Laser Tag in The UK
Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to go on a university exchange to Edinburgh for a year. Already being a keen laser tagger by that stage, my first instinct once I was settled there was to find out where the local arena was. You can imagine my dismay when I discovered that the only indoor laser tag in a city of 500,000 was a small (and expensive) Laserforce arena. Nevertheless, I was lucky in that it had a small scene of regular players (all awesome people), who were competitive enough to go to tournaments and were quick to accept me, a native Zone player, and train me in the ways of Force. They ended up inviting me along to the UK Armageddon tournament, and that experience is what has led me to write this post.
The 2021 Armageddon tournament just went ahead recently, and I was reminded that I still had this to write, so here it is. If nothing else, I hope you find this interesting and informative.
Unlike in New Zealand, where there are only 3 extant indoor laser tag systems (Zone, Laserforce and Strike), the UK has the most jumbled collection of laser tag systems from different eras in the game’s history. Each system has its own group of adherents, with purists to be found for nearly every system on offer, but the top players in the UK (with the possible special exception of Quasar) are multi-system players, and are at least competitive in every system they touch. There is even a multi-system arena in Bradford which collects different systems for people to play (though they are mainly Laserforce).
Here is an approximate list of the systems I am aware of, how they are played, and what the scene is like:
Laserforce
I’ll start with the system of my home arena in Edinburgh, and a system which most NZ/AUS people, if not part of the decent-sized competitive scene here, will at least recognise from primary school friends’ birthday parties. The system is characterised by the ability to shoot someone who is already deactivated (known as “resetting”), as long as you have shot something else before you shoot them again. For this reason, there is also a strict “no following” rule. It also has a very high fire rate, and bases are able to be destroyed very quickly.
The main competitive format for this one is called “Space Marines”, which is a roleplaying format not too dissimilar from Zone’s “Battleforce”, with limited lives and ammo. The different roles are Scout, Ammo, Medic, Commander and Heavy. Ammo and medic are self-explanatory, and scouts are just regular players with no extra abilities (unless they accumulate SP). The heavy takes 3 normal (scout) hits to deactivate or one hit from another heavy (they have more powerful shots than other players), and has 5 missiles to fire during the game. Missiles are worth extra points and strip extra lives, but require you to lock onto your target for a few seconds before firing. Meanwhile your target’s suit will warn them that they are being locked onto and they will look for cover. The commander shoots at double the power of a normal scout, takes 3 normal hits to deactivate and also has 5 missiles.
There are also special abilities for each role (except heavy) when they have accumulated enough SP (by shooting people, destroying bases etc.). The commander gets to fire a nuke, which deactivates all members of the opposing team(s), but requires one to stay in place and hold the trigger down for a full 6 seconds without being deactivated (meanwhile the arena counts down loudly, so everyone knows what’s happening and can scramble to prevent it). The ammo and medic get a single mass-resupply of their entire team, whereas the scout just gets rapidfire (practically useless for anything other than taking down a heavy). Games are won on points or by elimination of the other team.
Throughout the UK, the competitive scene is apparently quite fierce. Being one of two major global systems, the same goes for most countries, or so I am told. I had the opportunity to play in two other Force tournaments outside of UK Armageddon, including one all-nighter, within just the one year. The best player I met was definitely Titch.
NB: I know there is an upgraded Gen8 system, which is sleeker and more comfortable to play with, but it is not yet really a thing in the UK, apparently.
Laser Quest
My first experience with this system was in an arena in Glasgow, but it was also one of the systems in the UK Armageddon tournament. This system (or at least the classic version) really embodies the game developer motto of “There are no bugs, only features”, as one’s entire gameplay strategy depends on how broken one’s pack is. The reason for this is that the outgoing signal from the phaser (a massive, bulky cylindrical thing) can block incoming signals, so the best strategy is to fire continuously, find the ideal range at which your signal is strongest, search for players whose pack sensors are more sensitive than yours and stay away from those with the most powerful weapons. Unless you shoot with your thumb, you will probably lose all feeling in your hand after about 3 games. The constant firing, with its rhythmic beat makes this the only system that might as well have been designed to be played along to disco-era dance music (favourite beats include the Pokemon theme song).
For all its brokenness, a good player (like Neb) with a bad pack can still wipe the floor with a noob (like me) with a better pack. That said, most teams will still find which packs are the best and give them to their good players so that they can wipe the floor with the entire opposing team instead. It’s also one of the most common systems in the UK – if a town has indoor laser tag, I’d estimate about a 30% chance that it’s a Laser Quest arena. The competitive scene is not insignificant either.
DarkLight
I was kind of thrown into the deep end when my Edinburgh friends invited me to drive 6 hours south to Gloucester and play in a solos tournament with this system, which I had not even heard of until then. It turns out it was their native system, and favourite for a number of reasons (not least because Goku was very good at it). Out of all the systems covered here, this is probably the least like Zone.
The first thing you notice when you put a DarkLight vest on is the sheer weight of the phaser. It is like holding a large, heavy, black cube with glowing blobs that shoots lasers and vibrates whenever something happens. The vest also has genuine leather components, so it is possibly the only explicitly non-vegan laser tag system still being manufactured.
Every player has lives, ammo and energy. In a team tournament format, generally the lives and ammo are set high enough that you’ll never run out. Energy is often set at 10. This means that every time you are shot 10 times, you will be deactivated for quite a while while your suit recharges.
In the arena, there are “gems” (think of them like bases) dotted around the place, as well as other targets. These gems, when shot, can give you special abilities (invisibility or megapower – shots that strip 2 energy from players), extra energy or extra points, but they can also deactivate you if you are unlucky (or, like me, unskilled) enough to be in the vicinity when they are detonating and can’t defuse them in time. They all detonate from time to time and are active and able to be shot at different times. It’s very hard to keep track of. At the start of the game, you do not always know which gem is giving which reward, though it is fairly easy to work out.
I found this system very difficult to play, as it all felt kind of wrong to a Zone player like myself, and there was a lot of stuff to keep track of. That said, it is still a lot of fun. As far as the competitive scene goes, I am aware that DarkLight tournaments happen from time to time, with reasonably good turnout, but there are not many DarkLight arenas, and I do not know about any actual leagues.
Zone
Our beloved Zone laser tag is rather under-represented in the UK, and, sadly, there are no leagues I am aware of. The nearest Zone arena to where I was living was a small one in Falkirk (about 20 minutes away by train) running on ancient equipment. The phasers were nexus-style, but had no 2-hand sensor. Instead it had a button which needed to be continuously held down in order to fire, thus preventing anything other than a standard rifle hold (well, almost – an overhand grip was possible if you didn’t mind ending the game with severe RSI).
That arena basically sums up the state of Zone in the UK – most people don’t understand how to use it properly, and upgraded equipment is generally scarce. For further context, in the Armageddon tournament, I was made head ref for Zone despite my inexperience, because although there were veteran laser taggers who had probably played since Photon was first invented in the mid ’80s, nobody was particularly familiar with competitive Zone. That said, the 3-level Helios Pro arena we used in Bury St. Edmunds was one of the coolest I’ve played in (even though the bases needed a little bit of work). I also know that there are several players in the UK who are keen to get more into Zone (ever since this antipodean came and showed them how competitive format is properly played) and they are all decent players, so watch this space….
Q-Zar/Quasar
I have been reliably informed that this system has one of the largest competitive scenes in the UK, and is very popular across the rest of the northern hemisphere (especially USA). I only got to play it as a training game, however, because in the year I was there, the Armageddon tournament organisers had issues getting the system set up properly.
The system itself is one of the oldest in existence, and is one of the few where covering is an integral part of the game (apparently it never used to be, but then the Americans decided to cover and nobody could get them to stop). This is on account of the large gun not having very large sensors, and the vest only having a single front-facing sensor. In this game, you get a split second after being hit to shoot. If you hit someone, you don’t deactivate (even if it’s your own teammate). This leads to people going around covering and then very quickly flicking the gun out, shooting and covering again, which makes it one of the hardest systems to get good at. Nevertheless, it is possible, as I found out, for a Quasar noob with other laser tag skills to do reasonably well, as long as you are unpredictable and stay away from close-distance duelling (and shoot a lot of bounce shots – yes, the signal will bounce off walls and off the floor).
Surprisingly, despite the covering ick-factor, it’s actually a lot of fun to play, and I think it’s probably one of the systems most suited to competitive gameplay, with both a lot of team communication and personal skill required to win. I only wish I’d had more time to try this one out.
QCore (Infinity)
Of the non-Zone systems I played, this one felt the most similar (which is surprising, given that it’s from a derivative company of Quasar), and, in terms of gameplay, it is like the forgotten love child of Zone and Strike. In the competitive format, the aim is mostly to score pack points off other teams, but there is also a target near the opposing team’s reload spot which takes 3 hits to destroy. Shots are 1 per second, and the phaser feels similar to Nexus to hold. The similarity to Zone basically ends there, as the other components include Halo-style regenerative shields (it takes at least 3 hits to deactivate someone) and special powerups for shooting the opposition targets. There is also Quasar-style reflex, where you can shoot for 1 second after being deactivated.
It’s a reasonably new system, and is not really very widespread, with only a single arena in the UK (right near the factory), though more in other countries, apparently. It seems to feature quite regularly now in the Armageddon tournament, but I would be surprised if it has much of a tournament scene outside of that.
LaserBlast
If you ever wanted to test how accurate you really are, LaserBlast is a good system for that (at least the older packs – I don’t know about the sleek, new ones). The sensors on the packs are about 1cm squared in size and require exact hits to register. The large, triangular front target on the vest has 3 such sensors, one in each corner. This makes the system perfect for basic elimination-style game modes: 20 lives, shoot people, don’t die.
There is no LaserBlast arena in the UK, but the system features regularly in the Armageddon tournament, with the packs being transported (presumably from storage in Bradford) to different arenas. There is therefore no real competitive UK scene outside of Armageddon, but I hear it’s quite popular in the USA.
Honourable Mentions
- LaserMaxx (never played it, but heard it was something between LaserBlast and DarkLight.)
- Q2000 (basically Quasar, but upgraded and manic, with armour and many different types of shots.)
- Delta Strike (made in Christchurch – the new-generation, fancy version of what Strike arenas in NZ have. I’d assume, like the older versions found in parts of NZ, it has regenerative shields, targets and power-ups. Apparently it’s now available in London and was briefly in Aberdeen, of all places.)
- Veqtor (an arena in Glasgow had pictures of this fairly uncommon system which, after conversations with the ever-knowledgeable C’tri, turned out to be called Veqtor. Despite barely anyone knowing about them, they are apparently still in the manufacturing business, or at least were until 2020 – sadly, I never got to try this out.)
- Tactical (multiple systems, normally used outdoors in the UK and much more military in style; I heard stories of massive indoor arenas in the US where they had found a way to make this competitive.)
Noteworthy UK Players
Trikkit (Quasar Mike) – organises the UK Armageddon tournament, top-tier for virtually all systems, but mains Quasar (unsurprisingly).
Titch – Outright nutter who will missile his own teammates in Laserforce and still top-score.
C’tri – The largely undisputed king of Scottish laser tag, and one of the best UK players overall. Most proficient in Darklight, Quasar and Laserforce.
Neb – Easily the best Laser Quest player I met. Probably has an iron thumb.
Goku – The other top Scottish player; probably one of the best DarkLight players in the UK.
Note: I can’t vouch for this information being completely correct and up-to-date, as most of it is from my own experience with these systems back in 2019.
Each image contains a link to the original websites from which I acquired them, in case you’re curious. (I would also recommend the laser tag museum webpage: http://www.lasertagmuseum.com/indoor-laser-tag/indoor-time-line)
