Tiviachick Loves Laser Tag: Stepping Up to Spaceland

I love it when a laser tag experience is completely different from what I expect and that was the case when I paid a visit to Spaceland Family Fun Center and Indoor Paintball in Tacoma, WA. I had called ahead and spoken to Ashton to learn that this location uses the Netronic laser tag equipment, which I was interested to play because I have only had limited experiences with it up to this point. However, I was pressed for time and didn’t know if I would be able to get there in time, as I was also playing beat the clock to get to Portland on time for the evening events that brought me across the country.

As it turned out, the timing was absolutely perfect. I walked into meet the owner Vitale, who led me to a staircase where Ashton met me and showed me the way to the upstairs arena. They had a group of five already playing that had only just started their game, so Ashton asked them if I could join their group, which would let me get into a game quickly and help to balance out the number of players. This was ideal! Ashton set me up with a Falcon 1 Netronic tagger and head sensor and sent me in to join the game in progress, which was a 20 minute session that still had 15 minutes left to play. Perfect!

This arena was completely unexpected! The laser tag takes place in a brightly colored neon maze of walls and rooms with vivid carpeting giving it a much more fun feeling than the tactical aesthetic I had imagined I might see. Ashton led me over to the blue team base. I aimed my phaser at the base positioned on the floor and waited for the familiar “Go, Go, Go!” to signal I was in the game.

Checking out the view from the base window cutout, I decided to start by edging around the perimeter to seek out the opponents on the red team.

I scanned the main room of the arena.

I ducked into a little alcove to tag around the corner and focused on making the head shot, which I feel has the easier sensor to aim for (as opposed to the elongated barrel sensor).

The footprint of this arena is on the smaller side, but they made great use of the space. This is where I first discovered the two side rooms with different theming in each one. The main room is all bright neon with a lot of geometric design work painted on the walls. The first attached room is airbrushed with space-inspired swirls.

Then off to the side is another adjacent room with lightning design.

So there are plenty of unique elements within the space.

When the game was over we checked out the scoreboard. I had taken the top placement, playing with the codename Gray.

Once the group was done, Ashton hung back to give me a tour.

He and Vitale showed me the indoor paintball arena and some of the other attractions that they offer.

I found this entertainment center to be unique in appearance and design with lots of options and located in an area where you might not expect to find this kind of facility. I enjoyed my visit thoroughly and thank them for the hospitality!