Laser tag in South.Point shopping centre. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
It’s a dream come true for adults and children alike – running through an abandoned shopping mall with a laser gun in hand.
And it’s exactly what’s happening this Halloween, when new company First Strike Laser Tag turns Tuggeranong’s South.Point shopping centre into a post-apocalyptic battlefield over two nights.
On Thursday, 30 October, and Saturday, 1 November, when the doors are closed and the shops empty, the ground floor will host a series of team-based battles, running from 6:15 pm to midnight in seven 45-minute slots.
Each session can accommodate 18 participants, who will wear vests, grab laser guns, and navigate a maze of shops and abandoned spaces in a “deathmatch” scenario.
“We’re trying to make it immersive for people, so they have that real feel of running around a mall at night with mutants and humans battling it out,” says First Strike Laser Tag co-founder Simon Heery.
“We’ve got blow-ups, people dressed up, and different gear effects – it’s a little different from what we usually do.”
First Strike Laser Tag founders Simon Heery and Jon Yagos. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
First Strike Laser Tag began as a chance collaboration between Heery, an engineer, and Jon Yagos.
The pair were put in touch with each other by a Ukrainian laser-tag equipment supplier, and both realised they shared the same passion for taking laser-tag to places it’s never been before in Canberra.
“We realised we had the same vision, same passion, and yeah, I guess, it’s almost a stroke of pure coincidence,” Heery says.
The company launched in April and brings mobile laser-tag to events in backyards, offices, scout halls, or outdoors on a stretch of leased property in Fadden Pines.
“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 and all those modern video games – we can recreate a lot of those experiences out in real life, outdoors.”
But bringing laser tag into a shopping mall was always on the cards. After months of scouting across Canberra, they found the perfect one.
“It took Jon’s passion to literally burst into the South.Point management office – with laser tag gear, not a gun – and ask, ‘Hey, can we do a laser tag in the shopping centre?’” Heery recalls.
Management quickly approved the plan, and the mall’s layout proved ideal.
Players will move through roughly a third of the lower floor – from the JB Hi-Fi entrance to the centre of the mall – and also be able to use current empty shop spaces like the one once occupied by Miller’s.
The loading dock near JB Hi-Fi will also be in play to add to the eerie experience.
The weapons. Photo: First Strike Laser Tag.
As for the game itself, Heery explains it’s unlike their others. Heavily inspired by video games like The Last of Us, it will pit humans against “mutants” in a team “deathmatch”, with each side having different advantages.
Mutants, for instance, heal when they pass through radioactive zones scattered across the “battlefield”, while humans take damage in these areas but have more health and medics to balance the game.
“Even though it’s the same game mode, it’s a different experience on both sides,” Heery explains, not wanting to give away all the surprises.
“There’ll be different sound effects and game effects as well.”
The Halloween event is priced at $59 per person, with a 10 per cent discount for groups that fill a slot. Bookings have already started to fill, primarily through returning customers and word-of-mouth promotion.
There’s already talk of it becoming a fixture.
“If it’s well received, absolutely, we’ll bring it back,” Heery says.
“Halloween’s a good test run, and the theme fits really well with the abandoned shopping mall.”
Book your spot at First Strike Laser Tag.
