An Odyssey of the Force

The first arena I visited once I arrived in Washington was Odyssey-1 in Tacoma, WA. The owner, Barry, was there at the site when I arrived and seemed very interested in my goal when I explained to him a bit about my blog and my journey. I appreciated him working things out and even joining me for a game of Laserforce while I was there. I chatted with Barry and a staff member named William about my experience with the game. They asked me what level I had achieved and both seemed pretty impressed with my level 6 status. It’s interesting how in Syracuse I take it for granted that just about everybody who plays a lot inevitably ends up becoming a level 6, but sometimes playing at other sites reminds me that this isn’t always the case. So it was nice to play just for fun, but also to receive some appreciation for what I had achieved previously.

The arena has four bases, one at each end and then two on opposite walls in the middle. We played a free for all so I was able to go for all of them. I feel like the use of space and mirrors throughout gave this smaller single level arena a much larger feel while I was playing and it also gave opportunities to take shots from unusual angles.

We had a pretty good game and Barry complimented my high score and I think I surprised him with the top score as he didn’t really expect me to pull first place with this being my first time out in this arena...I love being underestimated. :) However playing in this arena felt very much like an extension of the games I play at home and it felt very comfortable and familiar to play at this site. Being able to play this system somewhere away from home actually reminds me of how much I really do enjoy Laserforce. Thanks for a great time at Odyssey-1!