University Life: Revisiting Laser Tag

I love it when a poem comes together

It's been a while since I've put anything on here, mainly because university life is a lot fuller than the 9 to 5 life. In addition to writing full time and experimenting with different kinds of writing (especially poetry), I've also taken up fencing and started playing Dungeons & Dragons again. Although I might say that was one of the reasons I wanted to go to university in the first place.

However, one of the strangest hobbies I've picked up has been laser tag. This used to be a popular activity for birthday parties back when I was in primary school, but after discovering there was a society for it, I decided to take it up again as another means to indulge my quarter-life crisis. Plus the Megazone in Leicester offers great student nights.

For those who are unfamiliar, let me explain: Laser tag is essentially a real-life shoot-em-up. You go into an arena with the pack I'm wearing in the image, and score points by shooting at the other players, aiming for the lights on the packs. If you're hit, your pack goes offline for a few seconds before you can shoot again. Different areas of the pack yield different points, and there are also three bases and numerous targets which yield bonus points when shot. There's also a touch screen in the arena which dispenses random power-ups, such as shields or rapid fire.

Games can be solo or team-based, and sometimes there are special rules to mix things up. Examples include:

• Mario's Mushrooms, in which the targets strewn around the arena give you power-ups when shot.
• Friend or Foe, a team game in which everybody's packs display the same colours, and you lose points for shooting teammates. My hat comes useful here.
• Insanity, a team game in which the teams change randomly during the game.

If there's anything I do have to criticise, it's the fact that the guns have to be fired two-handed. There's a heat sensor on the front grip which enforces this. If your hand's not on there, the weapon won't fire and will beep angrily at you. That's all well and good, but when your hand sweats it can slip in the spur of the moment.

There are also times when some modes can have glitches. For example, one game known as "Random Madness" involves players' colours randomly changing between blue, red, yellow, and green. Only the blue players can score points, while the other colours yield different point values. Unfortunately, sometimes it ends up with every player being blue, except for one. But to be fair, that does result in some particularly humorous games.

All in all, I'm glad I joined that society, because it's a lot of fun.