Your First Time Playing Laser Tag

You've been invited to a laser tag birthday party or your company is heading out to play a few games of laser tag for team-building. How do you play? What should you wear?

Unfortunately, it's impossible to easily answer these questions without knowing where you're going to play laser tag. Including companies that are no longer actively manufacturing, there are about 30 manufacturers of commercial laser tag equipment. Each brand of equipment plays differently. And, each manufacturer has multiple generations of equipment with differences in how they play.

Below are some general tips from a laser tag who has played competitively for over 25 years. Remember that the best tips and tactics will vary by the laser tag equipment.

• Don't worry too much about what you wear. Wear something comfortable for laser tag. The only benefit to wearing all black is that light won't reflect off your clothing as easily. Reflected light can score laser tags. Wear long sleeves to totally reduce reflection.
• Definitely wear comfortable shoes to play laser tag. Don't wear high heels, boots and especially don't wear heelies. These are unsafe and uncomfortable in the arena.
• Stand sideways. Most laser tag equipment have their sensors set up to take tags directly forward or backward. Standing sideways keeps a majority of your sensors out of play.
• Listen before the game to find out how many points player tags and bases are worth. Understanding the scoring in laser tag is the key to high scores in many systems. If they don't tell you, ask.
• Try and tag opposing players from the side or behind and not head-on where they can defend themselves or fire back. Always try to outflank opposing laser tag players.
• Bend away from opposing laser tag players and hide behind obstacles. If they can't see the sensor, they can't tag it. This is why you'll see very experienced players dancing oddly in most laser tag arenas.
• Watch what the high score players do and begin to imitate them. Like most sports, laser tag can be played on many levels. The best skills in laser tag may take years to develop.

Laser tag is an enjoyable sport for everyone, from kids to adults. While you may not want to play laser tag competitively, there are always little things you can do to improve you laser tag play and impress your friends. Good luck playing laser tag for the first time.

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