Laser Quest in Newington, Connecticut, is something that almost all people need to experience. Located at 3005 Berlin Turnpike, this game station for most teens and some adults has been a building block for most laser tag arenas.
Justin Gooley, manager of Laser Quest, gave me a lot of information to absorb as I talked to him today. He noted that LQ (Laser Quest shortened) opened on November 13, 1998. Seeing as how it’s been almost ten years, LQ has really gone a bit of a ways. From the days of DDR, when that was the latest craze, to changes in games in the lobby and changes of the business, LQ has built around what people have enjoyed.
“On Friday and Saturday we average about 500 people each night,” Gooley went on to say. Being that those two days are the prime days for business, that’s a hefty amount of people for the thought that it can get packed in the lobby and inside the shooting room really quick. Being a patron of a Friday or Saturday night at LQ, I can vouch for the congestion that is considered a weekend night there.
The average age group that goes into LQ is around 13-20, and seeing as how any kids under thirteen years old may be a little risky for safety reasons (ledges, dark areas, and hard guns for a few matters), I would understand why the age group is what it is. Over the age of twenty, it may still be fun (seeing as how I’m 20 and I would still enjoy playing there) but there are definitely more factors that would prevent them from going.
As Gooley listed on what LQ had to offer, he noted that “we have holiday parties at Laser Quest, with the most upcoming one being Halloween.” For some holidays (namely Halloween and Christmas, to list a few) LQ has special parties where everyone can “play all day for $25,” according to Gooley. For Halloween, there can be a kid’s costume party, and for Christmas, there’s a tree set up with decorations to give it the feeling of the real holiday there.
Back when LQ first started, the original price per game was roughly $6, Gooley tried to recall. The membership has always been the same price at $25, and with that, people can reap many different benefits as listed on the website here. If you’re not a member at LQ, you can still experience different types of games such as a 30 minute ironman match, where you’re put against a lot of different people with a little twist of no cool downs like in a regular match. A regular match can go up to 25-30 minutes as well, but that’s with the briefing in the beginning of the match included, so it cuts the game down to about 15 minutes.
Gooley also stated that “there are more competitors today,” which resulted in little bit of drop in popularity at Laser Quest. Gooley mentioned that birthday parties lately have also been bringing less people, but they’re still getting through this recession. However, since LQ has been strong for roughly 10 years already, I doubt that they’ll have any trouble getting out of a rut most businesses are dealing with in this day and age.