Paintball is an activity that fosters teamwork and strategizing, much like moving a large couch through a small doorway or trying to hide a bathtub piranha farm before the landlord comes to visit. Collaborate with fellow combatants with today’s Groupon: for $12, you get admission, gear rental, and 200 paintballs at 280 Paintball, open Saturday and Sunday from noon–6 p.m. (a $25 value total value).
280 Paintball’s well-lit 20,000-square-foot Astroturf indoor field acts as a prime proving ground for both new and veteran paintball players. Eager contenders receive all the equipment they need to engage in the day’s operations, including a paintball gun, mask, 200 chroma-bullets, and an air tank to power-assault or unnerve opponents with hissing noises that sound like snakes. Errant shots splotch the red, black, and blue cover bags that litter the floor, an expanse that allows for both sniping and close encounters. An experienced referee supervises each game with eyes trained to see whether a player has been eliminated or has simply spilled marinara sauce on his or her shirt.
280 Paintball
At 280 Paintball, players who can combine speed and stealth will prove most formidable on the indoor and outdoor battlefields. Bracketed by towering trees, the outdoor theatre fills a field with wooden spindles, massive drums, and small platforms, favoring those who can turn the obstacles to their tactical advantage. Inside, splotches of paint blot the red and blue cover bags that serve as shelter for retreating platoons to hide from ambushes or pause to glue festive glitter onto their markers. 280 Paintball hands out both traditional and smaller, .50-caliber paintballs, which hit their mark with less impact and are a favorable alternative for young paintball warriors.