Laser Trooper and the Latest Data
While I was in Kansas I looked forward to the opportunity to visit with my friends Miranda and Elaine and also return to play some tag with them at Laser Trooper in Topeka. At Laser Trooper Kip and his staff operate using a LaserMaxx product line that can only be played in a few select locations and the last time I was here I enjoyed trying this system out in their arena in the West Ridge Mall. Since then they have moved their arena…and yet, they are still in the West Ridge Mall, now on the downstairs level.
We arrived on a quiet day so Miranda and I had the whole arena to ourselves for a 1v1 game (Elaine sat this one out).
With this system there is no need to “suit up” as the entire game is contained in the phaser with sensors down the front and on both sides. So we just picked out our taggers, which are an interesting hybrid between traditional and tactical laser tag…
…and we headed into the arena.
A simple space is transformed by a movable arena that Kip plans to build upon and modify every season.
Because Laser Trooper is such a rarity to get to play I will look forward to returning to see what they do next.
I debated whether or not to count this site again (making it my 301st arena) simply because it is the same arena walls inside the same mall as it was the last time, but ultimately I decided that I will count it as a new arena because the design, layout and specific location (i.e. the suite address) have all changed. The general consensus of those I have asked is the same. How ironic that (at last I knew) there are only five places in the world where this specific system can be played and I’m now claiming to have played it in two locations in Topeka, Kansas. It’s a judgement call because everyone I know who has an arena count into the triple digits maintains their list a little differently and I want to be consistent with my own criteria, which is predominantly leaning towards only counting actual physical location once…but going from upstairs to downstairs in the mall did give me something to ponder.
In previous posts we have discussed the various criteria that determine whether an arena is an entirely new site or a modification of a previous version. The moment to pause on how to classify this one got me thinking about the last time I shared my list. Actually, there are two lists I keep. One is a list of all the arenas I have played which is updated regularly and can be found here on my website…
However, my other list is one I was curious to update and that is a system count list of how many arenas I’ve played using each laser tag system. The last time I updated this list was about a year ago when I played my 200th arena, so I was curious to see how the makeup of my system count list has changed with the last 100 arenas I have played. So let’s take a look…
Here is the system count list from when I reached my first 200 arenas side by side with how it looks after 300 arenas.
So here’s what this data comparison tells me…
The systems I had already been playing the most like Zone and Laserforce continued to stay highest on the list. Can this be attributed to personal preference, proximity during my travels or overall volume of sites available?
Laser Quest, not surprisingly, made the biggest jump since I’ve been making a deliberate effort to play them all.
Final analysis of the results? I just play a CRAZY amount of laser tag! :)
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
