Laser tag facilities light up dark pathways

Mark Ostendorf, junior general studies major, plays a game at Lazer City in Joplin on Oct. 19.

Mark Ostendorf, junior general studies major, plays a game at Lazer City in Joplin on Oct. 19.

For those students who like laser tag, there is a place to go just beyond Missouri Southern’s campus.

Laser tag is a game where someone straps on a vest, and arms him or herself with a gun that fires out a beam of light.

If that person is hit, then that person will hear a noise that tells when that person is out for a certain period of time.

The object of the game is to shoot the opponents to get them out. After the game, the players will receive a piece of paper that will tell which places each player received out of all of the people who played.

Lazer City is located on Northpark Lane, a few blocks south of Northpark Mall. Lazer City is open to anyone who wants to play.

It also holds all kinds of celebrations such as lock-ins, birthday parties and other special occasions.

For one game, the price is $5, two games for $9, and for three games, $12.00 per person.

The time limit for each game is 12 minutes. Lazer City also has another style of game called Fire Till You Tire. For $15, one can play a game that has no time limit.

The participants literally play until they cannot play anymore.

With Fire Till You Tire, participants also get a pizza discount with Eureka Pizza. The discount is $8 for a large pizza, and $3.00 for a pitcher of soda.

Times for Fire Till You Tire are 4- 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays and 6-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Private rentals are $200 per hour, which lets people rent out the entire place, arcade and all.

Private rentals must be done outside of business hours, which are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday from 4-9 p.m., Friday 4-midnight, Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 1-6 p.m.

Lazer City’s theme is city based. It has scenes from different cities in the United States including the St. Louis Arch.

The arena inside is a 4,000 square-foot black-light-lit arena with ramps so teams can snipe opposing players.

Owner and manager Dixie Turley said Lazer City will be building a second story to the arena soon.

Along with the laser tag, there is also an arcade and pool tables people can play while waiting for a game to start.

Before every game, players are briefed on the rules and how to play the game.