What Is Laser Tag
Every place has their own variations of Laser Tag, but they all follow a general basic style. Generally, all the players are divided into 2 opposing teams. Each player gets a vest & a gun. The players are then sent into some sort of maze to do battle. Sometimes the maze is made more challenging by using fog, strobe lights, etc.
The object is to score the most points by shooting the opposing team members, while avoiding shooting your teammates. You shoot someone by firing your laser and hitting their sensors. Usually, there are sensors on the chest, back & shoulders of the vest, as well as on the gun. When you get shot, you are out of the game for 5-10 seconds. Sometimes there are other objects to shoot at, or to shoot at you. Typically, each team has a base. You can score points by shooting your opponents base. There may also be mines, which you activate by shooting. A few seconds later, the mine goes off and hits everyone around it.
Typically, in a team game, everyone's points are added into a team total, and the team with the highest total wins. This promotes you to play with teamwork. By working together, you are more likely to score higher. Also, since bases are worth the most points, while one person is attacking the base, the other team members can be fending off the other team to make sure their partner scores on the base. It's also a good tactic to try to defend your own base, so the other players don't score on it.
There are also other variations. There is elimination, where you get eliminated from the game after being shot a certain number of times. I've never played this way because, when you play with friends, you dont want some people getting eliminated and waiting for the rest of the group to finish. There are also solo games, with no teams.
Most, if not all, laser tag centers also offer memberships. A membership is good for a number of reason. First, you usually get discounts off of games. Standard memberships are usually $15 - $25 and they usually save you $1 off every game. At that rate, all you have to do is play 1 game every other week for a year, and you have already saved money. And chances are, you will probably be playing more than 1 game and doing it more than once every other week. With a membership, you also get to create a permanant codename for yourself. It make the game more personal when you have names to play against, rather than just a bunch of red people against a bunch of green people. With a membership, the computer also tracks your playing statistics. It may be able to record high scores, average scores, average accuracy, and stuff like that. Many places also offer members nights, when you get special prices, or play all you want for 1 price, or even special style games. Finally, some places offer members a discount on merchandise, like shirts and hats.