Laser Tag

Is it cold yet? Wondering what to do to keep you warm and pain-free? Laser tag is what you should try. Just because rules include no running doesn’t mean you won’t be breaking a sweat, whether you do a shorter 15 minutes session or go for a 60 minute-long one, you’re guaranteed both fun and activity-induced warmth.

I’ve got two options for you depending on what you are looking for, how green your horns are in this category, and whether or not you prefer a realistic feel or science fiction look.

Now, I haven’t tried all the scenes in Calgary, but I’ve tried some, and I’m not a newbie either, I spent most of my teen years shooting lasers. I also gathered lots of information from happy and not so happy customers and can safely say that two of them are your best bet and really stood out from the crowd.

#18 9950 Macleod Trail, Calgary

The first one is Laser Quest, which you might have passed on McLeod trail next to Party City. Laser Quest is definitely geared towards a younger crowd, which makes it ideal for families, but we went as two grown-up adults sans children, and we had so much fun, my partner even grew cocky for a few seconds when he finally reached the highest score after our third round. As per my recollection, there were at least 4 more adults with us, a few teens and a bunch of children. I thought this equalized things a bit, allowing us to get better or get back into the game after a hiatus of many years.

The concept is rather easy; all who paid for a certain time frame, as there is only one game at a time, are ushered into a dark room where instructions are given. This dark room is the first of many you’ll see, all with glow in the dark markings and low lights, so get used to it. Once you know about and agree to abide by the rules, another door opens, and your gear awaits you. Your gun is attached to your suit, which you must strap tight to ensure it doesn’t move while you do. I highly recommend tightening those of your kids or the kids around you. They don’t know it should be strapped, and you’re not given a lot of time to gear up, so as a downside, kids are not that easy to hit if their shoulder targets are slopping down to the back. But once you are ready to roll, you are thrown into a simple maze of corridors and sparse places to hide, ramps lead to the second floor where it’s easy to hit marks below if you don’t get shot by a sneaking gunner. The thing is that the upstairs area where you can have a clear shot of down below does not provide you with cover. But you can always team up.

At laser Quest, sessions are a short 15 minutes for $9.50, but still long enough, especially if it’s your first time or you haven’t broken a sweat in a while.
But if you can take it, Laser Quest offers the Ironman missions on Friday & Saturday at 10h30 pm. The Ironman missions are only $12.50 for 30 minutes of heart-pumping fun. Expectations based on reviews are that you’ll be there for 45 to 60 minutes, likely because there is more content to run by the players.

If you get hooked, Laser Quest sells monthly passes for $39.99, and from December 21^st until January 5^th, you can book Triple Play games for $21 per person. To clarify, these games are opened only within the given time-frame. This is a great time to play with the whole family coming to visit for the Holidays. Check out their pricing here.

A lot of comments about the place include that the place is considered exciting, and customizing your player name is fun. You can choose a new one for every game if you want to. Some have found it challenging as they expected they were in a safe spot when there is no such thing.

Groups of 20 people are usual. But of course, the later you go, the fewer children you’ll find in the sessions.

And what would you know? They do corporate events, so you can be the talk of the water cooler break time by proposing you all gear up and try not to gang up on the boss.
Or you can simply go as any type of big group, they have many options for you, here.

Laser Quest has a few vending machines, but nothing else in terms of grub. They have a few rather old arcade machines, birthday party rooms and fee lockers. They are also trying their hands at locked rooms with 3 themed rooms in rotation. While most are recommended for more than just 2 players, the Detention room is said to be the easiest and geared at a younger, read teens, audience. They are open all week.

Time to change the routine, bub.
Here’s the official website: https://www.laserquest.com/ab-calgary/

You can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to their channel on youtube.

Before I go to our next venue, as per my collection of reviews from customers, the main complaints from other venues were that their laser tag was not worth the money, that equipment was in bad shape, and that staff were sometimes rude. By what I read, I understand that some places offer laser tag, but it isn’t their main focus, and as such, it would likely be better to go places that have made it their prime product.

Most people seem to find that you get what you pay for and recommend going for the more expensive laser tag places as customer service, professionalism and quality of equipment increase with the price.
 

And with this interlude, I present to you my second laser tag option:

Classified YYC’s Tactical Laser Tag.
Bay 3, 1305 33 St NE, Calgary
[Picture by Michael Leung]

Gear that looks and feel more realistic with up to 30 players in a battlefield ground of 8500 ft² filled with moving searchlights.

Which this one, you should make sure you got a good pair of sneakers on, and probably a change of clothes, you’re going to work for that goal. With 25 missions available, 13 shown on the website and lots of places to hide and jump out of windows (I heard it happens). Missions will differ based on how many players join the fray.

Games are 90 minutes total, with briefing and gearing up that’s about 60 minutes of play.

If you’re ready for an intense laser tag, this is probably it. One of the best parts is that you must be either 13 years old or 5’ 2” tall to play in public session. They do offer private sessions for younger people, but usually, avoid putting older folks in them. You’re pretty much guaranteed to play with adults with a few teens thrown into the mix.

They do corporate events and private sessions as well, there isn’t a minimum, but you’ll be paying $400, so might as well get as many people on board as possible. The maximum of players is 26, but they can hold up to 30.

They are open only from Thursday to Sunday, but you can definitely reserve a slot day during their off days if you call them, and you got a group with you.

I would recommend that you reserve your spot in advance. I’m looking at the time slots page on a Tuesday night, and Thursday has one session full and 20 spots available starting at 7 pm, then Friday has all evening sessions full, Saturday has only 4 sessions left, but Sunday starts to look good again. It’s to be expected that regulars will be booking their team ahead of time. It simply means that you need to plan this a little. They also recommend coming as early as 30 minutes before your session, which would be wise if you are a newcomer, at least just to get your bearings.
Just a heads up, if you come with friends, the staff will try to put you together, but there are no guarantees, so be prepared to switch camp and test those bonds of friendship.

But wait, that’s not all! I didn’t even mention how the gear works. Simple, you get a vest and a headband with sensors, and it doesn’t matter where you get hit on the vest, because when you get shot, your gear isn’t frozen for 3 seconds. Oh no, you die. That is until you walk back to your base to respawn. Just like in most online video games.
Not satisfied yet? You want it to be even more realistic by bringing back pain? For only 5 bucks, be ready for 5 different levels of pain with their Stress-X Belt!

For $27 Monday-Thursday and $32 Friday to Sunday, you get a solid hour of play. If available, you can even do back-to-back sessions for $22.

If you’re thinking you love this place, they offer a membership with perks for $15 a month.

Another issue that was noted from the reviews is that one specific staff member had been behaving rudely, but they took care of the matter swiftly, and after calling them, they confirmed that the issue had been taken care of.

Go and enjoy a heart-pumping day out!

Official website: https://www.classifiedyyc.com/

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