BoldMove Nation introduces Cactus Valley, a comedy western IP for its Smash & Reload 2.0 interactive dark ride, joining TooMush and Voodoo Festival in the Brussels company’s growing theme portfolio.
BoldMove Nation has revealed Cactus Valley as the newest intellectual property for its Smash & Reload 2.0 interactive dark ride. Announced on 21 May 2026, the western-themed IP becomes the third original theme on the platform. Benoit Cornet and Anja D’Hondt founded BoldMove Nation in Brussels in early 2021, with the original Smash & Reload concept as its founding product. It joins TooMush – the mushroom-themed IP behind the award-winning “Champi’Folies” installation at Le PAL in France – and Voodoo Festival, the Mardi Gras-themed theme introduced in 2023.
Western settings are well established across parks worldwide. BoldMove’s creative team has taken the genre in a deliberately comedic direction rather than a conventional cowboy narrative. Players take on the roles of desperados seeking to recover stolen gold. The culprits are strange, spiky creatures – cacti – that have appeared from nowhere and seized the loot.
Smash & Reload 2.0 is the fully reimagined upgrade to the original compact dark ride. It integrates the Rogue Rides trackless system – BoldMove’s own induction-powered platform modelled on autonomous vehicle technology. Vehicles operate continuously without charging breaks, moving sideways, shaking and rotating across the four-scene experience. The attraction is available in three sizes and can repurpose existing buildings or stand alone as a new build, making it suitable for parks where space or infrastructure is a constraint.
The core gameplay follows a two-step loop. Players load their pointing device and rotate in their vehicle to engage targets across 4-metre-wide screens. Between each of the four scenes, a short “reload” phase delivers playful feedback on individual performance. A dynamic high-score board at the finale displays both individual and collective team results.
In Cactus Valley, the cacti prove far less fearsome than they appear. Balloons and inflatable objects strike their spiky bodies and send them into visible panic. That contrast – the imposing Wild West outlaw reduced to absurdity by an inflatable – drives much of the ride’s comedy. The characters respond dynamically to player actions through AI-driven behaviour, varying their reactions across repeat visits. References to classic Western cinema and broader film culture run throughout all four scenes.
Operationally, the compact footprint and compatibility with existing structures give operators a direct route to a high-throughput family ride. The original “Champi’Folies” installation has received multiple industry awards. The modular IP model means Cactus Valley sits alongside both TooMush and Voodoo Festival as licensable themes, with custom IP development also available.
“This theme delivers humour, action, and surprises at every turn,” said Benoit Cornet, chief executive officer of BoldMove Nation. He added that the experience is designed to make Smash & Reload 2.0 “the essential ‘Little Big Dark Ride’ for every park.”
Images: Boldmove
