Flack's Daily Smack - Laser Tag, You're It!

RSS Bot · August 27, 2007

On Sunday, Mason and I along with Jeff and his son Talon ventured over to Laser Expedition to play some laser tag. Back in the mid-to-late '80s Jeff and I were regulars at our local Photon arena the few years it was open. Little did we know back then that someday the two of us would be playing laser tag with our own sons.

Laser Expedition is located off of Route 66 and Richland Road between Yukon and El Reno. The center has three separate attractions: indoor tag, outdoor tag, and the survivor's maze. As the temperature was in the high 90s yesterday, we opted for the three indoor game/maze combo package.

Laser tag technology has come a long way over the past 25 years. The gear we wore at Photon, which included a battery pack belt and a helmet, weighed 18 pounds. The vests at Laser Expedition weigh a fraction of that. While the old guns used IR technology, the newer ones are more accurate and use lasers. The equipment has vastly improved.

The arena, however, is very different from the old Photon-style. At Laser Expedition, the maze is made of wood that has been painted black and decorated, with black lights and spotlights illuminating the field. The old Photon arena was a giant carpeted arena with multiple "terrains" and areas. One thing Jeff and I both noted was that our old Photon arena had lots of open areas that promoted camping or sniping (hiding in one place and shooting people from far away). The Laser Expedition arena promoted close-quarters combat. More than once I walked around a corner and bumped into one of the kids. Because of the smaller battlefield, running is prohibited at Laser Expedition (it was both encouraged and required at Photon).

Each indoor game lasts 10 minutes. After the first game was over, we took a break and decided to check out "the maze." The Maze is probably a lot more enjoyable when it's not 90+ degrees, as the lack of air conditioning made the area so hot that I felt like I was going to pass out. After spending 10-15 minutes twisting and turning through the maze we made our way back to the lobby where Jeff and I took a break while the kids played a round of air hockey.

After taking a short break, the four of us headed back into the arena for round 2. This time instead of everybody vs. everybody, we decided to play teams. The kids insisted on taking us on, and so with reluctance that's what we did. Obviously Jeff and I slaughtered the boys, although the kids did get in a few good shots here and there. The final score was something like 800 to 12,000. It's hard to judge what the scores are while you're playing; it wasn't until after the match that we saw how bad it was. After that game we immediately played a third round and switched back to all vs. all. In the end I was victorious, but it was a close game.

Our 3 game/maze package was $12/person, which I felt was was extremely affordable (in fact, I think the prices are comparable to what they were when Jeff and I were going to Photon 20 years ago). Even more enjoyable was the fact that during our entire visit, we were the only four people in the place. Going back on a Friday or Saturday might be more fun if you wanted to play with more people, but playing by ourselves with the kids worked out perfectly.

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