This week on the Laser Unfocused Tag Talk podcast I’m chatting with Oli Downton about his experiences playing Laser Quest in England and serving as a Williams Syndrome ambassador.
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Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
It was incredibly important to me that this quarter’s Tag 4 A Cause would benefit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Knowing that I had the support of Ultrazone Bensalem was equally significant and I want to thank Rob, Dan and the entire UZ team for hosting me for the Tag 4 A Cause night held here in support of this cause that has personal meaning to many players in our laser tag community.
We took this opportunity to do something positive and raise funds to help support the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline with their good work and mission to provide free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours, 7 days a week, across the United States. It started with me setting up a display with medals for any laser tag players who chose to make a donation that night.
I shared the information about the evening’s events including the laser tag 5K challenge and high score trophy contest during the briefing prior to every game and people took an interest. I want to thank everyone who donated to this important cause.
What was really heartening to me was how even some very young players really got behind this. I had one group of kids walk up together and each told me one by one “we want to help.” I don’t know if they fully understood the enormity of what the cause was about, but they certainly did understand that they wanted to help do something good for someone else and that is why they are each wearing a medal!
Even the birthday girl and her sister took a moment away from her party to show support.
Tag 4 A Cause nights are always a great time because it is about fundraising, fitness and fun. When you donate you know you are helping a great cause, but additionally when you accept the challenge to laser tag 5K during your games and earn the medal the result combines fitness and fun! After all, laser tag burns calories, gets you moving, is great for team building, sportsmanship and is a healthy form of competition. These are the things I love most about playing laser tag, so I jumped into some games at the end to earn my laser tag 5K medal too!
The competitive part of the night was a bonus challenge and all the participants who contributed were eligible to be part of the high score trophy contest. Congratulations to Josh Scott who won the golden phaser award with his high score of 20,402. Nice!
On a personal note, playing at Ultrazone Bensalem is meaningful to me because this is where I have enjoyed playing on many occasions including several tournaments with my friend Katt, who I believe would have appreciated this kind of event taking place in her home Zone arena. My thanks again to everyone at Ultrazone for helping to make this event happen.
This was the perfect place to begin this Tag 4 A Cause challenge and the fundraising will continue online and virtually between now and the end of December. If you would like to be involved you can make a donation to the cause and complete the laser tag 5K challenge from any laser tag arena, anywhere. Find all the info at https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/tag-4-988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline.
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
One of the things George Carter believed to be very important when creating Photon, the very first laser tag, was that it be an immersive experience. Over 35 years later that is still a key component to making a player feel like they have left their own reality and entered into a completely different environment. I experienced this first-hand during a particularly unique tactical laser tag experience when I played at Tac Ops in Fairfield, NJ.
I was fortunate that a time session had opened up, allowing me a window of time to take a tour of the arena with owner Armando before heading in for a few games. I got to see how the arena was designed with a lot of creativity and attention to details, starting as we walked past the “Duke and Duke” red respawn area decked out like the brokerage offices from Trading Places, right down to the name plates by the entrance.
There were plenty of unique rooms throughout the arena including a gym with weight bags and a boiler room.
Looks like someone crashed into the boiler room with their vehicle. It wasn’t me!
Perhaps you need a conference room (or access to a weapons upgrade box) mid-game? This was one of several locations where upgrade boxes were scattered throughout the arena.
Or a shave and a haircut…two bits! The blue respawn was located inside a barber shop themed room and here’s where we get back to the immersive atmosphere. Even though I love to see interesting theming in traditional laser tag arenas, my experience with tactical arenas has largely been more theatrical. When an arena is built with “rooms” rather than just barrier walls there are plenty of opportunities to incorporate a storyline or décor that sets the scene. However, Tac Ops has done something subtle, but extremely effective in parts of this arena that I do not believe I have encountered before. They have pumped in some scent to really make the space look, feel and smell completely immersive! I started each game respawning at the barber shop where I could recognize and appreciate the scent of shaving cream that was pumped in and definitely added to the realism.
This wasn’t the only place where scent was added. Inside the Jersey Spirits bar room there were a few interesting props.
While I was tagging behind the counter, I took note of the faint scent of stale beer being pumped in to really make you feel like you are in an abandoned bar room.
And across from one of the towers, next to the news stand there is a particularly notable prop. A tank! Now, I have seen tanks inside arenas before, but what made this a real standout is the smoke emitting from the barrel with a strong scent of propellant as if artillery had just been fired.
Believe me, I know the scent of your typical arena fog, and this was a completely different and highly effective way to engage all the senses as we tagged in what Armando accurately described to me as a cross between laser tag and an escape room.
When it was time to get the games started, game marshal Kayla gave a thorough briefing of the Battle Company gear. I signed in using my CallSign account and we were ready for a round of Deathmatch.
With a quick review of the map, we were ready to start.
I had a private game session played as a 1v1, so we stuck to the basics. I know if I had played with a group there would be a vast array of game possibilities from Capture the Flag to other strategic mission-based options. For this visit we started with Deathmatch and moved on to a Free For All format where you could upgrade your weapon by eliminating opposing players. Both were a blast and I give a big shout out to Kayla for her skill and her game advice in the field.
I was definitely impressed with my Tac Ops experience! This site had recently been suggested to me and I was really lucky to get a game session coinciding with the time I was passing through northern New Jersey. It was a great time. I loved that there were personalized dog tags available as a cool tag swag souvenir to take back with me.
Tac Ops has definitely made their laser tag a completely immersive experience and that is a HUGE part of what engages players and keeps them coming back. I hope to return to this site too!
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
While passing through New Jersey a theme began to develop. This trip would include a lot of memorable Quick Stops!
I assure you this is a real store…and they are open!
However, my laser tag quick stops were something different all together. Several arenas were kind enough to grant me short games in order to make sure that I was able to experience their laser tag on my already tight schedule (and theirs) and I am very appreciative that I had the opportunities. These are the stories of three laser tag experiences that were each literally two-minute games…talk about a really “quick stop!”
My day got a lively start as I paid a visit to Lively Laser Tag in Springfield, NJ.
I had wanted to check this place out for a while, but did not realize that they would be fully booked all day with birthday parties and not anticipating walk-ins like me. I pretty much had only this one brief window of time if I was going to be able to see what Lively had to offer. Thankfully, Trish (the owner) was wonderful enough to make a quick window of time for me in between her party groups so that I could do a two-minute game, 1v1 against staff member Ryan.
I was immediately
impressed to see an homage to Broadway with some beautifully inspired NYC theming
that harkened back to a few of my favorite stage shows.
I love when an arena features something that is not only creative and different, but also gives a nod to something local. This was a perfect fit! A couple of circles around the arena gave me a taste of what Lively Laser Tag is all about. There were raised areas in the corners to give players a bit of height. I really liked what I saw here. It’s no wonder they are so popular with their party groups!
The next day I drove out to Bounce About Laser Tag in Toms River, NJ.
The
reasons were different, but once again I was given a two-minute opportunity to
get in a game before their day got busy. This was an arena that I would have definitely
loved to spend ore time playing, but appreciate that they made a concession to
allow me a brief experience on a day when both time and staffing were tight.
The theming is what stood out to me the most in this 4500 square foot double level arena. I’m told the aquatic theme was hand painted by four artists from Florida. It was definitely an eye catcher!
Sometimes
theming is what catches my attention. However, when I visited Fun Time Junction
in Fairfield, NJ what stood out to me the most was how well suited their space
was to the youngest laser tag players. This fun center is specifically geared
for kids, so they have chosen the vestless Laser Blast gear to be easy for little
ones to use without having to wear a pack. I enjoyed chatting with the owner,
Scott, about the vinyl-style arena and the intentions he has for growing his
laser tag in the future. I was delighted to get my final two-minute game
against staff member Kai so I could check out this space while Scott was giving
a briefing to a group of party kids who were really excited about experiencing
laser tag. I played just long enough to call it a game and then make way for
the smiling faces who were ready to take my place.
Different arena styles function well for specific clientele and I could tell all these arenas were focused on giving their younger customers an awesome laser tag experience. However, I want to thank them all for giving me enough of a taste of the experience as well so that I could share a bit about what they have to offer. These quick stops were all memorable…as was one more Quick Stop in New Jersey.
Shifting gears, I am a big fan of Kevin Smith. When I learned that the Quick Stop Groceries in Leonardo (where he filmed both Clerks and Clerks III) was a place where you could actually visit and shop, there was no question I was going to have to make a detour.
So, here are a couple of pics of the most memorable
Quick Stop that I was able to visit on this trip to New Jersey along my way to
Tag 4 A Cause. Enjoy!
Comments
or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
