The Best Activations At New York Comic Con 2025

New York Comic Con 2025 had no shortage of pop culture brands offering immersive and interactive experiences on the show floor. There are many ways to entice fans to stop browsing and spend some time in booths, but a few stood out from the rest.

Den of Geek sampled many of the offerings from the fan’s point of view to discover the best of this year’s efforts. Our review process occurred during the con and we did not inform booth staff of our media status to ensure that we experienced each offering as fans on the show floor would. Here are our favorites!

Spookiest Experience – HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry

Although it was the smallest of the booths offering activations, the simple 1950s suburban house replica packed a mighty spooky punch. The activation was set to accommodate six horror fans at a time, hence the need for QR code signups. An actor playing a possessed housewife greeted you to set the mood. Before you go inside, the staff asks you what your greatest fear is, and those answers were recorded on an iPad. One of those answers was randomly selected to influence the scare level inside. 

Once inside, guests are surrounded by creepy animatronic dolls, dimmed lights, and a voiceover that repeats their survey answers in an intimidating fashion. Fear of heights was randomly suggested for our test group, but this activation is far from the Tower of Terror. The voiceover merely taunted our acrophobia. You feel like Pennywise is about to jump out, but thankfully, only the husband of the creepy housewife outside appeared from the back door.

At the end, attendees were given a prize pack of a red makeup case with samples from It: Welcome To Derry’s collaboration with Melt Cosmetics. This interactive really set up the Halloween vibes and introduced the world of It without fully traumatizing guests who don’t normally attend haunted houses or other horror themed attractions (like yours truly). 

Most Interactive Experience –  Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek fans got the chance to replicate Day 1 of Starfleet Academy orientation in this game-focused activation. While waiting in line, fans see a wall with names of the most famous graduates of Starfleet Academy. It’s hard to pick a favorite as the characters come from every era of the series. 

The first step of orientation is getting one’s Starfleet name badge and a personality test that partially determines their Starfleet rank. The second step inside the first part of the booth is a sorting game in the Botany Lab. Fans stand on one side of a large centerpiece table with outer space plants to play with.

The final part of the activation is a Galaga-style space shooting game where you have to defend your ship on the screen from various obstacles and enemies. At the end you find out your final score and your rank. The staff hand you a pin based on your rank the game determined as well as a themed clear concert bag. We graduated from Starfleet Academy with a rank of Science Officer. 

Most Family Friendly – Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender

Sorry to tell you this, millennials, but it is indeed 20 years since we were first introduced to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Thankfully, plenty of Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers are keeping the fandom going as they discover the universe for the first time. 

Avatar’s booth was designed as if fans were walking through the Wulong Forest. There were QR codes on the walls of the mountain when scanned, showing an AR animation of various characters representing the Air, Water, Fire and Earth elements running or performing other actions. Halfway through the line, you entered the Secret Tunnel, complete with the iconic song that accompanies it.

At the end of the secret tunnel were two photo opportunities: making your own .gif with your fave action or cosplay shot, and the chance to pose with Appa. On the way out kids could also pose with their favorite Avatar or other Nickelodeon characters. Unfortunately, likely due to space constraints, the ability to pose with spilled cabbages was in a separate booth. 

Most Culturally Immersive Experience – ANA Airlines

Many NYCC vendors gave fans a chance to win grand prize packs of merchandise but ANA Airlines took this to the next level by offering attendees two chances to win a trip to Japan. The first entry came via signing up electronically and the second through achieving high scores on one of three games.

The first game, Daruma Otoshi, is based on a real Japanese children’s game and was a test of strategy, strength, and self control. NYCC attendees were given a wooden mallet to hit one or two wooden circles with a Daruma doll on the top. The goal was to make the doll stand flat without toppling over or breaking the circles. 

There was also a trivia contest with a mix of facts about ANA and pics of famous Japanese landmarks and tourist spots. The final game was a claw machine filled with either tickets to earn a chance to punch another wall for prizes, stickers, or ANA pins. Each of these games provided a chance to learn about Japanese culture and increase the excitement of winning the grand prize trip. 

In addition to the games, there was also a photo op featuring cartoon characters drawn by Mino Minyabi representing the Japanese cities ANA flies to.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: CrunchyRoll’s Gachuyaza, WebToon, Duolingo, WalMart

Which was your favorite NYCC 2025 activation? Let us know in the comments!