While it is certainly a game at its core, playing laser tag has benefits that wouldn’t occur to most people at first glance.  As with most things nowadays, “gamifying” a mundane or unpleasant experience can make it more palpable but isn’t the reverse also true? Isn’t it possible to get a benefit from something that is intended to be a fun, recreational experience? At Tac Ops, we certainly would argue that while we created something that most people find as a fun time for a birthday party, bachelor or bachelorette party, corporate event, or just a night out with friends and family, we have found that there are so many “hidden” benefits to what we do here.  We have a list a mile long but we thought we’d break down the top eight benefits of playing laser tag here.

1. Great Form of Excercise 

Everyone seems to underestimate just how much sneaking around or moving from place to place can be exhausting. We see it firsthand…every day.   People come out of a game at Tac Ops and they are dripping with sweat and hopefully, smiling from ear to ear.  The kids are still bouncing off the walls with excitement and the adults are usually bent over catching their breath.   Our vision when we created Tac Ops was to create a place where gamers could get a lot of the same gaming experience they could with a console but also to get them off the couch and moving.   

2. Fun Activity for All Ages

We designed Tac Ops for adults but can modify our games for kids.  The point is no matter what your age is, laser tag is something you can have fun doing. When most adults think of laser tag it reminds us of our childhood, playing with friends at birthday parties or with a group of other kids. It’s not just the nostalgia that makes it a fun time for adults, it has evolved into a more mature game than what we remember but still retains the fun that will have adults harking back to their younger days, it’s something that all ages can enjoy and more important than that, they can enjoy it together!   

3. Meet New People 

Most laser tag facilities run private and public games. The public games are a great place to meet people with similar interests, after all, you’re both there to have fun! How much can you get to know people in an hour? Pretty well it turns out. Playing games of any kind with people shows a different side of their personalities than you might normally see in another environment. Decision-making, leadership, communication skill, and competitive nature are all things that you may not run across in everyday interactions. Laser tag creates an environment where you can experience these things.  

4. Improve Communication Skills

The team-building aspect of laser tag often goes unnoticed but it’s there and it’s a big one!  With tactical laser tag your goals are objective based, so whether you’re figuring out the best way to keep the other team away from your control point, or discussing the route to take to capture their flag, you need to work together and communicate effectively to achieve those goals. For sports teams or corporate groups, communication is paramount to peak productivity and efficiency.   

5. Encourages Strategic Thinking 

“Praying and spraying” and “running and gunning” don’t work! When there are specific goals and objectives involved and points are awarded based on completing those goals, you need to have a plan. You are no good to your team if you get taken out while you are all trying to protect your control point if you just run out and start firing. Perhaps there is a route to your objective that has better coverage than another, or maybe you just know the other team favors one side.  This is all part of the critical and strategic thinking that can go into every round you play.  At Tac Ops for example we give time between every game mode so that you have time to plan and strategize on your next mission. The best game plan usually wins out.

6. Improve Teamwork  

Teamwork makes the dream work! Effectively communicating and thinking strategically are both beneficial to improving teamwork. Whether on the field, in the office, or in a laser tag arena, having your team be able to fire on all cylinders requires efficiency, communication, and planning. These are traits that can be learned and improved upon with practice and repetition. We really try to foster that at Tac Ops because we believe that the games are far more enjoyable when your team sees how they can execute a plan.   

7. Improve Hand-Eye Coordination

Often pointed to as one of the benefits of video gaming, hand-eye coordination is a much needed skill in the technology-driven world in which we live. Part of the reason that the best players in a laser tag arena are video gamers is that they have honed their hand-eye coordination. It is how we connect with the world more effectively and it will only continue to be an important part of our lives as we get older.   

Staring down the scope of a tagger and lining up the reticle with your target is a split-second decision and a missed shot could be the difference between achieving your objective or having to take that long walk of shame back to your respawn point on the other side of the arena.  

8. Helps Relieve Stress 

Most people think that you have to do aggressive things to relieve stress, throw axes, hit punching bags, go to a rage room, etc. While it’s true that all of those things do relieve stress it is also done through general physical activity. As we previously discussed, you will exert energy while playing laser tag and you will be smiling while you’re doing it! While it may not be scientifically proven, we believe that a smile can melt away stress like ice in July. For the one hour that you play your mind will be focused on completing your missions, not what stresses you out.

Relieving stress is one of the many health benefits of playing laser tag from the physicality of it alone, there is also the fun and teamwork aspect of it that is often associated with team-based games. Being caught in a fast-paced mission of capturing the flag might leave you with a smile that lasts for hours after your game is over.

Are You Ready to Harness the Benefits of Laser Tag? 

Everything that we discussed has touched on one main aspect of playing laser tag….ITS FUN!!!! Whether you are competitive or passive, old or young, great at video games, or terrible at them, you will enjoy your time playing laser tag but you need to find the right arena for you. Tac Ops has two locations in New Jersey, Fairfield and Florham Park, to help people have a memorable experience that also reaps the circumstantial benefits that laser tag provides. We love the feedback we get and we love to see people who walk out talking about the game and reliving the moments. Our goal is to make sure that people leave here happy and surprised at what laser tag can be!