Laser tag is a skirmish sport in which players, in teams or as individuals, use laser emitting devices, to tag laser sensitive targets. The sport originated in the United States as a way to replicate the Star Wars movie laser combat experience. Laser tag quickly became popular in several countries, and soon turned into a competitive sport.
Laser tag is mostly played in an indoor arena, where all aspects including tracking points are computer controlled. Most competitions are conducted indoors. There are a few outdoors setups where laser tag is played, but is mostly for recreation.
In a basic form of game play, players in a team or as individuals, tag players of other team, and receive points based on the number of targets tagged. Over the years, several specialized versions of the game have evolved, like, Capture the flag - where one team tries to capture the opponent’s flag, and Protect the VIP - where one member for a team has to be protected by others from getting tagged.
Zone Worlds Laser Tag Championships is the highest level international tournament conducted for the sport where player from over 20 countries take part. Several national level tournaments are conducted in countries like, Australia, the United States, Sweden, Finland, and the UK.
Other Skirmish Sports
- Airsoft — a skirmish sport in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting them with spherical non-metallic pellets from replica firearms.
- Paintball — a skirmish sport in which players compete to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water-soluble dye propelled from paintball guns.
Similar Sports
- Shooting Sports
- Laser Run — four legs of laser pistol shooting, each followed by an 800m run.
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports