First Strike Laser Tag founders Jon Yagos and Simon Heery. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
It was meant to be.
Jon Yagos was buying “a bunch” of laser tag equipment online when he received a call out of the blue from the Ukraine-based supplier, asking if he wanted to save on shipping costs by coordinating with another Australian buyer.
The next call Jon received was from Simon Heery, who it turned out was not only Australian but – very small world – Canberran too.
“We chatted for nearly two hours about random stuff, and we realised we both had the same passion for laser tag, and decided to run a business out of it,” Jon says.
The serendipitous phone call has led to Jon and Simon teaming up to launch a new kind of laser tag company for Canberra, called ‘First Strike Laser Tag’.
Up to this point, laser tag in the capital has been reserved to Zone 3 Laser Games in Belconnen, held on-site and in a darkened maze.
But First Strike promises to either come to you, and host an event in your backyard, workplace or other venue, or let you fight out in the open, on a half-acre block in Fadden Pines, Tuggeranong.
“The whole setup is fully mobile,” Simon says.
“We can set up indoors in offices, people’s houses, backyards, scout halls, or if someone has a decent-sized property or access to one, they’re all options.”
Simon is an engineer by trade, and got into laser tag through his daughter’s sixth birthday party.
“I saw how all the other six-year-olds loved it, and how the parents got involved, and thought, this could be a thing to do.”
The weapons. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
He tracked down equipment in Ukraine, but it quite expensive to import. It was then the company suggested he get in touch with Jon – either so Simon could buy the gear off him, or perhaps join forces to start a new company.
“If Jon was already along the same journey – Canberra’s not a huge place, so I didn’t want to start with competition,” Simon says.
“We realized we had the same vision, same passion, and yeah, I guess, It’s almost a stroke of pure coincidence.”
Both were keen gamers so, suitably, First Strike officially launched at Canberra’s annual game convention, Cancon 2025, in January. Bookings then opened two months later.
“And we’ve been pretty much booked out since then, which is really, really great,” Simon says.
The infrared works up to 80 metres. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
The company rents 2400 square metres of bushland in Fadden Pines from the ACT Government to hold outdoor experiences two days a month, either Saturday or Sunday. For $28 per person, these provide 12 players a variety of games over an hour-long session. Or, starting from $450 per session, they’ll come to you.
“We try and make it more interactive and immersive for people,” Simon says.
“So we’ll have a capture point that the teams have to capture and protect at the same time, and then hostage or medic situations, or people can get dressed up as snipers and hide out in the forest, and you as a group have to go and stalk them and find them.
“And then we also do stuff like Fortnite gamely, and all those modern video games – we can recreate a lot of those experiences out in the real life, outdoors.”
Then there are the guns themselves.
Not only do they look more realistic than the light-filled ones you might be used to, there’s also the option to allow them to recoil in your hands with each shot, or give your target a “little zap on the arm” to let them know they’ve been hit.
The noises are also customisable, from rocket launcher to a Star Wars blaster.
“But one good thing about it too is that if you’ve got children or adults with sensory needs or extra needs, we can tailor their individual tagger to suit their needs, so if they don’t like the feel of the recoil, we can turn it off without affecting everyone else.”
There are also grenades which, when thrown, turn off the lights of anyone within a five-metre radius.
Simon and Jon say they can replicate many video games too. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
The result is proving a hit with more than kids.
“We get the corporate events in, and do team-building exercises with them, but we also find outdoor athletes and sports teams like to use it for their end-of-season parties as well,” Simon says.
“We also find a lot of the times, the parents are like, ‘No, no – it’s just for the kids’ and then all of the parents get involved and it becomes almost the adults versus the children.”
Visit the First Strike Laser Tag website for more information or to book experiences.
