A new Laserforce game format debuted as part of a new update this week and we kicked off our members night in Syracuse by experiencing our first game of Challenge Royale.
This is a really unique game concept, sort of like if laser tag games were speed dating. A ten minute mission is broken up into five “mini-games” that run two minutes each and the game format changes for every mini-game. What makes this even more interesting is that the mini-games are randomized, so every time you play this format it will be a little different.
For each mini-game the points start fresh, but you earn your total score by accumulating a percentage of the “prestige points” that are awarded after each mini-game. Although mini-game scores reset to zero each time, prestige points carry over until the end, determining the final standings.
Prestige points are pooled together with 1000 points per player added to the pot, which is then divided up at the end of each mini-game based on each player’s performance. The prestige point allotment does go up with each successive game between challenges 2-4.
Beanz advised we needed at least ten players for this game because the number of teams would change each mini-game, taking us from a two team warm-up (which will always be the first mini-game format to start things off) to a five team “Hectic Finale” (hence the need for at least ten if we are eventually going to be divided into five teams).
All the packs begin in rainbow mode, so you don’t know which team you will start on and your team changes for every mini-game anyway. For the first game (the warm-up) I was starting on the red team, which could have been a coin toss since there were only two teams playing essentially a standard team game. Until…
With a 15 second reset between mini-games and the new randomized format announced over the speakers, the system split us into random teams, with the second mini-game having three teams, the third having four teams and the fourth having five teams.
For each of those mini-games there are nine possible game formats that could come up. Whatever format is announced, that’s what you play. In a nutshell, the game formats are as follows…
Hidden Teams - This is a little like Wedlock, only rather than trying to figure out who your partner is, you must try to identify all your teammates, basically through trial and error as you tag them and wait to see the result.
Limited Shots - Fairly standard, except (as the name suggests) you have limited shots.
Targets Only - In this format you only score points by destroying bases.
Payback Time - Deactivation times are longer, so you should make good use of paybacks when they are available.
Missile Away - Everything takes more hits than normal, so feel free to missile (you get 100 missiles, which you will NEVER use up in two minutes, so feel free to use them liberally).
Itchy Trigger - Pull the trigger as fast as possible for up to 10 shots per second, but note that all targets take more hits to deactivate.
Target Buildup - Destroy targets to increase your shield strength.
Random Deactivation - Everyone’s downtime changes throughout the game, which means they could be down for two seconds, eight seconds or anything in between.
Target Climax - The longer you leave the targets active, the more points they are worth when you finally do deactivate them.
So any of those game formats could have randomly come up for mini-games 2-4, but here is the combination that actually did come up for our game.
For Target Climax, I am amazed I scored as high as I did because my typical M.O. is to go for bases first and quickly and I COMPLETELY forgot the objective was to hold out for them to be worth more. But, we won anyway, so all’s well that ends well.
Hidden Teams went well, perhaps in part because I identified my hidden teammates very quickly and we communicated that information well.
Target Buildup - This is the only game where my team did not take first, but I think I attribute this mostly to everyone going their own way.
The fifth (and last) mini-game is called Hectic Finale. It’s essentially a super-supercharged free for all, where it played at a frenzied pace and players went down to two-second deactivations.
At the end I looked down at my phaser and felt like I had earned a good share of the prestige points.
The final standings reaffirmed that and I found myself at the top of the scoreboard.
But if I wanted a more detailed analysis of what had just happened I had to check the results at the member kiosk.
My overall assessment of this game format is that I really enjoyed it! I came out of the Hectic Finale with my adrenaline pumping and feeling like I got a really good workout! I am looking forward to playing it again to see how it plays out with another combination of mini-games, but based on my first experience, I think this is a lot of fun and it feels like you are getting more than ten minutes of play while it is happening.
This actually makes me think they have taken a new spin on an established way to make you feel like you’ve gotten more out of the experience. There is a school of thought in laser tag that you can marry up two or more shorter games and offer them as a “session” vs selling a single game experience. This logic may benefit operators in terms of value perception for the dollar spent. It seems to me that this format takes that same idea to whole a different level, but accomplishes it in the same amount of time that would be allocated for any standard game, so no extra time is spent in the arena, but the perception of the value of the time may be higher. Even though I have not been a big fan of this “session-style” of game offerings in the past, I really do like how it works at a faster pace inside this new game format. There may be a bit of a learning curve to identify and remember the objectives for each mini-game, but once this gets incorporated into the game rotation I think it will be easy enough for players to pick up with enough variety to keep it interesting!
The rest of members night was a great time as always and I want to take a moment to acknowledge the approach my local laser tag site has been using recently to draw members out on nights they may not typically attend. I am a strong believer that operators often make the decision about which laser tag system they purchase based at least in some part on the number or style of game options. Most manufacturers offer a wide range of game formats, but many operators fall into the unfortunate trap of only running two (standard team and free for all). To quote Russ Van Natta of Creative Works from our recent podcast discussion (click here) “don’t buy a Ferrari and just deliver pizzas with it”…although we do all enjoy pizza during members night!
The point is, if you have a variety of game options available, it behooves you to make use of them, either by setting up a special night (such as a members night) during your off-peak hours, like on a quiet Tuesday, or do it the way we have experienced lately at my home site. Here they alternate groups with members getting one wristband color and birthday parties or public games getting another. This allows them to evenly rotate games steadily throughout the night by calling different groups for different kinds of missions. While providing more advanced players with a chance to try something new, there is no disruption to those that may prefer a more standard game experience. In handling it this way they are pursuing two completely separate player groups and accommodating the preferences of each, all within the same window of time that they would run normal games on any Saturday night. To me, this approach seems like a win-win. Give them some prestige points for that! :)
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
