With inches of snow on my car, I won’t be going anywhere tonight, lol! It’s New Year’s Eve and instead I’m just wrapped up in a warm blanket (with Heli on my shoulder), enjoying my coffee and looking back on this past year with a lot of gratitude for all the things that have happened.
2025 brought a lot of laser tag highlights and this is the time when I like to reflect on those cool moments that I’ve been fortunate enough to experience during the year. I call this my top ten list, but really these are in no particular order. They are all wonderful memories from another eventful year of laser tag travels and adventures.
1. The Laser Tag Summit
Early in the year I found myself included as part of the planning team to plan the Laser Tag Summit that took place during Amusement Expo International in Las Vegas. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure how that even happened! A small group of us who were dedicated to the idea of having laser tag represented during the expo’s educational conference schedule organized three panels to offer insights to laser tag operators. I served as both a moderator and a panelist for two of the panels and was really pleased with the content we were able to share, which included Laser Tag Off-Peak Marketing Ideas to Maximize Revenue, Numbers Don’t Lie: Where Is Laser Tag Trending and Laser Tag: Anchor vs Afterthought. If you missed it and want to see for yourself, each of these panels was featured in its entirety on the Laser Unfocused Tag Talk podcast, so the videos remain publicly available as a resource for laser tag operators.
2. Playing my 600th Arena
I played my 600th laser tag arena early in the year. After Noah Kim, my friend and tournament teammate, became the new owner of Ultrazone Portland in Oregon I chose this to be my milestone number arena. It was definitely a great choice! He has a stunning crystal-themed arena that is tournament ready, which I know because another highlight of my year was when I went back to play in the first tournament he hosted in June. He has also made some stunning improvements with lighting and effects, knowing from a player standpoint what makes an impression. As of this moment my personal arena count is currently sitting at 668, so will I hit 700 before expo next year? We’ll see!
3. Spotlighting the Museum Collection
Continuing my efforts to showcase the Laser Tag Museum Collection, both in person and virtually, I have spent a lot of time working on rebuilding the website at LaserTagMuseum.com to be a refreshed digital archive for the collection. Part of what I am doing includes weekly spotlight features called Museum Collection Monday, which I post online and on my website. However, this year I have also continued to take small displays on the road in both physical and virtual formats. After hosting two in-person displays at events last year in Pennsylvania and Ohio, I started 2025 by taking an in-person display to the East Coast Tournament and then provided virtual video displays for events in Oregon and Indiana. While the circumstances are different now, my main objective for keeping this collection visible is simply to continue sharing the history of laser tag and making it available to as wide an audience as I can. I feel like these are the best ways I can accomplish that right now.
4. Playing Helios 3 First
I was among the very first players in the United States to get to play Zone’s Helios 3. The first location to get it installed in the U.S. was Ultrazone Loudon, a facility owned by the president of Zone USA, Simon Willetts. As soon as I got word that the installation had taken place I was on a plane that very same weekend headed for Sterling, VA to be one of the first players ever to get the chance to experience it “out in the wild”.
5. Trading Tags with Pop Culture Celebs
While attending an event in Connecticut I had a chance to play some quick bursts of mini-laser tag games with Ming Chen of the tv show Comic Book Men, Robbie Rist from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and Brian Posehn of the Big Bang Theory. I was actually amazed when the event allowed me to bring in a home market laser tag set! We played short game bursts, trading tags at each of their respective booths. Ming Chen later went on to appear as a guest on my podcast, as he is legitimately a laser tag fan and remembered a few things about it from his youth. Robbie Rist, one of the influential voices from my past, had previously serenaded me on video with a rendition of Video To Radio that I connect with in a much deeper way now. The lyrics actually remind me of laser tag…”hooked on my system, I’m playing it on and on” and “high tech just turns me on” continue to resonate. Here are both of those videos.
6. Tag 4 A Cause from Coast To Coast
2025 marked my first Tag 4 A Cause from Coast to Coast for the Alzheimer’s Association. It began with a fundraiser held at The Fun Warehouse in New York and two weeks later concluded with a second event held at Ultrazone Portland in Oregon. This was the first time I had literally hosted Tag 4 A Cause on both the east and west coast in support of one great cause (although we have come close before). We also held separate Tag 4 A Cause events at other times of the year to benefit A Path 4 Paws Dog Rescue at Battle Blast in Las Vegas, NV and another to support the Epilepsy Foundation during a tournament at Skyway Laser Storm in Warren, OH.
7. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ultrazone Fort Wayne
I was delighted to return to Fort Wayne, IN to help celebrate this milestone anniversary. This is a standalone, legacy laser tag arena and that in and of itself makes it special. To have operated for 30 years is a really rare and special accomplishment and I was so happy I was able to attend the celebration. This site has been part of my journey since the very beginning. I played one leg of my first Armageddon there. Most of my first tournament team (All About That Base / Ascendance) were members at that site. Playing Battle For The Fort there in 2016 marked the catalyst for one of my first major laser tag road trips, which was a significant turning point in my tag travels…and returning for BFTF in 2019 was awesome too! I was delighted to be asked to contribute some laser tag history to the event. Owner Pat O’Connor was a wonderful host and I even got to play my first game of laser tag against Simon Willetts! ;)
8. Three Years of Podcasting
I celebrated the three year anniversary of the Laser Unfocused Tag Talk podcast (yes, we had cake!) and I also enjoyed appearing as a guest on the Creative Works Memory Makers Podcast with Russ Van Natta.
9. Tags 25 Miles
Bot, did we get creative this year! My thanks to the Fun Warehouse staff who indulge just about any crazy idea I have. This year I wanted to see if I could laser tag 25 miles in two days, exclusively counting only miles from games actually played in the arena, over the course of a Friday/Saturday. Beanz made a flyer and turned it into a little promotional event that concluded during their Halloween Party. At the same time I had an idea to do a video featuring some creative ways to incorporate pop culture into your laser tag arena. We filmed pink vs green packs being used by a fully costumed “pink witch” vs “green witch”. You can easily guess what theatrical event inspired this! Thank you Maddie for wearing a pink dress and crown while I wore a “Wicked cool” witch hat and gown for the game. That video was so much fun!
10. IAAPA
Heading to Orlando for IAAPA in November is one of my favorite ways to wind down the year and get a look at what I may start to see appearing in arenas in the near future. This was the year of the vestless phaser and most of the major laser tag companies now have a current vestless option in their line-up. During the IAAPA week I interviewed representatives from all the laser tag companies exhibiting at the show and did “Tivia Was Here” spotlight articles on each one.
2025 was certainly another year full of laser tag highlights. I can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store!
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
