Finding Myself in the Auto "Zone"

It probably should have dawned on me way sooner than it did that the auto themes I discovered during my next two stops were likely a tribute to being in such close proximity to the Motor City. You see, I bounced from the Fun Garage in Canton, MI over to Rev'd Up Fun in Wood Haven, both with prominent automotive themes and also running versions of Zone laser tag.

 

I stopped by the Fun Garage first.

 

As soon as I walked through the door I was greeted by manager John who did not know I was coming, but immediately took note of my Zero Gravity (Albany Zone site) t-shirt and was familiar with the location. I was surprised and impressed by that! He was kind enough to walk me to the arena and make sure that I got into the arena quickly because I was trying to keep on schedule. Although he said I could wait for a group, he gave me the choice to play a one on one with game master James and that sounded like the best option...although perhaps a bit of a surprise for James!

 

You can see behind us in the vesting room there was a stop sign, just one example of how they incorporated the theme. Inside the double level arena had a CW theme that I have seen before with the "fun garages" housing the bases and video screens.

 

We played a light game of Helios CE. I had a partial view into the base housing from the upper level, but opted to defend it from the lower level where we played the majority of the game. However, if we were playing in a more populated game I would have likely spent more time taking bird's eye shots from that upper level that was accessible from ramps on either side.

 

After the game I inquired whether they had t-shirts available and the girls at the counter were terrific to send me home with some tag swag.

 

What I will remember most about the Fun Garage is the really personable staff I encountered. From the greeting at the door, the friendly conversations with the staff on both sides of the laser tag entrance and the sweet girls at the counter who gave me props by telling me that they loved and admired that I was living a really cool adventure by doing what I love. I really do love laser tag, but I also love meeting great people like this along the way and, while my visit to the Fun Garage was short, it was memorable because of the people there and the way they made me feel as a customer. Next time through I hope to have more time here!

 

Then I was off to my second Zone location of the day.

 

Everything about this site gives nods to the auto industry. I really should have taken a few photos of the cars on display because, even though I know nothing about cars, I'm sure there is a story behind them and there were several sharp looking automobiles showcased throughout the lobby.

 

Rev'd Up Fun uses Helios Pro and similarly, had another CW arena design, however the aesthetic here had a little more deliberate "roughness" to go along with their Junkyard Wars theme.

 

While I was waiting in line for the next laser tag session to go in I was greeted by a gentleman checking on the game and from the way he was being attentive to customers I sensed he must be an owner. In fact he was one of the business partners, Kevin Johnson, and I let him know that I was here because of the positive recommendation I had been given about this site. When it was time to enter the game I went in with a family group and game master Angelo joined to help even out the teams.

 

This was a larger playing space and plenty of bells and whistles. I walked through one gate over to a video screen and had a V8 moment when I actually walked right past the base because I was expecting to find it in one spot and it was...well, exactly where I should have found it!

 

I found a pick-up pad in one corner...

 

...and maneuvered around some of the interesting decorative structures all throughout the arena.

 

This was a nice, double level arena and we played a lot of this game on the upper level, so there was a bit of contrast between the two visits. I had a nice time playing with the group here. It's very nice to see how both these locations played up what this part of Michigan is known for and I really enjoyed getting to play two Zone sites right on the heels of having played two Blast sites earlier in the day. And once I hopped into my own "auto zone" (i.e. my rental car) I was headed to Ohio next. What a great time I had visiting Michigan again!

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Zap Zone x 2 - Back To Back in Canton and Farmington

I visited two Zap Zone locations back to back while in Michigan and had two totally different experiences, which was really cool for the sake of comparison. I had just assumed that because there are several in the area that they must be a franchise that would basically be quite similar, but visiting the Canton location first followed by the Farmington site gave me a real appreciation for the unique differences between the two.

 

In order to get to all the arenas I wanted I had to start out early on Saturday. I've done enough of these trips to realize that the likelihood of just showing up and finding a game ready to go first thing in the morning is slim, but I've often times gotten to play better games with the staff if I show up at a quiet time like this and that was how it went when I arrived at Zap Zone Canton.

 

Lucas was willing to do a one on one since I got there before any groups, so we headed into the vesting room to get ready.

 

This location uses Cyber Blast, so I tried to connect with my membership card, but it didn't take. But I didn't sweat it and we just headed into the arena. It was a bright, two level arena with neon paint glowing under the black lights at every turn.

 

What made this arena distinctive was the "swiss cheese" nature of all the cutouts everywhere you look. There were lots of places to stay covered while having a clear shot through one of these windowed cutouts.

 

Although there was an original hand-painted kind of aesthetic I am going to speculate that the actual structure of the arena must have been heavily inspired by Laser Quest because there was a very familiar feel to some of the elements like the way the mirrors were placed at the ends of the ramps and just a general vibe that had that kind of feel. However, the design elements were all their own with some cool alien artwork that I was told was part of the more recent paint job.

 

I thank Lucas for making this a great way to start a Saturday morning. He gave me an excellent game that was WAY better than I had expected at that hour and it was nice to be able to experience this arena that I know was the home site where my friend Amber has started playing years ago. When the game was over we went out to check the scores and, well...there are some interesting insights here. I was playing as Cosmo and Lucas had the pack called Wanda.

 

And before I left I picked up a Zap Zone t-shirt to take back as a souvenir. When I looked at the clock I realized I had to make a choice. I had too much time to kill before my next planned arena was set to open and I didn't want to waste a minute of my time in Michigan. I remembered Jesse told me the night before that he felt the Farmington Zap Zone was the best one and should not be missed. Even though Ann Arbor was possibly closer in hindsight I decided it would be worth taking the time to drive up to Zap Zone Farmington instead and I am so glad that I did!

 

When I arrived at Zap Zone Farmington I was introduced to Ghelam. He rocks! When I told him about my travels he said "So you love laser tag? Do you KNOW where you are?!" and he showed me how much they love laser tag in Farmington, telling me all about his history with the game the special formats they play here using Hyper Blast to play one life games where a Mike Myers type character "hunts you down", the Deatheater and Fortnite-style eliminators and all sorts of fun games that I could play if I were able to show up in the evening. However, since my schedule only allowed me this brief window to see what Zap Zone had to offer Ghelam made sure I still got a memorable experience.

 

First he brought me into a game with a party group briefing in progress. He offered them up a few choices of special game modes and the decision was made to play "Ghostbusters". Really this was just a game of Rabbit, but by calling the rabbit a "ghost" and theming it with some cool music and sound effects to set the stage this turned into a really fun game with a twist. It's the little things that can really transform an average game and turn it into an experience and that's how I felt at the end of this game. An added bonus was a Ghostbusters themed prize at the end.

 

Then before another group had a chance to enter the arena Ghelam took me in for a really unique one on one game. It was an elimination game of Deathmatch where we went in with six lives each. With the shot speed slowed down to only one shot every two seconds there was a different feel (a little like Photon, but even slower!) and once I got into the arena I discovered something else rather unexpected. You see, Ghelam sent me in first to find a hiding spot among the neon walls.

 

This game required stealth movement and with two seconds between the shots you would have to be accurate or else there would be plenty of time for an opponent to tag you during that length of down time. So I expected a higher level of intensity to this game. What I did not expect was to see a dark, shadowy caped creature lurking around the corner stalking me. Ghelam came into the game dressed like this!

 

Let me say, this took everything up a notch! Sometimes games like this get the heart pumping faster, but I have to give him credit because this surprise really took it to another level. I absolutely LOVED this game! He asked me beforehand if I wanted him to play it full out and I said absolutely. That's what he did and I think this game lasted longer than either of us really expected. It was a very immersive experience. I landed a few decent shots, but ultimately he eliminated me first. Good game...even though I do have to point out that the cape did cover up his back sensor! ;) It's all good. This was a really unique experience and proved to me that this place really is all about the laser tag. I hope I get a chance to return sometime when I can play one of their multi-format tag nights. Thanks to Ghelam for giving me a taste of that experience this early in the day. And big props to this site for the level of creativity. Everything about this place says "go big!" and I'm glad it was recommended to me because I appreciated being able to compare two awesome, but completely different Zap Zone experiences.

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Just Enough Time To Escape

I had just enough time before the end of the night to make my way over to Escape, a bowling alley with bar/grille and a nice little two level laser tag arena in Troy, MI. I called ahead and Anna assured me there would be a game to join when I arrived, so I made my way to the site and got there in time to join a group that included a few patrons and a couple of employees.

 

Not pictured in the photo (because he was taking the picture for us) was one employee (and I apologize for not catching his name) who decided to go rogue. While three of the ladies teamed up on blue and I went on red with Anna and Nikki, with seven players we had an odd number of players. I suggested that this guy might do well to play on the blue team, figuring that since one of them showed up wearing high heels that it would help to even things out if he teamed up with them. But instead this guy chose to play as a team of one. Well, in my mind that meant the dynamic suddenly changed from a team game to a cat and mouse chase...which I must admit I enjoyed far more! You see, I was far less interested in tagging the ladies than I was in keeping this guy from farming points on everyone. Mathematically that's what happens when one player is able to shoot at all the targets while the team players have far less targets from which to pull their points. So I made a far more deliberate effort to even the score here.

 

I began by taking the base.

 

Then we meandered through the double level maze and I appreciated that we actually had a pretty good game in spite of the inherent imbalance. I had a very good time playing with this group. And I held the lead against the solo player, acknowledging afterwards why he had to be the primary target in there...which of course he knew.

 

Although the arena here is not very large they used the space quite well. The bases had enough cover that they a player could not easily be tagged from the top level.

 

The map layout had enough places to take cover while being open and playable.

 

I enjoyed the game and even more enjoyed chatting afterwards with manager Nikki (different person from the Nikki who played in the game) who has a background in Laserforce...even though we were playing Zone here. We compared notes and realized that we know many of the same people in the laser tag community. I have really grown to appreciate the fact that everywhere I go I find that laser tag is such a small world and I'm only ever a few degrees from knowing someone who knows someone I've played tag with before. It's really nice to have a sense of connection with tag players all over the country! Before I left I decided to stop over to the bar area and order some food for the road. I had been up since 2:00 am and had not eaten on a sensible schedule. So I took the food (which included quesadillas and a REALLY good banana bourbon cake) with me to my hotel, checking in at about 1:30 in the morning. 23 hours after I started the day my head hit the pillow hard, but I slept well knowing I had already had some wonderful experiences this day and looking forward to all the places I had left to visit. What a great way to start the weekend!

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Revolution

As ridiculous as this may sound, I somewhat deliberately opted NOT to return to this site until now simply because until just recently I struggled with how to count it on my list. I played here when it was Laser Edge, totally skipped over the whole interesting era in between and this weekend I returned to Clinton Township, MI to play this site, now under a new name and ownership as Revolution Laser Tag.

 

 

This is a Laserforce site that many of my friends in Syracuse have play fairly frequently. At this point I've established some new parameters for how I will count arenas that I've played in different incarnations like this one. I won't count it twice, but I will recognize that it has gone through some significant changes since I was here before..at least I think it has. I haven't been here since Armageddon in 2015 and at that time I was too early into my blogging to realize I would want photos of the arenas I played, so I can't say for sure that my memory is entirely correct. I do recall the last time there was a spaceship kind of prop in the middle which was conspicuously absent this time around. But a few things were familiar to me. When I made my way to the upper level I had a very specific memory of this hallway.

 

And much of the rest of the arena seemed vaguely familiar as well.

 

But I believe this must be a new element because I have zero recollection of either this structure or the tablet beacon being here before.

 

I didn't originally expect to be traveling in this part of the state, so I didn't plan in advance for this particular visit, but I appreciate that Beanz called ahead to give them heads up that I'd be stopping in. I had a chance to visit with some of the regulars here including Jesse at the front counter who had some great suggestions about which other arenas in the area to visit and also Avenger and Schwifty Taco, just back from the random draw tournament in Syracuse. It was kind of fun to surprise them by showing up as an unexpected level six which they didn't realize until the first game way underway. We only played standard team games during the time I was there, but I enjoyed their AYCP night which included pizza and a drink, so it was a good value. I also appreciated getting to bring back a t-shirt. However, I was unable to stay for more than a few games because I was trying to experience as many arenas as possible, so I was off and running again before too long. Even though it was a bit of a haul driving from the Detroit airport to Okemos and then back again to the other side of Detroit in one afternoon I am really glad I got to check out Revolution Laser Tag and get in some great Force games before I left Michigan. :)

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Previewing Helios 2 Before the "Launch"

When I heard that the laser tag arena at Launch Trampoline Park of Lansing, MI was on track to have the first completed installation in the United States of the new Zone Helios 2 system I immediately made plans to travel to Michigan so I could be among the first people in the nation to play. Little did I know that there was actually a race to first with arenas in Texas and New Jersey having installation completed just hours after Lansing! But these three are all among the very first Helios 2 sites in the country and even though another arena was technically open to the public first, I still think it is amazing to say that I got to play at the first installed Helios 2 site in the U.S. which made it totally worth the effort to travel there this past weekend.

Launch Lansing is not yet open as of my writing this post, however they plan to be very soon...keep your eyes open for them by mid-February 2019. My experience was particularly special because owners Val and Matt Dalson were kind enough to allow me an advance preview of their site and newly completed arena even before the place was officially open. I want to extend my thanks to them and also to the staff who were there to greet me when I arrived at the new Launch located inside the Meridian Mall in Okemos, MI.

Chris and Peter were the first people I met upon my arrival. I told them a little bit about my laser tag adventures and then, along with Sam and Christina, we made our way to the entry door to their Fury Laser Tag Experience.

We entered the vesting room and I was really psyched up to see the packs ready for action. This was exciting!

Every time I put the vests on I'm appreciative that I don't have to lift it over my head. The vests are very comfortable. Peter asked me if the clips felt right to me and I assured him that they did. As we suited up for the game I half-jokingly volunteered to give the briefing. They took me up on my offer and I gave them my speedy recitation of the rules...

After the camera was turned off, then I rapped the rules...but we'll save that for another day! :)

Then the time came to begin the first game! I went into the arena sight unseen, so this video gives you a little peek at how things went as well as a walking tour of the arena.

The equipment is very comfortable to use. As someone who has spent a lot of hours with the Nexus style phaser it felt familiar in some ways. You can opt for using a Zone hold and grip the top of the phaser or hold it from below to cover one of the sensors on the bottom. This just feels right to me and more natural than some other styles. However the new design has some very distinctive features. The body of the phaser is significantly longer and the blue extended tip has a sensor on the inside so you can shoot right down the barrel. It's got a good half inch laser beam and felt very spot-on accurate. There's an easy touch circle on either side just above the trigger which allows you to toggle between modes comfortably whether you are using your right or left hand.

Another significant point to note with Helios 2 that you can see here is having the speaker right on the phaser itself. The sound quality was very good!

We experimented a bit with the dual firing modes, going between the shotgun and blast options that you can see on the nice color screen at the back of the phaser.

I think they currently have the shot speed set a little faster than it is at my home site, so I enjoyed getting to play around with that timing. We all took the opportunity to try things out between games in the vesting room...Peter got a kick out of realizing he could take out four players with one shot!

Then I wanted to see some of the back end elements. This system can be controlled using a cell phone, but they showed me another controller that looked a little like a car starter.

Besides allowing the game master to deactivate a player if necessary this also allows them to do utilize a very smart new feature...pausing the game.

Check out the new HAL box (named for the movie computer you think) and notice that there are two buttons. One will still start and stop the game, but the other now allows them to pause a game without losing data. I remember a tournament experience I had with the Ascendance team a few years ago where that would have been a VERY handy feature, so it's nice to see it here.

We played again and took a few pics in the arena. You will recognize immediately that it's a Creative Works design.

I had such a great time getting familiar with the space. If you like Zone already you will appreciate that the game feels the same as you expect.

I can't tell you how happy it made me to be among the first people getting to see the arena and try out the system. This was a great time and the staff were terrific! I thank them so much for allowing me this advance preview of Helios 2.

When we had our fill and the staff had to return to getting things ready for the grand opening Peter took me for a tour of the rest of the Launch facility. They will have food available (including pizza, dessert and more) as well as plenty of cool activities for all ages. There are areas for dodgeball...

Xtreme Dodgeball...

A ninja course...

...and a Battle Pit that will be for a jousting kind of activity. That looks REALLY fun!

And of course, trampolines! I got a bird's eye view of it all from their upstairs observation deck where Peter told me a bit of the history of Launch.

He explained to me that the concept for Launch was a collaboration between Rob Arnold and Ty Law (a three time Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots...how appropriate that I got the tour on the big game weekend). They started the first Launch business in Rhode Island so that they could take the trampoline park idea to the next level for their kids to have a high energy place to play. Well, based on what I saw, I'd say mission accomplished! There are Launch franchises in quite a few states and I am excited that there is one opening soon in New Jersey that will also have Helios 2 so I'll get to experience this system again before too long. Maybe next time I'll even try the trampolines!

Well, I always enjoy a unique laser tag experience and I thank Launch Trampoline Park of Lansing for providing me with exactly that. Helios 2 is great and I hope that it attracts a lot of laser tag players (I know they'll be seeing a lot of players from Fort Wayne very soon) and I wish them lots of success. I'll definitely return the next time I pass through Michigan!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com