Last night, my wife told me that at her company party today they’re going to be playing laser tag, and she’s pretty sure that a lot of people are going to be gunning for her. I don’t really know how the game works, and my knowledge of combat pistolcraft is more theoretical than practical, but I tried to come up with a few tips to help her out.
The key problem is that there’s no time for practice. So advice like “don’t pull the trigger, squeeze it” isn’t much good because it takes time to learn the technique. It has to be something she has a chance of learning during the first few minutes of the game.
Here’s what I came up with on short notice:
- Isosoles stance—Hold the gun with both hands, throw your arms forward and lock your elbows so the gun is straight out in front. Pivot from the hips to place the gunsight on the target. Pull the trigger until they light up.
- Keep the gun in shooting position all the time—Walk through the course with the gun pointed wherever you expect the threat, turning to face doorways or windows. Never lower it, never raise it. You’ll look like a dork, but you’ll get more kills than if you try to look cool.
- Take cover first—When someone shoots at you unexpectedly, get out of the kill zone to someplace they can’t shoot you. Only then should you try to figure out how to pop out and shoot back.
I thought of one more piece of advice, but it was too late:
- Handle corners by moving sideways before advancing—rather than walk right up to a corner or a doorway, stand back a bit and move sideways to give you a better view around the edge. If there’s a threat, it will be easier to duck back sideways than to back up suddenly.
So, was that good advice or bad advice? Anybody out there have better ideas?
Joel Rosenberg says
Lots of good stuff at http://hubpages.com/hub/Ultimate-Laser-Tag-Guide-for-Newbies .