Feels Like Home

Earlier in the evening I had made my way down to Phazer Kraze in Murfreesboro and this was a really great arena for a few particularly distinctive reasons. This was the eighth arena I’d played this trip and my sixth today, but out of all those other places this was the first stand-alone laser tag arena that wasn’t tied in with an FEC or bowling alley. Not that there’s anything wrong with those other locations, but to me there is something really special about sites where laser tag is still the first and foremost focus of the business and that’s exactly what I found here. I mean, it’s right there in the name!

I met the owner, Martin, prior to seeing the arena. He told me about some great ideas he has for adding a new feature to the space to add more playable angles. However, as it was, this site felt very much like playing at my home arenas and it was a very nice experience. There was a comfortable seating area in a low-key lobby with arcade games so it felt more relaxing to wait for the next game here. Another thing that made it feel like home was this…

As soon as I walked into the vesting room I noticed that they had the identical CW wall decor as my home arena in Syracuse and also…

Those walls!!! It really was like playing at home. I put on a Rift pack (always my sentimental favorite because it was my first) and went in to play a round with their Saturday night public players. This was a tremendously enjoyable game in and of itself. There was a nice mix of players of varying ages and even the younger ones really stepped up to the game right alongside the older players. Then at the end it got a little nostalgic for me. I looked up on the scoreboard at the name that had just won, realized I hadn’t actually looked to see what the name was on my pack and when I did I smiled. Not just because it was my name, but because it was…MY name. I had picked up the pack called “Legend” without even realizing it! Way back when I first started playing in Dewitt (before the site closed) I would always beeline for the Legend pack. I didn’t mind when Razz eventually started using it, but I still always felt like that was my first, my favorite and “my pack”. So when I realized that I had just played in an arena that looked like ‘cuse with the pack called Legend I was reminded of all the good times I’ve had playing in arenas just like this one. And as stand-alone arenas are becoming harder to find in the sea of FECs I really appreciated that this one was providing such a great experience with the focus right where it should be…on the laser tag. I wished I had more time to spend here to play a few more games and next time I pass through Murfreesboro I definitely hope to return.