Tagging in the 814

There are now two locations for 814 Lanes and Games in Pennsylvania, so of course I wanted to visit them both. It was also great that Logan was able to meet up with me at one of them during my recent trip through PA.

I started my morning with a visit to the first location in Johnstown, PA. When I walk into a bowling alley first thing in the morning I understand it can be hit or miss whether I’m able to get into a laser tag game, so I appreciate them freeing up a team member to play against me. I said a short, light game would be fine with me because (as it was explained to me “he didn’t want to get sweaty”, but once in the arena when he realized I was not new to this I think the competitive mindset started to override that. Although (to be fair) if you look at what I was wearing, I wasn’t keeping it a secret, lol!

Now, I want to take a moment to point out a little detail that this site has implemented that is VERY smart. Look carefully at the vesting rack, particularly at the double metal tubes just to the side of it.

These are positioned to neatly hold the phaser when the vests are on the rack. Brilliant! So many times, particularly with CyberBlast, I see the phasers dangling from the vest or (even worse) just laying on the floor. It’s an incredibly common issue because even when there is a clip (or the manufacturer’s added super-strong magnet) the general public is just careless with the equipment. This addition to the vesting rack is a very clear, simple and efficient solution to the problem of “what to do with the phaser”. I’m impressed with that little touch of ingenuity!

Now, as for the game…

The arena was a nicely done 1 1/2 level space (ie single level with a nicely raised center platform accessible by ramps for the added height).

There were some familiar elements, but well done with cool props including a helicopter and a car appearing to “crash” through the walls overhead.

And I like the fence barricades that create “windows” to tag through on the lower level.

However, my favorite moment of the game came while I was over by this projection target.

You see, when I played a new arena I like to explore it a bit, so I paced myself at the start and began tagging the base. The staff member “explained” to me that I should not be tagging the base, but should be coming after him and I could tell that at this moment he thought he had the upper hand. I proceeded with playing it out my own way and circled back around to do a selfie by the helicopter projection (good choice for this theme).

The guy came up from the side, thinking I was distracted by the pretty lights :) and was surprised when I flipped my phaser and tagged him without even looking his way. His response…”damn, how did you do that!”

From there it became “game on” and I started playing for real. Kudos to him, he did put up a challenge. However, in this game “Smurfette” did beat “SpongeBob” by a solid 5000 point margin and I was glad to get a real game experience this early in the morning. However, I worked up a sweat, so I assume he did too.

Next I was off to visit their newest arena (less than a year old) in Greensburg, PA where Logan and I met up.

This arena took their theming in a completely different direction. After an instructional briefing video we were asked to turn around to be immersed in a video introduction to the experience that provided some storyline exposition for a “crash landing” on another planet (aka the arena) via monitors designed to look like the windshield of a spacecraft.

This was cool. It’s the kind of thing that, although it has no bearing on the game itself, adds something memorable that really elevates the entire experience. Well done!

From here Logan and I explored and tagged through a nice looking, single level arena.

The most interesting element for me when playing CyberBlast now is finding a video projection target…which I did!

The game was enjoyable and a completely different experience from the company’s other arena. Overall I had a great time tagging in the 814 at both 814 Lanes and Games locations.