Through pulsing music, a booming voice announces the score. The dim light flickers and the vest around your torso flashes your stats. Your heart thunders like the steps of a river-dancing giant as you scamper up two levels to four soaring platforms, blasting beams toward opponents with your DarkLight phaser along the way.

This scene is a common one at Laser Web Dayton, an arcade and laser-tag arena decked out with the latest equipment and effects. Visitors also dodge luminous rays in the laser maze, ablaze with green lasers that players must dodge quickly, or solve puzzles and riddles to flee the Mad Science Escape puzzle room.

The Mad Science escape room fuses the interaction of online puzzle games, the excitement of a timed game show, and good old fashioned detective work to create a unique group adventure. Up to 10 participants are presented with a series of puzzles and clues that require group collaboration and individual contribution to escape.