 30-guest maximum, and runs $150 per person Sunday through Thursday and $165 on Fridays and Saturdays. Groups over 20 can add food for the extra guests.

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A few practical notes apply to both: wear closed-toe shoes if you're curling or throwing, and each game session typically runs about an hour. Cancellations with at least seven days' notice get a full refund. For Vegas, the location opens in November 2026, so groups planning a late-fall or holiday trip should lock in dates early.

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Book on Batch

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Whether you're in Old Town this weekend or building a Vegas trip around the new spot by Area15, the first throw at Detonante is the one your group will still be arguing about on the flight home.

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👉 Double Trouble: Choose 2 Games + Drinks — Scottsdale

👉 Rule The House: 3 Games, Food & Drinks — Scottsdale

👉 Double Trouble: Choose 2 Games + Drinks — Las Vegas

👉 Rule The House: 3 Games, Food & Drinks — Las Vegas

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