Instead of telling a friend "you're it," show them with a well-placed pulse of light aimed directly at sensitive vest-parts. Challenge a temporary frenemy to a rousing match of beam-blasting with today’s Groupon: for $9, you get a three-game pass for capture-the-flag laser tag at LaserNation in Sterling or Ultrazone in Baltimore (up to a $19.75 value). You can split the games among multiple beam slingers, but all three must be used in the same day.
Ultrazone and LaserNation supply up to 45 players with florescent battlefields and laser-laced equipment for rollicking rounds of flag snatching. Buckle into the transformative vests and prepare to be transported into another dimension. As you work up a sweat ducking behind obstacles and belly-crawling to safety, you'll mastermind effective strategies for taking possession of the coveted flag. Laser tag is an affordable way to live out video-game hero dreams, work out tensions with your roommate, or live out your fantasy of starting a ragtag militia of space marines with Mark from accounting. Games run roughly 30 minutes apiece, including 15 minutes of briefing and vest-equipping time. Get your friends to grab Groupons and make it a social excursion—laser tag is great for double dates, an outing for your small jazz quartet, or an excuse to shoot lasers outside of a corrective eye surgeon’s office.
Ultrazone Laser Tag and LaserNation Laser Tag both offer unlimited laser tag on Friday and Saturday nights after 8 p.m. for $13; plan ahead to make sure you are redeeming your Groupon at the most opportune time.
Ultrazone Laser Tag in Baltimore
Ultrazone Laser Tag might be familiar to fans of The Real World, whose cast members—fed up with drama—blew off steam by ducking colorful laser beams in the sprawling multilevel arena's fog-filled maze. There's enough space for 45 vest-clad players to face off at one time, and plasma monitors let the next wave watch the game as they eagerly await their turn. The expansive recreation center also hosts sleepover parties that grant exclusive overnight use of the laser-tag facilities, the plasma-screen theater, and the room that's inexplicably full of doorknobs. Outside the arena, an arcade keeps synapses ablaze with video games, air hockey, and golf simulators, supplemented with slices of Papa John's pizza from the cafe.