Laser Planet laser tag in Milton Keynes

Over the years I've played a fair bit of laser tag and so, while on a trip to Milton Keynes today it was great to spot that a brand new lazer tag arena was opening!

Suiting up ready to battle the Reds alongside my Green team-mates

Having spent a few hours mallratting and playing some Pool at the Hollywood Bowl my friend Cat and I were wondering what to do next. I knew there was a laser tag in the town - a sport Cat had never played before! Me and my sporting rival Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley had played a game of laser tag in the town as part of an MK sporting challenge a few Christmases ago.

A quick online search came up with the result that the team behind Laser Planet in Watford was opening a new arena on Saturday 23rd April! What an unexpected bonus it was. I've been playing the game since I was a kid, and in recent years we've tried to play a bit around the country while on our Crazy Golf travels. But in all that time I've never played at a brand new arena on its opening day. Laser Planet was so new you could smell the fresh paint as you walked up the stairs!

We received a nice welcome and found that a game amongst the staff was about to begin. We could of had the arena to ourselves for a match (something that can be great fun as I've found in contests against veteran competitors like Marc and Emily) but on this occasion we opted for a three vs. three laser tag contest.

Before battle could commence we entered the briefing room - the most hi-tech I've seen to date - after which we suited up in our vests and laser guns and entered the arena. The entrance itself is really well done - I won't spoil the surprise though. Once inside the futuristic maze we headed to our base and waited for the siren to sound (I was part of the Green team, while Cat was in the Red squad).

The 20-minute match was brilliant. The game was marshalled to ensure the rules were adhered to - no running, no physical contact, no hitting other players with the actual laser gun etc. The man in orange certainly took a few errant laser shots from the players as he was wandering around the arena.

Laser Planet in Milton Keynes gets the thumbs-up from me. Great entertainment

Our match was very close - with only five points separating the teams - but the win went to the Greens. I was the second best player on our team (yee-haa), while Cat picked up the bronze medal in the runner-up Red team.

It took a bit of a search to find the entrance to Laser Planet, but we eventually found it having walked the wrong way around the Food Centre mall. Laser Planet is next door to the old Waitrose site with stairs leading up to the first-floor venue above the New Moon Chinese buffet restaurant.

I'll definitely return and Cat really enjoyed her first laser tag experience. I look forward to future battles between us!

In the Seemingly Everlasting Laser Tag War waged between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS players in our 'Laser Tag Rankings' have taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness, Rayleigh and Milton Keynes.

Check out the Laser Planet Milton Keynes website for opening times and prices.

Links:
- Laser Planet Milton Keynes website
- Laser Planet Milton Keynes on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Laser Tag
- Lazer Tag
- Laser Tag Rankings

Star Command Laser Tag in London

New London laser tag battleground is open.

While recently walking from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road my eye was taken by an interesting sight - a new Laser Tag arena!

I popped in and the two staff members gave me a run through on the laser guns, game modes and a walk round the battle zone. It looks great.

We played Star Command Laser Tag when it was based at the Trocadero. It's great to know the centre has reopened elsewhere.

Me and Emily at Star Command Laser Tag in 2011

The new venue opened on the 15 December and is located in the Old Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road, between Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road.

For more information on opening times, game options and prices visit the Star Command Laser Tag website, Facebook page and Twitter.

It might be time to get a group together for a match-up and dust off the Laser Tag Rankings.

Related blog posts:
- Laser Tag
- Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

Links:
- Star Command Laser Tag
- Laser Tag and Paintball in London

Laser Quest on Skegness Pier, but not in Cleethorpes

While away on our Seaside and Minigolf Roadtrip to Lincolnshire, we visited two Laser Tag game centres, and managed to play one of them.

In Cleethorpes we were unable to play as the game requires at least four players for it to be finacially viable for the Amusement Arcade to run. The Labyrinths of Doralia at Fairworld does sound intriguing though! We will be back, and in greater numbers...

We had better luck on Skegness where, after a great big Steak Dinner (at Steak n Stuff), Emily and I went for a one-on-one Laser Tag Battle at the Laser Quest on Skegness Pier!

I won :-) Emily scored 117, and I scored 287. Our 'colour' was MIXED rather than the standard RED or GREEN!

There has been no change in the Laser Tag Rankings since the last update.

Mini Golf course at Laser Quest Derby

A look at the indoor Mini Golf course at Laser Quest Derby.

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Many thanks again go to our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for sending over these photos of the indoor Mini Golf course at Laser Quest in Derby.

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

It'll be ace to play it on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future. We love playing both minigolf and laser tag so the 9-hole course is in the right location!

Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

In the last week we've played two games of Laser Tag. The first at Laser Station at Star City, Birmingham, followed by the Star Command Laser Tag at The Trocadero in London.

Both were great fun and reminded me of playing Quasar and Laser Quest years ago in Oxford, Minehead, Bognor Regis and Barry Island.

The last time we played the Laser Station in Birmingham Emily defeated me, Mark Swain, Craig McAllister and Angela McAllister. This time out I was the 'Top Gun' amongst the Minigolfers. At 'The Troc' yesterday I was runner-up.



The players in The Trocadero Laser Tag Briefing Room


Richard & Emily post-battle.


The weapons at the Star Command Laser Tag in London have a number of different Ammunition types which add a whole new dimension to the 'sport'.

I've also heard there's a Quasar/Laser Quest in Hemel Hempstead, and remembered there's one in Bedford too. Not too from us here in 'Parts Unknown' (Luton). Plans are also afoot for a re-match from the Star City Contest amongst members of the BMGA Tour when they head to Bristol soon.

We're also big fans of Shooting Shacks here at The Ham & Egger Files, and whenever we head to Blackpool we always head for the Pirate Flyer Indoor Laser Game Monorail at the Coral Island Amusement Arcade.

Sector 7 Laser Tag at Parrs Wood in Manchester

I'm a big fan of Laser Tag, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see that there's a Laser Tag game arena at the Parrs Wood entertainment complex in Manchester.

At the Sector 7 Laser Tag Adventure it's the Reds versus the Greens

Parrs Wood is just down the road from us and the Sector 7 Laser Tag can be found within the Tenpin bowling centre. We can't wait to return for a game there.

In the seemingly everlasting Laser Tag war waged between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS, players in our Laser Tag Rankings have taken part in battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness, Rayleigh and Milton Keynes.

Links:
- Tenpin Parrs Wood
- Parrs Wood Manchester

Related blog posts:
- Laser Tag
- Lazer Tag

A day out of fun and games in Milton Keynes and Northampton

A minigolf revisit, a Dalek, Bar Billiards and no Laser Tag - a trip to Milton Keynes & Northampton.

On Monday 20th February Emily and I headed off on a trip to Milton Keynes and Northampton.

We’ve been to MK a number of times and on my last visit I had faced-off against fellow Minigolfer Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley in the "MK Winter Sporting Challenge". We would have a re-match of sorts in Northampton later in the day.

Before heading to the Centre: MK for some shopping we stopped off at Willen Lake to see if the minigolf course there was open. It wasn’t. We previously played the course in July 2007 when it became the 29th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Willen Lake Adventure Golf course

Another view of the Willen Lake Minigolf course

Last July we had played a Crazy Golf course at the Centre: MK, unfortunately there was nothing going on in the Middleton Hall area on this occasion (we’d also found some great Gluten Free Meat there in March 2011). But wandering around the shopping centre we did spot a Dalek and an Only Fools & Horses Reliant Regal!?

A Dalek and me at the Centre: MK

The Trotters' three-wheeler

We then headed back on the M1 up to Northampton. It’s somewhere we’ve never, properly, visited before. On the way to the Manchester Miniature Open minigolf competition in 2009 the hire car we were driving had caught fire just outside Northampton Services and we’d received a tow to the rental office in the town, but that’s as far as we’d previously got.

This time though we managed a good walk around the town centre and it was a nice enough place to spend the afternoon.

In the Tourist Information Centre we had spotted a leaflet for the Laser Force arena in the town centre and ahead of meeting up with Northamptonshire’s number one Crazy Golfer Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley we decided to scout it out.

First off we looked inside the Sol Central leisure complex, but couldn’t find the laser tag. We did however find an Amusement Arcade that was closed.

The closed Fun Station at Sol Central in Northampton

We eventually found the arena, but unfortunately the Laser Force laser tag at Sol Central is closed on Mondays (except in holidays).

The Laser Tag in Northampton is closed on Mondays

From the posters and adverts outside it looks like a good set-up and we’d like to play there in the future. It’s also got a ‘Machine City’ zone! I wonder what fellow Laser Tagger Oliver ‘The Machine’ Florence knows about this?

Note: The Laser Tag Rankings therefore remain unchanged.

Even more disappointing was the fact that, as with the Peterborough version, they also have a Boom-A-Rang Air Hockey Table!

You can just about see the Boom-A-Rang Crazy Air Squash Table in the background

We met up with ‘The Roller’ who took us on a bit of a mystery tour of the bits of the town centre we’d not yet seen. The undoubted highlight of this was visiting “the third most hated building in Britain” – the town’s Greyfriars Bus Station. While posing for a photo outside it we also got a beep from a passing car!?

Marc and me at the Greyfriars Bus Station in Northampton!

With the Laser Tag closed, a dearth of Miniature Golf in Northampton and the other Laser Maze in the town centre now closed down we headed to the Crown & Anchor pub for the main-event of the day’s contest – Bar Billiards.

We found the table in a corner of the quite spacious Crown & Anchor pub and luckily no one was playing. We did notice that Monday nights were competition nights in the Northants Bar Billiards Association! With league games played between 7.30pm and 10.30pm.

The Bar Billiards table in the Crown & Anchor Pub in Northampton

With Marc having beaten me in the Milton Keynes Winter Sports Challenge, picking up a win in the Pool discipline on his way to ultimate victory (despite having to play half way inside a Hurricane Simulator on a table with an ‘adverse camber’) I was right to be wary of him as an opponent, even if it was his 'debut' playing of the game of Bar Billiards.

Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley has a read of the rules of Bar Billiards

In our first head-to-head match-up, Umpired by Emily, Marc picked up the win with a final score of 190 points. I had notched up a score of 800, but this was lost as I knocked down the dreaded Black Peg on the last ball shoot-out.

I score 100

Almost inevitably in our second game – a triple-threat match including Emily – the balls failed to be released from the table after putting our pound coin in, so we had to get ‘The Man’. However, as this was not a seaside Amusement Arcade (aka 'The Buttons') Emily refused to get #TheMan, so I had to ask at the bar.

The table was promptly fixed and the balls released. As an added bonus we got a chance to see the ‘inner workings’ of a Bar Billiards table as the top section had to be lifted up to get at the ball release mechanism!

In the three-way-dance match I scored a win with a final score of 750 points, with Marc and Emily both knocking down the Black Peg to wipe-out their scores of 400 and 340 respectively.

Marc plays a shot off of a cushion

Emily goes for the 200-hole in the Black Peg Shoot-Out

In the games we seemed to favour the top-left-hand corner of the table and the balls seemed to ‘collect’ here quite often!

One view of 'Jiff Corner'

A nice line of balls 'protecting' the Red ball

Game three was another one-on-one match between me and ‘The Roller’ and was another victory for Marc, this time with a 660 points to zero score-line after I’d wiped-out from 1,050! Marc also picked up his ‘career best’ break with a score of 530 points in one visit to the table, after I had opened with my ‘day best’ of 350 with my first three shots following the start.

Going for a double score with the Red ball

The final game saw Marc pick up his third win on 'home soil' with a score of 1,090 to zero, as I once again knocked down the Black Peg as the ball dropped into the 200-hole. On this occasion the result would not have been affected even if I had potted the last ball cleanly without hitting the peg, as under the watchful eye of the Umpire both players were forced to ‘go for it’ in the last ball shoot-out!

Marc taking on the shot for the 200-hole

Commenting on his Bar Billiards victories Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley said “I’ve still got some way to go before I’m mixing it with the Pros, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon nonetheless.”

After the fun of the Bar Billiards we went for another wander around town and headed to (the) Shipmans pub on (the) Drapery for a drink. Unfortunately there were no pub games on offer in this long, thin pub. We did however discuss the game of "Hood Skittles", which is now on our list of Pub Games to play!

To round off our fun day in Northampton we headed to The Church Bar & Restaurant on Bridge Street as we had spotted they offered a Gluten Free menu. The food and surroundings were excellent.

It, and Northampton as a whole, is worth a visit.

A view of The Church Bar & Restaurant

Links:

- Bar Billiards Blog Posts

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Laser Tag Rankings - at 12th March 2011

Since January 2011 a bunch of us having been playing a fair bit of Laser Tag on our travels.

In the Eternal Laser Tag War that rages between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS(!?) we've all taken part in Laser Battles in such far-flung places as Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough and Crawley.

Currently the "Top Gun of Top Guns" is Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, with a 100% win-loss record and four-wins from his three battles as a RED and one-win as a GREEN.

In tied second place are me and Emily, with Emily picking up three wins from four appearances as a RED, and showing true loyalty to her army. I have collected three wins from my five appearances as a RED/BLUE/GREEN (but not a YELLOW).

Click to enlarge ranking list

Nobody has yet made an appearance for the YELLOWS.

Other Laser Tag Blog Posts:

Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

Laser Quest in Bristol - The Minigolfers Challenge

Harry's Buttons in Bristol and a Closed-Down Quasar!

'LaserForce' Laser Tag in Peterborough

Quasar Elite Laser Tag in Hemel Hempstead

Latest Laser Tag Rankings - Update after Laser Tag Battle at MegaZone Rayleigh in Essex

On Sunday 4th December 2011 Emily and I teamed up and joined the ranks of the foot soldiers of the Yellow team as we faced-off in a 27-player three-team Laser Tag Battle against the Reds and the Blues at the MegaZone in Rayleigh, Essex.

In the 30-minute shootout the mighty Yellow team was victorious beating the Blue team by just under 20,000 points!

In the match I was ranked 3rd overall, with Emily in 5th place in the 27-player field.

The Laser Tag Rankings have been updated following the contest and the top three places remain unchanged in the 11-player rankings. I am ranked #1 (with six wins from eight battles), while Oliver 'The Machine' Florence is #2 (with a 100% win/loss record from his four games) and Emily is #3 (with four wins from seven outings).

Click to enlarge ranking list

In the Seemingly Everlasting Laser Tag War waged between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS players in the Laser Tag Rankings have taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness and Rayleigh.

Laser Tag in Birmingham

Spotting a Laser Tag centre in Birmingham.

On my recent trip to Birmingham I stumbled upon the Laser Tag centre at Teamworks Karting in Digbeth.

Great to know there's one there. I really need to have another game of laser tag soon.

Check out the Teamworks Karting website for more information.

Along with my sixth sense in finding minigolf courses I seem to also be able to sniff out a laser tag arena wherever I go.