As one of South Austin’s primary shopping centers, Southpark Meadows highlights dining options, retail and specialty entertainment center, Axe Force. The spot has been providing a space for individuals to channel their inner lumberjack and travel to different universes all inside one building ever since late 2023.

Some backstory

After years of working in the tech industry, co-owner Zachary Rucker met co-owner Mohammad E. on a job board and met all the qualifications his business partner was looking for: a strong tech background, a leadership background and being a gamer.

The duo committed to opening in South Austin after seeing the need for more unique entertainment experiences in the area.

“You have the shopping center with the little shops in the plaza and other than that you got bars, restaurants and parks and that's kind of it here in South Austin,” Rucker said. “Anything else you're really needing to cross up north over the river. So we saw that void and we wanted to fill that because there's a lot of people that live down here and there needs to be more things to do.”
Customers can participate in the business's virtual reality escape rooms which feature 12 different experience to choose from. (Courtesy Axe Force)
Customers can participate in the business's virtual reality escape rooms which feature 12 different experience to choose from. (Courtesy Axe Force)
What they offer


Community members can engage with several offerings such as axe throwing, Zero Latency virtual reality games and escape rooms.

The business provides a unique axe throwing experience by using projectors to showcase games on the axe throwing targets including Axe Photo, where participants can upload their own photos which will become the targets.

The company has a diversity of throwing weapons including throwing cards, ninja stars and viking axes.

“It's just our philosophy around business and designing anything that if we're going to do something, we have to do it right and we have to do it differently,” Rucker said. “So, we have the projector targets and we have a big variety of weapons for people to choose from.”


If customers are interested in playing a one-hour escape room, groups of up to five can enjoy the experience by picking one of 12 scenarios ranging in difficulty.

Some scenarios include traveling through different time periods to prevent catastrophe and braving a mission to save humanity by journeying on an alien planet.
Community members can fully immerse themselves in different realities with the business's Zero Latency experience. (Courtesy Axe Force)
Community members can fully immerse themselves in different realities with the business's Zero Latency experience. (Courtesy Axe Force)
What’s special about it?

Boasting Central Texas’ largest free-roam virtual reality experience, groups as large as eight can fight to survive a zombie apocalypse or experience life as a bio-engineered super soldier.

“It's something we can tell you till we're blue in the face how awesome and fun and immersive it is,” Rucker said. “But you have to put the headset on and try it yourself to really understand what it feels like.”


Rucker said most of the patrons who visit are first timers who are expecting a similar experience to the VR experiences depicted at traditional arcade centers with underwhelming graphics.

“We'll see a couple bros come in and they're like, ‘Oh yeah, well we're curious about VR, we're not quite sure,’ we'll sell them a couple tickets and it blows their mind,” Rucker said. “They will leave and come back the same day with like four other people."
The business also hosts corporate events in addition to all types of events including birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. (Courtesy Axe Force)
The business also hosts corporate events in addition to all types of events including birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. (Courtesy Axe Force)
What else?

The business is available for parties and events of all kinds from graduations and holiday gatherings to team building events.

Rucker said the business values having a presence in the community and often gives out gift cards to nonprofit organizations. He hopes to help the community out more in the future.