Laser Mania with the Members

I had a flattering moment shortly after my arrival at Laser Mania Family Fun Center in St. George, UT. I dropped in unannounced and walked up to the front counter asking to play some laser tag, but I was told that there was nobody currently signed up. Whenever this happens I always ask if I can do a 1v1 with a staff member instead, but this time there was a bit of hesitation and the girl behind the counter was starting to say no to that. No worries, I was prepared to make a case for why they might consider making an exception, but I did not even get that far before a guy who I didn’t know walked up behind me and interjected on my behalf.

The guy said to me “wait a second, are you Tivia?” I was very surprised to be recognized out of the blue like that! When I said that “yes, I am” he immediately told the girl behind the counter to treat me as a member and that we could definitely play a game. And even better, they contacted a few of their members to see if anyone would come out to play while I was there. All of a sudden this transformed into a really nice chance to play with some of the members I would not have otherwise met!

Ryan (aka Viper Metcalf) was the guy who recognized me from this blog, telling me that he had seen my picture in the Laserforce newsletter. He gave me a tour of the facility while one of the other staffers checked in and told me that some members would be there in half an hour. So in the meantime Ryan recommended a great place for me to get some dinner and, boy was it a good suggestion! May I highly recommend Angelica’s Mexican Grill if you are ever in St. George.

By the time I returned from dinner several members had arrived including Logan (aka Metalface) who is the manager at this site, Bolton (aka Rockwood) who is the only level 7 player in St. George and Jase (aka Chaser) who got there a short time later. They asked me what game I would like to play and this was my chance to show them something they had never played before. I introduced these guys to Photon emulation!

The tables turned a bit as I got to brief them on the rules of this game format. Logan commented that this game was the total opposite of SM5 (and I guess that’s one way to look at it) and they seemed to enjoy sampling a game format that was a little different.

This was my first chance to explore the arena and to try to get familiar with the space and find the bases.

I would not ordinarily show scores like this, but considering that it was Photon with four players all experiencing something new I think it makes sense. There were a lot of cancellation reflex shots this game!

Next up was Shadows (which I haven’t played in quite some time) and this gave me a chance to play after having gotten a bit more familiar with the space. I really like the look of this arena. The carved shaping on the top of the walls is a small touch that makes a BIG difference in the overall look.

This game was a lot of fun as well. Then we went on to play some Redline, which has become a recent favorite of mine. Time to watch your shot count and try NOT to deactivate any of the bases or beacons.

I think we all probably deactivated at least one base. Logan was shaking his head and muttering about having no self-control after having inadvertently deactivated three of them, but I assured him I screwed up worse because the one I took out was a beacon with the shot numbers right on the screen, lol!

This was a lot of fun and I picked up a couple of t-shirts to take home as souvenirs of my visit.

On the way out the door I noticed an honor that Laser Mania had received…a Best of Southern Utah award for being voted Best Children’s Birthday Party Venue. Having had such a great experience myself I am certain this recognition is well deserved.

It was such a great night of tag playing with some of the members at Laser Mania in St. George, UT. I’m glad to hear a few of these guys who will be headed to play in Syracuse soon! The following day at the Laser Tag Convention I met Jarrett, the owner of Laser Mania, and I was glad to be able to tell him what an excellent time I had playing at his arena. I would love to play in St. George again the next time I pass through Utah!