Features of Preparing a Laser Tag Arena

Laser tag is a relatively new business, which, however, successfully competes with its more aggressive counterparts – paintball and airsoft. The combination of an interactive show with elements of sport, as well as the versatility and accessibility of laser tag for all categories of visitors, creates numerous opportunities for attracting customers. And arena laser tag is one of the most promising types of entertainment business. That's why today we will talk about it. Specifically – about creating a laser tag arena maze.

Analyze

If you are firmly convinced that arena laser tag is your kind of business, we advise you to first calculate the upcoming costs and assess the feasibility of the investment. And secondly, to thoroughly study everything related to the construction of mazes.

You will have to consider that:

• According to Western experts, an arena can function normally in a city with a population of at least 200,000;
• The business will begin to pay for itself in one to two years;
• The equipment is not cheap. Although now, as a domestic company is launching its own line of equipment for arena laser tag, you can save significantly. After all, foreign analogues are much more expensive, and for obvious reasons, the prices for imported equipment are rising every month;
• For a time, you will indeed have to become a foreman who will select materials, coordinate the actions of employees, monitor the progress of construction, and so on. Of course, you won't be able to manage without specialists. However, only someone who is an expert themselves can afford to rely entirely on others.

Nevertheless, laser tag is a serious business capable of generating good and stable income if you are ready to develop and grow along with it.

Choosing a Premises

Stationary arena mazes are most often built in shopping and entertainment centers. This allows for significant savings on advertising, as the flow of customers in such places is constant. Furthermore, shopping centers have no shortage of square meters that you will need to build the arena. However, there are, of course, drawbacks to choosing such a location as well. One of them, as you might have guessed, is the high cost of rent.

If you don't have the opportunity to open an arena in a large shopping center, then when choosing a premises and district, be sure to factor in accessibility: customers should be able to easily get to the arena from any part of the city.

Conduct a target audience analysis: determine the gender and age of your future clients, their solvency, and their level of interest in games of this kind. Consider the family component. Shopping centers are often visited by families – for shopping and, incidentally, for entertainment. So, help them get vivid impressions and release their emotions.

Premises Area

The arena consists of two main parts – the reception area and the actual maze where the game takes place. Usually, from 12 to 30 or more players can be in the maze simultaneously. Consequently, your task is to make the arena spacious. Typically, when calculating the area of the maze itself, the following figures are used:

• 10 players – 200 m²;
• 16 players – 300 m²;
• 20 players – 400 m²;
• more than 30 players – from 500 m².

As for the area of the reception zone, it should also be quite spacious to accommodate both players and "sympathizers" not participating in the battle: a minimum of 1 m² per person. If you can afford to equip a briefing room (to relieve the reception), then definitely move all meetings and discussions with players there. The area is calculated in the same way: allocate 1 m² per 1 player – and no one will be rubbing elbows. "In crowded conditions but not offended" is not your method.

Ideally, the arena should consist of several separate rooms: reception, operator's office, debriefing room, locker room, maze, lounge (with arcade games and a mini-cafe), storage room, and staff room. However, as we know, ideals are not always attainable. And it's possible to fit much more compactly without detriment to the business. Partitions are your friends.

Concept

A lot depends on whether you have competitors in your city. If you do, keep in mind that it will be quite difficult to poach their regular clients, especially with a similar maze concept and the same type of equipment. Win over the audience with more technically advanced equipment, unusual maze design, larger area, flexible pricing policy, and bonuses for regular players.

Design

No one is limiting your imagination. If you want to make a thematic maze – do it. Dream of playing with special effects – go ahead. We can only give one piece of advice: don't overdo it. Even with the most minimalist design, the maze will look unforgettable thanks to light and sound effects, visible laser beams, and bright, glowing equipment – especially for an inexperienced player.

Construction

We have come to the most difficult point – building the arena. Here it should be mentioned that ready-made maze structures can be easily purchased from manufacturers. And some arena business owners make mazes themselves. It's hard to say which is more profitable. Construction materials are also not cheap. If you are strapped for cash, you can look for used mazes.

Be sure to consider the fact that there will be many children among your clients. Therefore, carefully think through the arena layout and weigh your decisions a hundred times. Children are noisy, very active, and extremely competitive; putting more than two teams in one room is highly discouraged. It's better not to let finished teams and newly arrived teams meet at all, neither in the locker room nor in the lounge. Otherwise, a headache is guaranteed for you.

Reception Area

The design of this area is at your discretion. The main thing is that it should be spacious and bright. This is a passage room, so be practical: the floor is better covered with laminate or tile.

The walls can be decorated with thematic posters: arena rules, maze plan, scoring system. Don't forget about diplomas and awards (when they appear). A great idea is to make a leaderboard with photos of the most active players or teams: people like to show off their achievements.

Place a reception desk for the administrator who meets the clients. There, behind a separate counter (or ideally – in a separate room), the operator who manages the game will work. He should have a computer with the maze management software installed, a printer (to print out the game results and hand them out to the players), a small sound system, a microphone for communicating with the players, a cash register, and so on.

Locker Room

Install lockers where players' personal belongings will be stored. Put long benches. It is best to allocate a separate zone for the locker room, but if the area doesn't allow it, just zone the room where the reception is located. You can manage with a simple screen or partition.

Briefing Room

If you are wondering whether you need this room (or even two), then decide in its favor. Even if for this you have to rent a premises that is several square meters larger than you planned.

The briefing room is usually used for instruction and, after the game, for battle debriefing. This room helps a lot to increase the arena's throughput: while the teams that have finished playing are changing, the next batch of players will go to receive instructions. This way you will avoid confusion and crowds near the reception. Therefore, the briefing room needs comfortable chairs or sofas. You can also hang a large monitor on the wall to display game results and statistics. It would be perfect if the monitor can show the battle live. After all, in this same room, accompanying persons will wait for the team and cheer for them. By the way, it wouldn't be superfluous to take care of their pastime as well. Arcade games, as well as a mini-cafeteria, will help brighten up the waiting time for the fans and bring you additional income.

Again, remember the child players. If you will host children's birthday parties (and this is almost the main source of income for the arena), then a briefing room is absolutely necessary for you. There, children can rest after the game, have a glass of juice, eat a piece of cake.

Technical Premises

You will definitely need at least one storage room and a staff room. Don't forget about such an important room as the toilet, especially if your arena is not located in a shopping center. Is it possible to equip a shower? Believe me, the players will thank you for it.

By the way!

If you don't want players to stumble over cables (and there will be plenty of them), hide the electrical wiring in the walls. Take care of a sufficient number of sockets. For example, in the reception area, you will need at least to connect a computer and printer, a TV, and various specialized equipment.

Maze Shape

Of course, most often mazes are square or rectangular in shape. This way we utilize all the available area. However, it is also possible to place walls and partitions, forming a "U" or "L" shape. The main rule is to make the passages wide enough for people of any size to move freely through them. The rest is up to you.

If you have the opportunity to create a two- or even three-level maze – take it. Multiple levels are not a mandatory condition for the successful functioning of an arena, but such an unusual maze will help you win in the competitive struggle. And you can play with the design: for example, a multi-level maze can be turned into a spaceship.

As for the layout, you must consider that players need freedom of movement; however, the creation of confusing corridors and dead ends to complicate base capture is allowed. By the way, bases are almost always built in the corners of the maze or its opposite parts. The presence of open space is not welcomed: the layout should encourage players to move quickly. They should not be encouraged to stay in one place for too long and wage positional wars. However, the layout should not be too complicated either, otherwise players will simply get lost.

Don't forget about ventilation, especially since you will likely be using a fog machine. Furthermore, you are obliged to ensure fire safety, so take care of having a fire extinguishing system and additional emergency exits.

Maze Walls

The maze is built from hollow metal pillars (40-50 cm in diameter and up to 3 meters high) and partitions of various heights. Drywall is the most common and inexpensive option for maze walls. However, it is not durable, and players are not known for their carefulness, so the walls are often reinforced with 10-millimeter plywood. The plywood must be impregnated with a special fire-retardant solution.

Sometimes holes are made in the walls that can be used as embrasures, or mesh inserts for additional visibility.

The maze structure can be collapsible (in which case you will be able to modify the maze plan), but all walls must be securely fastened. If a player crashes into a wall at full speed (which happens in the heat of battle), the structure must under no circumstances collapse.

Cover all protruding parts with plywood (window sills, radiators), and upholster sharp corners with soft material to prevent player injuries during the battle.

The ceiling, walls, and pillars are usually painted with black matte paint, over which any designs can be applied with fluorescent dyes.

Maze Floor

Again, we remember that player safety is paramount. The floor must be even, without thresholds or protrusions. It is usually covered with special sports flooring or carpet. However, keep in mind that carpet will wear out quickly.

Lighting

You will need two lighting circuits. The first (ultraviolet) is to illuminate the fluorescent designs on the walls and partitions. The lights are placed evenly throughout the entire maze area at a height of 2-3 meters. One 36 W lamp is enough to illuminate 8 m².

The second circuit (fixtures with daylight lamps) will be needed for technical work and cleaning the arena. One 36 W lamp will be enough to illuminate 16 m² of the premises.

Equipment

We will not talk in detail about what equipment for arena laser tag can be like and how it differs from equipment for outdoor laser tag. That is a topic for a separate article. We will only mention that, in addition to standard game kits (vests and weapons), you may need fog machines, strobe lights, a sound system – all this is needed to create a special futuristic atmosphere. And the rest (this also applies to fancy design) is a matter of taste.

Specialists can prepare and fully equip the premises, as well as install a factory-made maze, in less than 30 days. On your own, you can quite manage it in a couple of months. And then... then develop and prosper! The demand for laser tag is growing every year, so you certainly won't be left without clients.