The Pit Stop
Playing catch up from last weekend...
On a recent weekend excursion to Pennsylvania Paul and I decided to make a pit stop along the way to a laser tag arena I knew nothing about other than it was close to our route. We found it listed on wheretoplaylasertag.com as using Zone Nexus so I thought it would be a great opportunity to sample another Zone arena for practice. As it turns out...not so much.
Through no fault of the facility this turned out to be a waste of twenty minutes of time that we could have continued driving. You see, while it is correct that they were using Nexus equipment (which made this sign out front ironically incorrect)...
...it was way too generous to use the word "arena" to describe the playing area. While I give them points for artistry, this was in essence a postage stamp of a room about the length of my living room/dining room area.
One level, a few barriers that were largely waist high on us (clearly intended for kids) and before entering I asked about bases. The girl at the counter looked at me quizzically and said I could start at either end of the room that I wanted. I clarified that I was asking if there were bases to shoot and she said "no, I don't think so". And since there were in fact bases on the ceiling corners her lack of awareness of them was mystifying to me. But we had already paid, so we suited up and got ready to go in...we were the only two people playing.
This is where the story gets stupidly embarrassing. It's a tiny room...with two players. Me (you know about me) and Paul who is on a competitive paintball team and is also former military...we each adopt a spot and try to snipe the other...and we are both missing! A LOT!
I blame the equipment to some degree. I had shots register on him significantly more than he did on me, but during the second game he called time out, convinced that even though his phaser was able to tag my vest it was not tagging the base properly...and he was correct. The shots felt nothing like I am used to even on Nexus and the whole experience was...let's say cute, but not productive. Again, through no fault of the facility...it might be a fun first laser tag experience for young kids, but I had no idea what we were walking into until we were already there. Sigh...moving on.
Comments or questions? Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com
