Sugar Land, TX Indoor Activities

Emerald Bowl is a super-clean facility on Boone Road boasting a full bar and snack bar. From gorging on grub to pin knocking, this deluxe package will appease partygoers of all ages. If you're still scraping vanilla frosting off the ceiling fan from last year's soiree, hosting an event someplace other than your home is a way to celebrate sans time-consuming clean-up. Call ahead to schedule your shindig. Invite additional guests for $6 a person.

From its first days as a converted parking garage to its time as a host for Quentin Tarantino's five-day movie marathons, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has ushered film-lovers of all breeds into its atypical auditoriums. The theaters subvert the industry standard by offering locally brewed beer and fine wines, a rotating menu of handcrafted snacks and desserts, and an advertisement-free experience. A long table stretches in front of every row of seats, enabling waiters to unobtrusively pick up written food orders throughout the night.

Both first-run blockbusters and classics are projected onto the silver screen in crisp 35-millimeter or digital format. Meanwhile, surround sound submerges audiences in the cinematic landscape, whether they're seated in one of the intimate theaters reserved for indie screenings or the more expansive spaces afforded to Hollywood epics.

The staff and an enormous shepherd's crook enforce a strict no-talking, no-texting policy—with a few notable exceptions. For example, fan-centric Quote-Along and Sing-Along nights encourage guests to shout their favorite lines, and appearances by actors, directors, and other film celebrities append in-depth discussions onto the show. These exclusive events have helped build Alamo Drafthouse's reputation among cinephiles across the country, leading to nods from Entertainment Weekly, which called it “one of America's most fanatically unique moviegoing experiences,” and Wired, which opined that it "might just be the coolest movie theater in the world."

At ComedySportz, the spontaneity of improv humor marries the competitiveness of athletics in three weekly shows that churn out laughs for roughly 100 minutes each. During a match, two opposing teams of comics square off as a referee presides. The teams launch into sketches and routines fueled by audience suggestions, much like on the TV shows Whose Line Is It Anyway? and World News with Diane Sawyer. Since random, casual outbursts are so integral to the show, no two performances are the same, and many fans check the lineup to see when their favorite funnypeople take the stage next.

Slot Cars of Katy owner P.A. Watson knows his way around an electrified car track. For more than 30 years, he’s raced motorized slot cars against countless challengers on his own raceway, filled with tracks, electronics, and other gear. His passion for speed on a small scale has taken him to competitions near and far, where he’s earned four national championships and three world championships.

Though no longer an active competitor, he still hosts races each day at Slot Cars of Katy, where hobby veterans, corporate groups, and kids alike can take a spin on one of the shop’s twisting tracks. The Hillclimb keeps racers on their toes with three large ascents, whereas The King’s 155-foot-long track offers racers plenty of fast turns and a handful of scenic make-out spots.