

PHOCON 2019: Celebrating Photon and the 35th Anniversary of Laser Tag
35 years after the first laser tag, Photon, opened in Dallas, Texas players are still loving and remembering the game. For the most loyal fans of the original laser tag an annual celebration called Phocon allows them a chance to revisit their memories of laser tag’s early days and once again play using original Photon pods and equipment on a modified Alpha field just like they remember. This event has been hosted several times ever since the game’s 30th anniversary in 2014 at


Mobile Tag at the Firemen's Fair
When I heard there was going to be laser tag at a local firemen’s fair I was enthused about it and on opening night I was ready to go play some tag. We arrived to find that the mobile operation that had been brought in for the event would be using Battle Company equipment. Wow…this is the third time in less than a month I’ve gotten a chance to play using this particular brand of tactical tag! We arrived to find that nobody else had yet signed up and the owner of the company s


And then there were five…and four…
My main reason for taking this route through Canada was to visit a couple more Laser Quests in my continuing “quest” to visit all their sites in both the U.S. and Canada. After this trip I am down to only five more in Canada and four more in the United States. I arrived at Laser Quest London early in the day. John showed me around and took me down the stairs (yep, downstairs!) to the briefing room and vesting area. And then we proceeded into the arena that had a unique aesthe


Crossing Through Canada
Sometimes truth sounds stranger than fiction…at least that’s how it felt as I was leaving Detroit and explaining to the customs official at the Canadian border that, yes, I really was just crossing through Canada to play a couple of games of laser tag and then proceed home to New York (which meant at least 13 hours of travel involved). You see, when he asked me where I was going (London and Kitchener) and what I was doing there I told him exactly where I was headed (Palasad S

Only a Simulation
This past weekend one of my clients hosted an event that included something very similar to laser tag (using IR, but targeting a screen rather than another player), only with real world practical training application. His business is a firearms shop where he will soon be implementing the Laser Ammo simulator to allow people to practice targeting AND get better educated about handling real life scenarios via a video simulator that will be accompanied by live instruction with a


The Light Shines on League Night
This past week’s league night format was none other than Photon emulation, so I showed up dressed for the occasion. All that’s missing is the helmet. :) I arrived at the league night in Syracuse having not been home for four days and dead tired from my trip, but I couldn’t fail to show on Photon night. Although this format provided some challenges, we held our own. I may be the only person at our site who really likes playing this game and frankly, three team Photon is not ex


Back To Buffalo
On my way home on Sunday I knew I’d be passing through Buffalo area, so I returned to a tactical tag site that I really wanted to play when I first discovered it a couple of months ago. Now that I was headed back to Buffalo (or Tonawanda to be more specific) I would have my chance to play a round of tag at Buffalo Battleground. I had only a limited window of time to play here because I had to get my rental car returned to Syracuse on schedule, so I called ahead and they were


Laser Storm at Skyway
My last stop on Saturday night was to play some Laser Storm at Skyway Drive-In in Warren, OH. I had no idea what to expect, but when I played Armageddon last month with George Raptis I told him I was looking forward to visiting his site next time I was in Ohio and I was really glad that opportunity presented itself this weekend. All I knew was that the site was somehow connected with a drive-in movie theater, which was an interesting twist. I didn’t even realize until that ev


A Completely Unique Arena
One of the most interesting arenas I have ever seen can be found at Extreme Air Trampoline Park (Boardman) in Youngstown, OH. This place doesn’t have a glossy theme on the arena walls like many of the places I’ve been to. Actually, most of it is bare wood and metal grate fencing and that’s ok because it reflects a lot of creativity in other ways. If you look back at where I’ve played over the last few days you’ll notice that most of the arenas (other than the LQ’s) are unrela


Bringing Home Some Unexpected Souvenirs
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a posting I saw from a guy selling some laser tag packs. Well, a rather fortuitous opportunity presented itself while I was sitting in the Salt Lake City airport. The seller had posted again about the packs being available and I replied with a reminder that I would be interested in buying. He messaged me back with a price and description while I was waiting for my flight and I told him I was interested, but traveling and would be in contact