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What is this Thing Called Tag?

A brief explanation of Lazertag and Tagging in the UK

by Sarah Clark

The UK tagging fraternity is loosely organised into clubs, though some are slicker than others, and there is no national umbrella organisation (though moves are afoot to change this), but the clubs have formed a system whereby a group will organise an event, put the word around, and lo! there is Tag.

So what is Tag?

Remember the days when you used to play Cowboys and Indians/ Cops and Robbers/etc.? Ever wonder why children get all the fun and grown-up have to be boring and sensible?

I could go into pseudo-psychological spiell here about group-bonding and the need to cast off from time to time the 20th century straight jacketted behavioural norms that we are encumbered with, but that's all clap-trap - we're having FUN and we're not ashamed to admit it.

The game of Lazer Tag began in the mid '80s with a boxed children's toy . It gets round the perennial problem of kids' "shoot-em" games ("I hit you!", "No you didn't!!", "YES I DID!!!"...etc.) by using a "gun" which puts out a coded IR signal that is picked up by a sensor to register a "hit". Once the sensor has taken 6 hits it sounds a siren and you are "dead". Unlike commercial arena-based systems there is no link between gun and sensor and no fancy scoring features or IFF so it is quite possible to accidentally (or otherwise) massacre your own team and no way of knowing who is shooting at you or where from, which makes for a very different style of play.

This talk of "guns" may bother some people, but rest assured that we do not seek to glorify war and killing. We play for fun, not for keeps and we know the difference between a game and real life.

In spite of the name there are no lasers involved - in fact the system is very similar in principle to a common TV remote control - so there is no risk of injury from the weapons. Unlike Paintball - a similar hobby which you have probably heard of - there's no scope for over-hormonal idiots to soup-up the guns to the point where they really do damage. Even the most powerful, with a range of up to 600m is no more dangerous than a pocket torch. (While we're comparing with Paintball - the longest range you'll get with a paint gun and still have a safe muzzle velocity is about 50m.)

How much does it all cost?

The original boxed set from Worlds of Wonder went out of production in 1988 so you will only find second-hand or home-built equipment these days but you can outfit yourself with the basics for around £70 - £80. This includes clothing courtesy of army surplus, sensors and one of the lower end models of gun. How much more you elaborate is between you and your bank-account (top end weapons are £250+ and you can spend what you like on getting costume made).

The strictly amateur-run weekend events typically cost £15 - £50 per head. Accomodation is usually camping or a basic scout-hall type of affair.

This page was last modified on Thursday, 27-Feb-2003 18:23:34 GMT