Lots and Lots of Laser Quest

I ended up playing at three Laser Quest Locations in California all in one day…Modesto, San Jose and the brand new site that literally opened the day before in San Carlos. I really enjoy Laser Quest and have missed not being able to play as frequently since the Rochester location closed down last year in New York. So this was my chance to enjoy a few fun games and make good use of the prize passes I won from the Laser Quest selfie contest a few weeks ago. I also took the opportunity to take a new selfie with Modesto manager Jeff who was so much fun and a wealth of information.

Jeff and I compared statistics on arena size for some of the places I had been. Although Zaps Zone may be one of the two largest Lasertron sites in the state Jeff felt confident that the Quest locations are actually among the state’s largest laser tag locations with Modesto being around 12,000 square feet. I always sort of take the size numbers at face value because I think it’s difficult to really say for certain and I don’t believe there is a standard method of measurement (Square footage of all levels? Footprint of the arena floor? Accounting for lobby space or arena only?) All I know is Modesto was a good size space with a really fun game and unbeknownst tome at that time it was the only one I played in California that was operating with the older generation of Quest packs as I learned upon getting to San Jose and San Carlos that those locations (and perhaps Las Vegas) would be among the only places in the states running the latest brand new Quest packs…more on that in a moment.

So this was in Modesto…

Then San Jose was my next stop and you can see the pack I am wearing here is the newer generation with very bright flashing red and blue lights.

This was clearly my first time playing with the new packs. These packs played well although I really didn’t notice any significant differences besides the color of the lights and as near as I could tell they had some of the normal issues too. These apparently have yet to be used in too many places in the US, although I am told they are being played in Canadian arenas. San Jose was a lot of fun. It’s a 2 ½ story arena at about 8000 square feet with a more updated artistic design and the way to the airlock could be seen very clearly. It was great to visit San Jose.

However, I was most excite about visiting the brand new Laser Quest in San Carlos that had only opened their doors the day before, so this was really good timing and a special addition to my itinerary. It is an AMAZING three story arena with a more new, industrial look. There are a lot of cut-outs and what is most interesting to me about this is that at first glance you have the momentary feeling that you might be looking into a mirror (as that is what I am expecting it to be) before realizing it is in fact a windowed out part of the arena design. I wish I could showcase it better, but I was not able to take photos in the arena. However their briefing room had some great artwork that really gives you the feeling that this is something different…no neon spider-monster painted on these walls. They had a chic space theme that really worked with the whole overall aesthetic that is clearly a step up.

And I want to thank Ricky and the staff. Ricky was great to take some time during his opening weekend to answer questions and chat with me. I thoroughly enjoyed playing at Laser Quest San Carlos and hope to make it back there again.