battle house

Found this place by chance while looking for a laser tag place to go to with my 12 year old son. Their website quickly showed me that this was a different kind of laser tag. We reserved online for a scheduled time the next day. The website was somewhat difficult to get around but I eventually figured it out. We declined an upgraded gun online as there was no explanation of the differences between them (see below).We arrived and after we checked in the guy in charge gave us a quick look around the armory and was very friendly. I asked about the upgrades and he told me that both optional upgrades are fully automatic (pull and hold the trigger and it shoots until you let go or run out of ammo) vs the semi-automatic (pull the trigger once shoot once) that is included in the base price. The more expensive of the two upgrade guns has a larger clip capacity but weighs twice as much as the other guns. In all of the scenarios we played we never ran out of ammo - my son had the basic auto upgrade and I had the standard non upgraded gun - so I see no benefit to the more expensive of the upgrades unless you want more of a workout from carrying the extra weight. I do wish I had gotten the base upgrade because after we were all done my carpal tunnel was coming back from shooting 1500+ shots. My wrist was not up to the challenge. Also - ask for the upgrades as no one ever offered them to us in the building. They are also a huge advantage in the battles to come. There also was a pistol available which was explained to me as available to anyone that can't handle a rifle which requires two hands. The guns are 'reloaded' by pushing a button on the gun. This also shuts the gun down for a few seconds so don't reload in the heat of battle (unless you have to of course.)We were put in with a couple of parties that were also there and the guy in charge at the armory randomly split the groups up. No particular groups were kept together. This was a decent attempt to keep the fight fair and therefore more fun. We had men, women and kids from about 7 on up ~ About 40 in all. After being armed, instructions and rules we were let into the arena. By this time a half-hour passed from our start time. We played a quick warm-up game to get used to the arena and the weapons. There are also what are called respawn and health boxes. Respawn is where you go after you have been killed (hit four times) to get back into the game. Health restores your health to full if you are not killed. The arena itself is made up of several buildings that are two stories each. You can also walk around them on the ground. Many nooks and crannies as well as windows that you can peek through. You get upstairs via available standard stairways (two) or there are also some 'stacked block' type structures to get up as well. Upstairs of the buildings are connected at various points by bridges. In the center of the main street is an actual helecopter shell. The arena was very interesting to poke around to find the best hiding spots. The respawn area was located on the ground floor which meant for lots of going up and down stairs.The games themselves were fun and well thought out. Capture the flag was one. Another involved transporting VIPs to a landing site (this game needs a better way to identify the vips). A third was holding a position while defending glowing boxes. Every game was played twice so each side got a turn with each starting location or vips. A final game was a non-respawning shootout. Looking at the scoreboard (a whiteboard) it appears other games are available but we did not play them. After all of the games one side is declared the winner based on winning each of the games above. My son is very competitive but did not care much about the grand scheme of red vs blue. Within the guns details screen is the number of times you got each opponent. He got more laughs in that he shot me more than I shot him (we were placed on different teams).When it was all over and we were going out while the next group was going in my son was begging to go right back in again so I know he enjoyed it. I liked it as well. It is also pretty good exercise with the stairclimbing. We were both pretty sweaty at the end - leave your coats in the car (no secure lockers just a coat rack). We intend to go back again soon. It is far better than the laser tag found at an arcade - superior environment, superior weapons, superior games and a great value for the time spent.

We just spent this past Sunday night with a group of 25 girls, boys and dads (ages 6 - 50) playing this fantastic new set of laser tag games - these are not the typical laser guns. Brand new facility - we were there on week 3 of being open. The guns and the staff really make this place a treat, and get your blood pumping. Right by the Lake Barrington Fieldhouse and Ice Arena off of 14 / Northwest Highway - you could get off at the Fox River Grove Metra and cab it over. They let us bring in water / snacks for our group over the three hour period and had a nice room for it.The guns!!! These things are awesome, heavy duty made out of aircraft aluminum (light weight but strong as heck) with a pad on the end of it. They have a red-dot-light on top, with a professional grade sight (I'm a shooter and these are nice). The guns connect to a headband that has three sensors. The big difference - NO Backpacks with batteries, so you can move fast. For the younger kids, they also had a pistol (looked like an old ruger) that was very lightweight. They coach you at the start on how to hold / carry / use the guns, and we did not have anyone run into each other (no bruises). Part of the reason, is there is NO RUNNING - so it is semi controlled on how much bumping you could have. Re-spawning is sometimes allowed and sometimes it's, once you're dead you're done.The games are intense - team vs. team - with some pretty unique ideas (I won't share because you should have some surprises). Each idea is used 2 or 3 times over the 2.5 hour period. The intensity gets you sweating, so make sure you dress in layers to get down to shorts and tshirts. It's crazy playing either a sniper or rambo-like. Lots of room for strategy too.We had a six year old boy with us who was really enjoying and good at it. Most were in the 8 to 12 range - and then a bunch of dads. All shared they enjoyed it immensely and want to go again - a couple dads have shared that they were in pain the next couple days (you crouch a lot, and get some good aerobic moves in). Two stories with four flights of optional stairs means lots of nooks / crannies to hide.The staff are solid and really enjoying themselves with you. Good communications, great control of the game (no accidental cheating!), and they stick to the rules. ENJOY!!!I've marked it for wheelchair access, because someone could come in and sit and watch in an area outside of the direct play area, but I don't think it works for wheelchair playing the game. Our family likes big format games like this, and this beats the K-1 racing cars...probably healthier for you too since you move so much...