 "Photo: Chris LaMance")
Students took a break from class work and rainy weather to enjoy laser tag in the HPE gym on March 10.
The University of West Georgia’s Student Activities Council hosted laser tag as a new form of campus entertainment. Long lines formed as students waited eagerly outside the inflatable laser tag arena. Free pizza and drinks were provided for attendees.
Special Events chairwoman Mary Graw wanted to give students a new experience, rather than handing out novelty items.
“Mary wanted an event for students to relieve stress,” said Ebony Belton, upcoming special events chairwoman.
Students were divided into either the red or the green team, with each group consisting of three to four members. Once the teams were divided, students were taught how to play the game.
Participants were given three minutes to run through a cosmic maze to try and shoot their lasers at their opponent’s gun. Everyone began with 5000 points, and each missed hit subtracted a point. Twenty points were earned after hitting an opponent, but nearly half of a player’s points were lost if they hit a fellow team member by mistake.
Scores could go as high as 7000, with the highest score for the night reaching 5125.
Some students had never played the game before.
“This was my first time playing laser tag and it was an awesome experience,” said sophomore Vernisha Phillips.
“I thought it was really fun and would love to do this again,” said Daniel Whang, junior.
However, some students found the cosmic lights distracting and felt the small inflatable space was an inconvenience.
“It was really fun, even though there was not a whole lot of room,” said junior Justin Tittle. “It was really easy to be followed by an opponent.”
Senior Laura White also had complaints.
“I found it really hard to see at times, which made it frustrating,” said White.
Students learned to constantly stay on the move while in the game. The gun would shut off for three seconds after getting hit. This delay made for an easy target. Participants used various techniques to succeed. One technique, called the machine gun mode, allowed the gun to shoot non-stop ammo. The downside to this method was that it wasted valuable ammo.
Katelyn Siegal, public relations SAC chairwoman, has played laser tag since she was six years old.
“We hope to try and make laser tag an annual event at UWG,” Siegal said.
Be the first to comment on this article!