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“Laser Tag in a Box—Complete set up & Play Guide” Published by Lander Publishing Shop 1, 6 Graham St, Underwood QLD 4119 Australia www.LaserTag.com.au First published September 2008 Latest Edition February 2013 Copyright © 2013 Nicole Lander All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright owner. Disclaimer. The material in this publication is of a general nature, and neither purports nor intends to be advice. The author and publisher expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything and of the conse-quences of anything done or omitted to be done by any such person in reliance, whether whole or in part, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication. Laser Tag-in-a-Box, LaserTag Ready, Aim… Fun® and Laser Skir-mish Ready, Aim… Fun® are trademarks registered by Pathfinder Events Pty Ltd and is used with its permission. Designed and typeset by Nicole Lander

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Hi Thank you for booking Laser-Tag-in-a-Box. In your boxes you will find everything you need. You will also see an envelop. This contains some useful documents—do not throw anything out! On the Packing Slip you will find a list of everything we have packed for you, please mark off that you have received everything. If you have not received an item please let our office know im-mediately, on 1800 266 587. This booklet is designed for you as a set up & play guide. It contains lots of practical info for your event as well as some helpful hints. Once your event is finished please turn all the phasers off (with the key) and pack them back in the boxes. As you pack them away please mark each items on the packing slip to ensure you have packed everything. Just seal the boxes with the tape provided (left over tape is yours to keep). If your boxes are being collected by courier Please make sure someone is on the premises and that the boxes are ready by 10am to be collected by the courier or a Laser Tag team member. The boxes must be sealed and must have their return address stickers and connotes stickers attached over the top of the original ones and sign the dis-patch summary (if they are to be returned by courier); these were in the same envelop as this letter. If you’re returning your boxes yourself Please make sure you return your boxes to:

Shop 1 6 Graham St, Underwood, QLD 4119

the next day after your event or as stated on your booking invoice. Please call us if you are unsure when they are due back. Please take care of the equipment, as noted in the terms and conditions you are responsible for any loss or damage. If you have any questions please call us on 1800 BOOK US (1800 2665 87). We hope you enjoy your event! Yours sincerely, Nicole Lander Chief Fun Officer

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Contents

Quick Start  5 

How to Organize your Party  6 

• Safety Tips  7 

Party Checklist  8 

• 10 Steps to Fun  9 

• What’s What  10 

Getting Kitted out  10 

• Laser Tag Rental & inflatable Hire  11 

• A Mum’s Story  11 

• Cobra  12 

• Black Cobra   13 

• Scorpion  14 

• Run Sheet  15 

How to Play & Run the Games  16 

• Elimination  17 

• Top Gun  18 

• Defend the Base    19 

• King of the Castle  20 

• Relic Raiders  21 

Wet weather  22 

• A Brief History of Laser Tag   22 

Cake Tips!  23 

• Packing up after your event  24 

• Using a Master Controller  25 

Using the Battery Charger  26 

• Troubleshooting  26 

About the Author  27 

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Getting Started FAST:   ⇒Locate your keys, you should have two of them. To switch the phaser on, turn the key ¼ TURN clockwise then pull the trigger. 

⇒Turn on every phaser. Just turn the key, wait a couple of seconds then you are ready to play.  

⇒The sensors are mounted on a headband using Velcro & elastic. The headband goes over a bandanna or hat. These tell the teams. 

⇒To turn on your Medic Boxes, turn the key ¼ TURN clockwise, and press the big black button.  

⇒Take the key out of the phasers/medic boxes to play.  ⇒The phasers are pre‐set, so the blue team can ONLY tag the red team. (The blue team CANNOT tag the other blue team mem‐bers. Likewise red team cannot tag others on the red team.) Aim at the headbands or the barrel (that’s where the sensors are). Each time a player tags an opponent; your phaser says “tagged”. The number of tags is shown on your display after the letter T. 

⇒Phasers are pre‐set on easy mode, which means once you use up all your ammo on your phaser, it will automatically re‐load for you (this only takes a few seconds). If you don’t want to wait, just press the red button to re‐load. (The black button swaps be‐tween single‐shot and rapid‐fire.)  

⇒When you are not using them, or have finished playing turn the phasers off & turn the medic boxes off using the key (¼ TURN anti‐clockwise). Please make sure everything is turned off  be‐fore you pack the equipment away.  

THE STANDARD BOX INCLUDES:

5x phasers pre set 1x Spare 5x phasers pre set to Red Team (Black Headband) to Blue Team

The phasers come pre-set so that the Red Team can only Tag Blue Team and Vice Versa.

http://www.lasertag.com.au/content/getting-started

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This is ready, aim... fun!

Here are some ideas for your boy’s or girl’s party. Laser Tag parties have been making kids happy for years. Laser Tag is suitable for school age kids and older. This is ideal for: • birthday parties, • vacation care events • Christmas parties &

more! With Laser Tag-in-a-Box you now can bring the fun right to you. INTRODUCTION You might have attended a child’s birthday party that re-sembled a Hollywood epic. Of course, every parent wants to make a fuss and celebrate their gorgeous child’s gaining another year in age. And nowadays there seem so few occasions where you can announce how proud as punch you are of him or her. Let’s face it, it is not that hard to throw a party. But it can be challenging to throw a memorable one. It is what we, as parents (or

carers), strive for. That delight-ful sound of when your child exclaims: “Mum, that was the best birthday ever!” This little booklet isn't de-signed to re-invent the party planning wheel. Rather it is intended to give you some helpful hints and tips on organizing your event. WHAT IS LASER TAG?HIGH TECH HIDE & SEEK Laser Tag is a fun game, where you tag other players with a phaser by aiming at sensors. No mess, no fuss. Just fun for the kids and fun for the parents/carers! This is the ultimate adventure game. Laser Tag works with infrared just like a TV remote control so it is very safe. Players tag sensors that are mounted on the headband or on the phaser. Whether you are 6 or 60, Laser Tag-in-a-Box offers fast paced

Birthday Parties

Vacation Care

Corporate Picnics

Laser Tag in a Box

games with a high tech edge. Our games are designed to get your adrenaline pumping and your brain working. Some great theme ideas are: • An ARMY • A SCI-FI, or • a RELIC RAIDER

theme • or create your own. These games are easy to run when you follow the easy step by step instructions in this booklet. We also have a dedicated YouTube channel for you. To log on just go to www.YouTube.com/Lasertagcomau

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Laser Tag works with infrared just like a TV remote control so it is safe. Despite the game being called “laser” tag, the phasers actually DO NOT use any lasers. Rather they emit an invisible and harmless infrared beam. Just like an oversized TV remote. We recommend all players wear long pants and covered shoes while playing. We recommend you check the yard you are playing in and avoid tripping hazards. We also recommend that the children are supervised by an adult.

LONG Battery Life Our phasers are designed for hours and hours of game time (around 16 hours). So you should be able to play with the phasers all party and still have plenty of charge left in them. Obviously if you hold the trigger down and continuously emit the battery will last less time than if you go, go, go all day. For maximum use, please turn the units OFF when not in use. When we deliver the phasers to you, they are fully charged and zeroed. So they are raring to go!

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Party ChecklistParty ChecklistParty Checklist

R emember your child's first birth-day party?

Back then, it seemed that first year flew by. Well maybe not during that 2AM feed. But you know what I mean! Now, even more incredibly your kid is fast approaching ten years old (or six or eight, or 13 years old!). I don't know about you, but when my son reached ten I felt like I just blinked and the decade had slipped by. It seemed just like yesterday that I was bringing my baby home from hospital! But, now to celebrate your boy’s, or girl’s, 10th birthday, we have a mission to commemorate the coming of double dig-its. Your little prince, or princess, has reached the milestone of a decade! It’s time to party! At this age children, especially boys, (but girls do too) love things like games, action and noise.

Remember that this birthday party might be the one that they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

Here are 10 simple steps to make your boy’s (or girl’s) 10th, 11th, or whatever-th, birthday a breeze.

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10 Steps to Fun!

1 Choose the date, time and location. De-cide about how many people (adults and

kids) you want to invite. At home is good, out-side is great.

2 Choose a theme. Army or Sci-Fi or perhaps a Relic Raiders theme? Select

invitations accordingly.

3 Book the entertainment. For exam-ple, you can hire a "party-in-a-box"

from us and we will deliver you a box of 10 phasers right to your door. Kids love the high tech hide & seek. If you keep your kids busy then they'll more likely sleep well that night.

4 Send invitations out three or four weeks in advance. Make sure to make

a checklist so if you find out some of your ini-tial invitees aren't able to come along, then you can fit in some other friends.

5 Décor! Here is where you can go all out, with fun things with colour,

themes & decorations. While you might not be able to get camo eve-rything, you can theme the balloons, such as green, brown, & black balloons. Or green pa-per plates, & knives & forks. Plus you can hire camo tablecloths from us!

6 Costumes: After all half the fun is dressing up. From simple camouflage

shirts (or coveralls, you can hire both from

us!) to an elaborate Star Trek Officer’s uni-form.

7 Games. Kids have active imaginations & lots of energy. So ensure the enter-

tainment is active. With home Laser Tag, for example, the kids can imagine they are Hollywood heroes for a day. Despite being called LASER tag, the phasers actually emit infrared, just like a TV remote. So the beam is invisible & harmless. Luke Skywalker or Arnie watch out!

8 Food. Try & make (or order) food that's easy to prepare & eat. You can

theme the food by calling it a "ration pack." And, of course, there is the cake. (Don’t forget the candles/matches!) Many bakeries will cre-ate a tank cake or Star Wars type space ship cake on order. You can even get themed loot bags from us.

9 Photos! Don't forget the camera. Nowadays it is a great idea to take

loads of photos which you can upload to Face-book. Goodness if you are bold you can even create a video for YouTube! Good idea to have extra batteries & memory cards handy. This is a good job to delegate to an Auntie or Uncle so you can handle every-thing else.

10 Relax and just have fun. After all this is a day to remem-ber, best to savour it.

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Getting Kitted Out Getting dressed up is half the fun! Including in your box is 5 red bandanas and 5 blue. First put on your ban-danna tying it at the back of your head. Next put the headband over the ban-danna, with the twirly ca-ble to the back. The cable goes under your arm. You can also hire (or buy) camo coveralls (pictured) from Childrens size 6 to Adults size 5XL. You can also hire (or buy) camo army hats or caps.

We also have plain grey hats for a Sci-Fi theme. Included in you box are red bandanas and blue bandannas, these tell the teams. Or you can also buy scrim net (like a camo mask or scarf). Or buy camo face paint—usually one compact is enough is for the whole group. Goodness! We even had camo tablecloths for hire (to suit a six foot trestle table).

www.lasertag.com.au/content/phasers-explained

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A Mum’s Story

I have just finished your online survey but would just like to fur-ther comment on what a fantastic party my son had with your laser tag equipment. We did an army theme and used the invitations on your web site. We had dog tags & camo paint. A debriefing on out of bounds and rules etc then the fun began. My eldest brother is in the army so he played the sergeant and organ-ized each game. The boys and 2 girls had the best time. We live on

a steep bush sloping block which was perfect. We set up 2 tents as each base camp and changed games and ends regularly. I made ration packs with water bottle which we kept filled, apples and a small chip packet. Af-ter 3.5hours it was hard to end it. But eventually hunger got them. The comments of it was the best party ever from my son and his friends was lovely to hear. Not sure what to do next year to top it but maybe just do it all again. Thank you, cheers Tracey x

Laser Tag Rental Inflatable Hire

Our laser tag gear is 100% portable and weather-resistant. You can play either indoors or outdoors. We have three types of Laser tag phasers to choose from: • Grey Cobra • Black Cobra • Scorpion (usually metallic grey

but some are green and there is a pink one available too).

All units are built tough to cope with party action! But they are not inde-structible, so please take care.

Our inflatables are 100% portable and weather-resistant. If you don’t have lots of cover to hide behind then you can create an “instant” maze with the inflatables, inside or outside. We have 3 types of inflat-ables to choose from: • Party inflatables (cones) • Fun inflatables (bricks) • Bunker inflatables (blockade

bunkers) All units are built tough to cope with party action! But they are not indestructible so PLEASE DO NOT JUMP ON THEM.

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T he Cobra is a fun phaser.

This model is small and made from polycarbonate (a durable plastic). It is great for playing either indoor or outdoors. Our gear is 100% port-able, tough, and rain-resistant. (If they are not being used then I recom-mend keeping them out of the rain and switching them off to save the bat-tery.) The trigger is bright or-ange. It also comes stan-dard with a peep sight Red Dot integrated into the unit. Standard issue colour: grey. And it comes with a bright digi-cam sticker on the side (either blue or green or red).

The Cobras in your Party Box are pre-set with 5 "health points" and 50 rounds per load. The phaser will automati-cally re-load when you’ve used up all 50 (when you are set on ‘easy’ mode). So all you need to do is

turn the phaser on, wait a few seconds, and you are good to go!

Cobra

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T he Black Co-bra is an awe-

some phaser. This model is small and made from polycarbonate (a durable plastic). And it looks cool. It is great for either in-door or outdoors. Our gear is 100% port-able, tough, and weather-resistant. If they are not being used then I recommend keep-ing them out of the rain & switching them off to save the battery. The trigger is bright or-ange. It also comes with an au-thentic red-dot scope in-tegrated into the unit. The black cobra, as pic-tured, comes in your Awesome-Party-in-a-Box. It comes with a bright digi-cam sticker on the side (either blue or green or red). The Black Cobras are pre-set with 5 "health points".

They also have 50 rounds per load. The phaser will automati-cally re-load when you’ve used up all 50 rounds. This just takes a second or two. So all you need to do is turn the phaser on, wait about 5 seconds and you are good to go!

Black Cobra

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T he Scorpion is a versatile

model. This model is in the small class of metal phaser. It is great for either indoor or outdoors and, in particular, Close Quar-ters games. In fact, since it does not have a protruding barrel it is ideal for indoor play. The gear is 100% port-able, tough, and rain-resistant. (But if they are not being used then I rec-ommend keeping them out of the rain & switch-ing them off to save the battery.) The Scorpion has a deci-bel rating of 83dB at 3½ft (1m) and 57dB at 160ft (50m). It has a metal construc-tion. More, it has a full trigger mechanism. It also comes standard with a Red Dot scope. Standard issue colour: metal grey/phantom black. But some are green and the one pictured is pur-ple.

The Scorpions in your Fun-in-a-Box are pre-set with 5 "health points" and 50 rounds per load. The phaser will automatically re-load when you’ve used up all 50 (when you are set on ’easy’ mode). So all you need to do is turn the phaser on and pull the trigger, wait about 5 seconds and you are good to go!

Our phasers are a fine balance between inno-vative technology and practical gaming experience to produce the most robust, most widely used commer-cial outdoor laser tag equipment in the world today.

Scorpion

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2 x Elimination—1st game 5min, then change ends & repeat. (see page 17)

2 x Top Gun (see page 18)

2 x Defend the Base—approx 10min each, defend a fortification (e.g. cubby house). Then swap roles. (see page 18)

Open presents, have refreshments, & cake.

1 x Elimination—finale—Dads vs Kids! (or carers vs kids)

When you are ready to start the games, select “game start” on your Master Con-troller and pull its trigger. All the phasers will start. When a game finishes select “game end” on the Controller again, & pull the trigger. All the phasers will stop.

1 x Relic Raider—Treasure Hunt! - approx 7min. (see page 21).

Game Briefing: Here’s what to say... “Listen Up! Ok. You all have a phaser. We have two teams: 1. The Blue Team:

Team “Bravo” [or whatever you want to call them!]

2. And the Red Team: Team “Delta”.

Aim with the red-dot.

When you are de-activated come back to your start point to the Medic Box and press the big button. Red team let’s move out. Blue team move out. Everybody ready? Red team go. Blue team go!”

Divide the group into 2. Hand out the phasers and turn them on with they key. Eve-ryone will be trigger happy. Let them go gung-ho for a few minutes. Then, with the Master Controller select “end game” all phasers will go to “game over” (see expla-nation on page 25)

1 x King of the Castle —approx 10min (see page 20) If you have hired the optional “Battle Box”

Drinks break.

5min (MAX!) briefing on how to use the phaser (see words below)

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How to Tag your Opponent? Your goal is to try and tag your opponents before they can tag you. To do this you need to aim at the sensors with the red dot scope. There is a sensor mounted on the phaser and two more infra-red sensors that mount on the head band. Phasers are preset to teams so that players on the red team cannot tag other players on the red team. When you have an opponent’s sensor in your scope, pull the trigger. The phasers are delivered to you pre-set in “easy” mode so they will automatically re-load and you get an unlimited num-ber of re-loads. But you can be tagged while re-loading, so try to hide! If you tag someone, you will hear your phaser confirm the tag by a voice sound effect i.e. “tagged.” If you de-activate someone, you’ll hear the “de-activated” sound effect.

www.lasertag.com.au/content/how-to-tag

What happens when you are Tagged? As well as trying to tag the opponents, you should try to hide during the game to make it harder for opponents to tag you. The first two times you are tagged, you will hear a “near miss”. The next two tags, you will hear an “oouf” sound effect and then you will hear the de-activated sound effect on your next tag like a long "aaaargh!".

www.lasertag.com.au/content/getting-tagged

How to use your Medic Boxes In some games, when you’re de-activated, you are out of the game while in others you may get a re-activation. A re-activation restores your phaser back to full health points. A re-activation is usu-ally done by a medic box. Just use your team’s medic box by pushing the big button. When re-activated, your phaser will say "re-activated".

During play the head sensor must stay on your head. Don’t cover the sensor with your hand or any carried ob-ject – 'cause that’s cheating! Your Spare Phaser In your delivery you would have gotten a spare phaser. This phaser has a black or green headband (instead of a red or blue one). It is usually pre-set to the red team. Please keep this one in re-serve. Only use it if one of the other phasers stops work-ing (such as low battery). If you do need to use this one we suggest popping the player onto the red team. Oth-erwise you will need to re-set the teams. This spare can also be set to act as a Battle Box if needed. If you need to re-set a phaser to a different team, please call our office so we can walk you though the steps. Enjoy!

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E limination games are two-team com-petitions. This game scales well to virtu-

ally any size group, depend-ing on the size of your play-ing area. An elimination game is simply one team versus the other for a set period of time, typically 5 minutes.

www.lasertag.com.au/content/ Eliminationgame (top of page) It is an easy game, so it is a great one to start off with.

To get the party started run a series of short, 5 to 10min, elimination games. The gam-ers just change ends between each game. Where you start

each of the two teams is im-portant. Here are the guide-lines: • The teams ideally should

start out of sight of each other.

• Start each end of the yard or opposite sides of the house, both work well.

• When starting, gamers should be spread out, so gamers won’t bunch up).

How much room do you need? A good rule of thumb is the width should be about 5ft (1.5m) per gamer, so a 5 a side game would have a width of 25ft (7.5m).

In summary, an elimination is simply one team versus the other for a set period of time.

The birthday child usually acts as the “captain” for their

Gamers’ Briefing (here’s what to say to each team) “Attention Heroes! Rebels have been spotted moving into the area. HQ says you must advance &

eliminate them. Lots of re-enforcements are available from your base.” www.lasertag.com.au/content/elimination-game (bottom of the page)

team. Each player starts with 5 health points—that’s what the phasers are set to when delivered. All ready? Make sure all the phas-ers are all ready to go, see page 12 for how to do this.

If you are on acreage then you will find coordinating the games easier if each “referee” has a two-way radio.

Ideally each team will have a medic box [pictured] at their home base. When de-activated just run back to base, push the big button and get re-activated.

Count how many times players are de-activated on each team. If you have hired a medic box (or master controller) these units will count the number of reactivations for you. The winning team is the one with the least number of re-activations on their medic box.

SCENE: This game can be played just about anywhere, either indoors or outdoors

TEAMS: Team Blue versus Team Red (equal sized teams)

OBJECTIVE: BOTH TEAMS: The objective is to tag as many members of the other team while ensuring that your own team suffers minimal deactivations.

RE-ACTIVATIONS:

Unlimited. This is a timed game, but the number of re-activations are counted by the Medic Boxes

VICTORY: The winning team is the one that used the least number of re-activations.

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T op Gun games are a good fun and easy game to kick-off your party. This

game scales well to virtually any size group, depending on the size of your playing area. But the Top Gun game is also great for small groups. This game goes for a set pe-riod of time, typically 10 min-utes. It is an easy game, so it is a great one to start off with. To get the party started run a series of short games. The gamers just change ends between each game. Where you start each of the two teams is important. Here are the guidelines: • The teams ideally should

start out of sight of each other.

• Start each end of the yard

or opposite sides of the house, both work well.

• When starting, gamers should be spread out, so gamers won’t bunch up.

How much room do you need? A good rule of thumb is the width should be about 5ft (1.5m) per gamer, so a 5 a side game would have a width of 25ft (7.5m). The birthday child usually acts as the “captain” for their team. Each player starts with 5 health points—that’s what the phasers are set to when delivered. All ready? In posi-tion? Then simply start the phasers with the Master Con-troller. TIP: The parents/carers should keep a hold of the keys.

Gamers’ Briefing (here’s what to say to each team) “Attention, troops! Who is going to be the TOP GUN? Blue team and Red team will start out of sight of each other. The battle box will be at your base and will provide unlimited reactivations for both teams. The player that has the highest number of Deactivations wins. The number of Deactiva-tions is number after the D on your display.”

SCENE: This game can be played just about anywhere, either indoors or outdoors

TEAMS: Team “Blue” versus Team “Red” (equal sized teams)

RE-ACTIVATIONS:

Unlimited. Place the medic boxes at each team’s base (out of sight of one another)

VICTORY: The gamer with the highest number of deactiva-tions, wins. See the “D” value on the display.

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If you are on acreage then you will find coordinating the games easier if each “referee” has a two-way radio. The winning gamer is the one with the most number of de-activations and themselves still activated at the end of the game. GAME ORGANISER TIP Ensure that everyone starts the game with “D” on their display = zero. You can either do this with the “start” function on the Master Controller, or by turning on the phasers with a key. End the game with “end” control-ler function so everyone stops at the same time.

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SCENE: This game can played out in just about any terrain although some sort of fort, or base, is useful.

TEAMS: Team “Blue” starts @ the flag versus Team “Red” who start on the other side of the yard.

OBJECTIVE: Control the area around the flag (typically within 10ft/5m) at the end of the game. It is important to note in the briefing this is not “capture the flag”- no one is to run off with the flag.

RE-ACTIVATIONS:

Unlimited first 8mins.

VICTORY: Team with the most “live” gamers within objective area, wins.

T he Defend the Base scales well to virtu-ally any size group. Once the flag has

been placed, neither team should move it. The defend-ers start typically around the flag about 10ft (3m). www.lasertag.com.au/content/

defend-the-base-game (top of page)

The attackers start out of sight of the defenders.

The referee should end up at the flag at the end of the game to count the “live” gamers. The reason for having unlimited re-activations for 8mins is the last couple of minutes forces a result. If there was no cut-off point for re-activations the attack-ers could never win (well,

almost never). While each team has a fighting chance but it is a good idea to run this game twice, so each team has an opportunity for each role. The winning team is the one with one with the most “live” gamers in close prox-imity to the flag at the end of the time.

Gamers’ Briefing (Attackers) “Heroes: your challenge is to attack the rebels at “XXX” [insert your landmark of choice e.g. mon-key-bars with some camo nets becomes a “fort”]. The rebels are defending their base. You need to overrun it. Re-activations are available for 8 mins.”

www.lasertag.com.au/content/defend-the-base-game (bottom of page)

Gamers’ Briefing (Defenders) “Listen up rebels. Our spies report the opposition is moving directly towards our base. Quickly take positions around our base and stop them in their tracks. Deactivate as many of them as possible. You must hold the base.”

www.lasertag.com.au/content/defend-the-base-game (bottom of page)

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SCENE: This game can play out in any terrain, although some sort of fort (or cubby house) to place the Battle Box is useful.

TEAMS: Team “Blue” versus Team “Red” start roughly equidistant from the Battle Box in the middle (ideally start out of sight of the box)

OBJECTIVE: To control the Battle Box for as long as possible. (The box auto-matically measures the time each team was in control.)

RE-ACTIVATIONS:

Unlimited.

VICTORY: Team longest in the control of the box. When the game ends the box automatically flashes the winning colour.

SPECIAL RULES:

Neither team is allow to move the Battle Box or the Medic Boxes.

The “King of the Castle” game is very exciting be-cause the pressure is on the teams to control the Battle Box for as long as possible, right from the starting whistle. There is always a lot of action with this game. The game can be played with any number of gamers. The King of the Castle is highly recommended as the game to play most of the time. It is suitable for just about any event.

The Battle Box is pre-set in “domination” mode. The Battle Box has two times in-side it, which indicates how much time each team has control of the box during the game. To control the box the player has to tag it. If a blue team player tags the box it will flash blue. If the red team player takes over, then it will flash red. The Battle Box should be

lead flat on its back, ideally on a raise surface like a table. For extra fun: try changing the starting positions of each team and the position of the Battle box itself.

Gamers’ Briefing (both teams) “This game is King of the Castle, the goal for both teams is to control the objective for more time than the other team. To show you are in control you must first tag the Battle Box. If the blue team tags the box it will flash blue. If the red team tags it then it will flash red. While the box is flashing your team color your team is in control and gaining valuable time. While you are in control try to stop the other team from tagging the box. The box will flash the winning team’s colour when the game is over.”

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Rent CAMO NETS & CAMO BUNTING. They add to the

“atmosphere”!

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SCENE: This game can play out in any terrain, but it is best suited to a field with plenty of hiding spots.

TEAMS: Team “Blue” versus Team “Red” OBJECTIVE: Collect as many Loot Bags (or other treasure as possible) RE-ACTIVATIONS:

Unlimited re-activations for the first 5 minutes.

VICTORY: Team with the most Loot!

T his game works well for even very small groups. Be-fore the participants

arrive, hide several items around the playing area. The props can be themed to keep with the event. www.lasertag.com.au/con-

tent/treasure-hunt-game (top of page)

Ideas include: • a blue scarab (an Egyp-

tian artefact prop) there is a design to print out from our web site. Cut it out and colour it in, then stick it on top of a small box

• a toy treasure chest • a treasure map or se-

cret letter (see the web site for ideas) or

• Camo Loot bags (you can order these from us!).

Then team victory points are awarded for finding the loot. Please note I ALWAYS recommend running team games, rather than handing out individual scores.

It is just way more fun with team scores, especially at a party. The team that finds the most loot, wins. If you have gotten the kids to help create/build the “battlefield” in the lead up to the

party, make sure they are not allowing back into the playing arena after the relics have been hidden!

In the game brief-ing make sure each participant understands they cannot move a relic back to their base while de-activated.

If they get de-activated holding a relic, they must

to drop it immediately. Gam-ers are not to take a relic from another gamer on the opposi-tion team. This game should be run for no more than 7 minutes.

Gamers’ Briefing (both teams) “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find as much loot as you can and return it to your base. You are all relic raiders—we are on a quest to raid as many tombs [for loot bags, Easter eggs, or whatever] as possible, but we are honour bound by a hero code. First: no running with loot when you are deactivated. If you get deactivated holding a relic, drop it immediately. (Then return to your start point for a re-activation.) Second: do not steal relics from heroes on the other team while they are activated. But of course if they get deactivated and drop their loot then you are wel-come to grab it from them.”

www.lasertag.com.au/content/treasure-hunt-game (bottom of page)

LOOT BAGS

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A brief history of Laser Tag “Lazer Tag" was a product created in 1986 by Worlds of Wonder. Playing outdoors with these Lazer Tag toys, players shot sensors worn by other players to "tag" them. If you're tagged a certain number of times, you're out. These toys were sold through Wal-Mart (Kmart, Toys R us) and other toy stores. But Worlds of Wonder went out of busi-ness in 1988. Since then the term "laser tag" remained to be used to describe many games of the same kind. Around 10 years later, Battlefield Sports started producing commercial grade laser tag equipment. That’s where Laser Tag-in-a-Box gets its phasers from. Battlefield Sports has won lots of awards for its innovations. So whether you are old enough to remember the original toy or simply must have the latest innovation, outdoor Laser Tag is a lot of fun.

Infra Red Despite the sport being called “Laser” tag, the phasers actually DO NOT use lasers. Rather they emit an invisible and harmless infra-red beam. Just like an over-sized TV remote control. Wet WeatherWet WeatherWet Weather

The phasers are weather resistant, However, water can still cause them to mal-function. This is why it is impor-tant that are kept as dry as possible. When playing in show-ers, do not point the phasers up towards the sky or down at the ground. Also do not

hold the phasers up-side-down. This is be-cause water on the lens will reduce the range and water can get in-side the phasers. Just play with them horizontally. Do not leave the phas-ers out in the rain when not in use. Wherever possible, keep the equipment off the ground.

After use, wipe the phasers down with a dry towel, prior to packing them back in their box. This will lessen the chance of humidity getting into the phas-ers.

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I cing on the Cake One of the benefits

of organizing a party is that you can choose the cake. If you bake your own, or order a cake that fit in theme, such as a Tank Cakes you are sure to delight the crowd. Get ambitious: you might consider creating a cake in the shape of a phaser. Or get into the groove with a camouflage cake. How to Create a Camo Cake Cover a two-layered round cake in green or brown icing. Cut out shapes of green, brown and beige fondant. Strategically place the shapes on your cake in a camo pattern. To finish, use a cake decorating bag and tip to write “happy birthday” and the child’s name in white icing. For a full explanation and lots of photos visit www.lasertag.com.au/content/camo-cake-ideas

If you are not a wiz in the kitchen (& let’s face it who has the time?) then let the professionals take care of it. The cake pictured [top right] was created by JudyC, see www.cakesbyjudyc.com.au Other Tips You can also add in to themed (camo) Loot Bags. Or why not Dog Tags? Or order some camo face paint! All of which add to the fun of the day.

Cake Tips

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Packing up after your eventPacking up after your eventPacking up after your event

B efore packing the phasers and

everything back in the box you will need to en-sure all the phasers are turned off with the key.

www.lasertag.com.au/content/packing-up Check the LCD display and make sure there is no writing on it. Count the number of phasers and make sure you have the same quan-tity as was shipped to (or collected by) you. Tick each item off your pack-ing list. After you’ve played with the equipment, you might notice some damage to the equipment. Please note you are libel for any damage or loss of equipment, this will be invoiced to you.

placement and repair costs can be found on our web site. www.lasertag.com.au/content/terms-conditions And www.lasertag.com.au/content/replacement-costs So please make sure eve-rything is returned is similar condition to how it arrived. Put everything back in the boxes. The sensors remain loose in the indi-vidual packing box. Please don’t wrap the ca-ble around the phaser es-pecially not too tightly as can damage the sensor cable. If you are returning the box via a courier, please stick the return labels (the con-notes—the ones with the barcode) on the top of the old labels on the out-side of the box. Next seal the boxes. Use

the packing tape pro-vided in your Laser Tag-in-a-Box. Finally sign the dis-patch summary form and be ready to hand it to the courier driver when they come to col-lect the boxes. If you have an ques-tions please call us on 1800 Book Us.

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Using a Master Controller The Master Controller helps you run the games, it’s the phaser without a sensor (no twirly cable or stickers). First turn the Master Controller on by turning the key 1/4 turn clockwise and pull the trigger. The first screen you will see is “Re-activate” screen, to get to a new screen, press the red or black buttons to scroll through the menu options.

Reactivate (IR) Once a player is deactivated they will need to be reactivated, this can be done with a Master Controller set on this screen, or with a medic box (see p15 for info on medic boxes). The screen shows “REACTIVATE (IR)” - if you point the Controller at a De-activated phaser and pull the trigger, the Controller will auto-matically re-activate them. The player will hear “Reactivated” and have 5/5 HP again. Timer. Press the black button once and you’ll get to the next menu screen: “Set Game Timer”. The default is “unlimited”. Pull the trigger once and the screen will show: “Timed Game?” Your options are: Timed / Untimed. Selected “timed” and pull the trigger. And the screen will show: “Set Time Limit” The default duration is 10 minutes. (You can select 1 to 15 minute game, or a game time in 5 minute increments between 16 to 60minutes, or a game time in 10 min-ute increments between 70 to 120 minutes). Once you are happy with the num-ber of minutes, pull the trigger to lock your choice in. Say you choose 8 min-utes. When you pull the trigger you’ll see “set game timer / next : 8:00” Press the black button to move to the next menu screen. Start (RADIO) The next menu screen to look at is “START (Radio)”. This option will start all the phasers at once on a brand new game, and will time the game as well if the Set Game Timer is activated. This example image shows what it will look like for an untimed game. If you have set the game time to 8 minutes, like our exam-ple above, then the bottom line on the screen will say: “—:— RUN 8:00”. Ei-ther way, once you are ready to start, pull the trigger once and you will see: “Confirm START. Press trigger to make no change”. Next press the black (or red button) and you will see “Confirm START. Press trigger to START Game now!”. This double click prevents accidental game starts! You will now see “START (Radio). Reactivates 0. MM:SS RUN 8:00”. ‘Game Start’ will be heard from all the players’ phasers so they’ll know it is the start of the game. End (RADIO) If you’ve set a game time the Master Controller will automatically end all play-ers’ phasers at once. With one minute to go you’ll hear 3 long beeps, at 30 sec-onds to go you’ll hear 3 beeps, with 15 seconds to go you’ll hear 3 quick beeps. At the end of the time you’ll hear a thud, like a door closing. These second ef-fects are also heard on the Medic Boxes (but not on the players’ phasers). In-stead the phasers will say “Game Over” right at the end of the game. If you haven’t set a timer and want to stop everyone at once, push the red (or black) button & scroll through till you see “END (Radio)” on the screen. Pull the trig-ger. You should see “Confirm END game. Press trigger to Continue game” Press red (or black) button again, you’ll see “Confirm END game. Press trigger to END Game now!” so just pull the trigger to END. This double click prevents accidental game ends! Phaser Display Screen

HP 5/5 (Five out of Five Hit Points) R UNLIM (Unlimited Reloads) A 41% S 1 (41% Accuracy | Respawn 1) Ready (Status, ready to play)

A 50/50 (Ammo Fifty out of Fifty) T 6 D1 (Tags 6 | Deactivations 1) Med 1B (Medium Range | Group 1, Team B FA (Full Auto which is rapid fire)

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Using the Battery Charger To ensure you get the maximum use out of the equipment, we include, for no extra cost, rental of a battery charger. It looks like, and works pretty much the same way as a phone re‐charger.  All the phasers come charged up. So you should get around  16 hours of play‐time from them. But if this just isn't enough, you can re‐charge, & then keep on going. Please note that this just designed for a top‐up. . So to re‐charge from fully flat takes around 3 hours. DO NOT leave the phasers on charge for more than 4 hours. Usually a quick re‐charge of 15 ‐ 30 minutes is enough to get the party going again.  How to Charge a Phaser • Turn Phaser OFF with key, insert Metal Plug into the charging socket  • Turn the Charger on and a RED light on the charger will light up  • During charging the red light will remain on • Once the light is TURNS GREEN the phaser is charged & ready for use.   Battery Saving Tip We suggest while you are not using a phaser, e.g. while you are eating cake,  that you just switch off the phaser with the key, to save the battery. This way you get to play longer, & a battery re‐charge is probably not necessary. 

Using the Medic Boxes The medic boxes are design to do re‐activations on phasers of the same team colour. So the red medic box can re‐activate the red team only. And the blue medic box can only re‐activate the blue team. Turn off the medic box when its team has run out of re‐activations.   

Troubleshooting Any Phaser / Battle Box can be configured to act as any other. Call the office to ask us to help you walk through the steps to re‐set a unit.   My Phaser will not tag another one! (FLAT BATTERY)  • If you display is blank, try re‐charging the battery. All the gaming phasers are fully charged 

when we deliver them to you.  • To check if battery charge look at the last line of the LCD display it will show the voltage. • If the battery seems to be running out of charge then simply pop the gaming phaser on the 

charger for 15‐30 minutes.  My Gaming Phaser will not tag another one!  • Please note that all the phasers come pre‐set so the red team cannot tag other red team 

phasers. Red team can only tag blue team phasers.  • The headbands show the team colours.  • It is possible that the headband colours have been switched, so check that on the 3rd line 

of the display, the blue banded phaser should say "1B" and the red one says "1A". If they don't say that, they should call our office for support.

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Nicole Lander is a story-teller, entrepreneur, and Mum of two children.

Nicole and her husband, Peter, started Laser-Tag-in-a-Box in 1999 with a few thousand dollars and an idea — to take a computer game and experience it live.

Nicole makes electronic toys and hires them so gamers can play “high tech hide and seek”.

Before launching Laser-Tag-in-a-Box Nicole worked as a consultant for di-verse groups from fire-fighters to attorneys. She was the Editor of Auslink, a trade journal and edited a collection of autobiographies of public service women called Leading Lives. Nicole also co-wrote a book on how people can start their own live gaming business called Right on Target.

A foundation of tertiary qualifications—Bachelor of Commerce, Griffith University, and a Graduate Diploma of Communications, QUT has helped Nicole grow the outdoor laser tag industry from a niche hobby to a thriving international business.

Nicole loves games! She first played table-top games, such as Dungeons and Dragons at University, then she moved onto computer games live Civiliza-tion.

Nicole has been acknowledged by the Federal Government as a leading busi-ness woman in the field of exporting. In fact, she won the prestigious Telstra QLD Business Woman of the Year (Innovation). And her Battlefield Sports company won Exporter of the Year (Arts/Entertainment) last year.

For her unique perspective in business and entrepreneurial achievements, Nicole and her business concepts have been featured in the Wall Street Jour-nal, the Financial Review, the Courier Mail, and many more metro dailies. She was recently featured as the cover-story in NETT, a national technology business magazine.

Nicole has a gung-ho attitude when it comes to helping custom-ers have the best party ever!

Nowadays the games she’s cre-ated are enjoyed by more than a million gamers in more than 38 countries.

About the author

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Looking for a business opportunity that really delivers? Visit our website to register your interest. Lasertag.com.au/content/start-a-biz