How Much Space Do You Need To Play Laser Tag

How Much Space Is Needed To Play Laser Tag?

When determining the best answer to the question "How much space is needed?", several criteria must be considered.

Criteria to Consider for Laser Tag Playing Space      

When determining the amount of space needed for laser tag, first consider the number of gamers who wish to play simultaneously.

Do you want a small group, like 6-on-6? Or do you want to cater to a large group, such as 50 vs. 50? Or even 100 versus 100. 

Second, consider how "dense" the terrain is (in other words, how many things there are to hide behind). 

Are you planning to play in a small indoor arena? 

Or acres of open woodland?

Another consideration is your immediate drawing population. We consider your drawing population to be the number of people living within a 30-minute drive of your location. (Or if you are a tourist destination, the number of visitors you have in season.) 

If it is a downtown, high-profile location in a capital city, you'll want a bigger arsenal than if you operate in a small country town.

Space for Indoor Laser Tag

Consider how much arena space you will need just for the battlefield playing area.      

It is common for indoor arenas to separate the armory/kit-up area from the battlefield. When considering space requirements, you'll also need to factor in space for the foyer, party rooms, restrooms, offices, and food and beverage will be added to these figures. 

Regarding the minimum area in which to play, we have squeezed into a 30ft x 30ft (10m x 10m) area and that was inside a pavilion as part of a Comicon, where space was at a premium!

In this small area, we only had 10 players at a time. Five on the red team and five on the blue team. And we kept the games short, around 5 minutes in duration.

Recently, we created a pop-up laser tag arena in a shopping mall. The indoor laser tag maze was 40ft (12m) by 50Ft (15m). In this maze, we had up to 18 people playing at once. We ran 10-minute games every 15 minutes all day. 

A good rule-of-thumb for laser tag battlefield is to allow for 100-120 square feet per gamer (or 100m2) on the floor footprint of your playing area or battlefield. The key to squeezing into small areas is to have LOTS of things to hide behind.

Space for Outdoor Laser Tag 

For a normal outdoor festival, we would recommend 65ft x 50ft. So you could have up to 20 players at a time. 

Alternatively, if you are running a longer session for a birthday party or a team-building activity in an outdoor location, then you can afford to have a bit more space.

We operate within a Gold Coast resort, and we only have 2 or 3 acres of rainforest in which to play outdoor laser tag. For a 2 hour session, we book up to 100 gamers at a time. 

If you have a more spread-out area for games, they can be of a longer duration. 

For example, our regular battlefield is 3 acres of rainforest within the campus of a resort. Here for a public session, we run 4 by 15-minute games over a 2-hour session.

Things To Consider For Both Indoors and Outdoors: Mobile Laser Tag or Fixed Venue

Imagine you are running a mobile laser tag business. You could be offered a space away from the main action. Don't take it!

It's better to have a smaller area, close to the center of the fun. Then take a larger spot miles away from where the people will be.

As they say, the secret is: location, location, location.

When the area is tiny, then ideally your games would be short. Say 5 minute games. Or for a clan war, even 3 minutes at most. 

For a 5-minute game at a festival, we would charge $5 a go. But every market is different, so it would be a good idea for you to check what overrides/attractions charge and match (or beat) those ticket prices. 

Most festival organizers are concerned about space. 

People might question how much space an extra laser tag attraction could fit into. This is a tip for new operators: absolutely, positively demand that your attraction squeezes into the main area, right at the heart of the sideshow alley.

Otherwise, you might find yourself very far away from everyone else's attractions.

Worse still, you might have to shuttle people to the arena about 500 yards (approx. 500 meters) away.

This is a death knell.

As they say, "out of sight, out of mind". People need to see the action so they will be excited to play. 

 When you are running a fun event, keep the games simple. Many battlefield operators play one game, over and over. 

The two most popular games are Team Death Match (also known as Elimination Match) and the Domination Game (also known as Capture & Hold).  Whatever you label these missions as, keeping the games simple enables you to streamline staff training. 

In general, the more space you have then, the more complex scenarios you can run.