Some Runner Along The Way

I was working to the east yesterday morning and as I was on my way back I passed a place I had been curious about for awhile. During the week I frequently go by this mini-golf course with a large building by their driving range that has a sign that says "Lazer Tag"...but they are never open when I am in town. Their hours are on the weekends and rarely do I have occasion to be over that way with time on my hands...but I did this weekend, so I stopped. I knew from looking at the building that they would be using Lazer Runner. Although I enjoy this system, I also feel that it equates to a lower budget kiddie laser tag experience...or LT Lite as I have called it before. Nonetheless, I wanted to see what this experience would be like. I bought one game, as that was all I really had the time for.

There was a group of teenagers who were going in for the game and I was glad because teens are fair game. Since I was driving my conspicuously wrapped work vehicle and I am a semi-recognizable figure in this area it would not be good for anyone to see me going in to dominate the game against a bunch of little kids, but teens are perfectly acceptable competition in my mind. And they seemed pleased that I was there to balance out their game and we played three on three.

The building looks large from the outside, but on the inside the arena was a bit small with a decent maze area, but VERY easy to figure out quickly. Now, these kids had apparently been playing there earlier, but I don't know if they had totally figured out that the name of the game for points is bases. I think a couple of the guys had. This was a walking tour for me to hit a few players, hit a few bases and repeat. The teens were pretty good, but I knew I was going to take this round easily.

My one major issue with my experience was that the arena was dark and there was a wet patch on the floor that I slipped on and took a header right on my bad ankle. It hurt considerably for awhile after that happened. When I brought it to the attention of the attendant she said "oh, yeah...that's because of the fog machine. It drips." Unacceptable answer.

Outside of that it was an enjoyable experience and if I passed by on a weekend I would probably stop again. I enjoyed playing with the teens and was asked if I would go in for another game, but I thought better of it only because of the time. I also felt like I had accomplished all I wanted to by going in and seeing what this place was about and coming out on top once. The mom with the group said "she smoked you guys" as she noted my score of 9900. Not my top Lazer Runner accomplishment, but when they printed the scorecards I was gratified to see a scale of point measurement for the first time (although I was told later on that night that there may be a flaw to the scoring in this system...but nonetheless).

So, there was no real need to stick around longer because I had a full night of laser tag ahead of me with two arenas in my sights for the rest of the evening. We'll get serious then.

If you have a comment or question visit my websites at www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com (new version coming soon) and www.photonforever.com or email me at tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com.