As a guy with a January birthday, my options for a venue for my birthday parties as a child were limited by winter weather. In my mind, after I grew out of Chuck E. Cheese, there was only one cool option: Laser Quest.
Laser Quest is a laser tag game that has been open in Wichita for 24 years, and it is the best laser tag I’ve ever experienced. Before the game starts, they queue you up in a room to put on your sensor vests, pick up your laser gun, and go over the safety rules for the game. After that, they let you loose in an arena for 15 minutes. It’s a maze filled with haze and lit with blacklights, with mirrors, dead ends, and multiple levels, so you need to be fully aware of your surroundings to succeed. You gain points if you can shoot the sensors on other players’ vests, and you lose points if you get hit yourself. A display on your laser tells you who tagged you, just in case you want revenge. Highest points at the end of the round wins, and you get a printed scorecard to take home.
Earlier this week, the Wichita Laser Quest announced on their Facebook page that they are closing for good on Monday, Feb. 17. The post has dozens of comments from people as far away as Alaska sharing their memories of playing or working there, and hundreds more from people trying to get the band back together for one last game.
I plan on going once more before the doors close, so for one last time I can “play fair, play smart, and give it my all!”
