Jarheads and Snipers: Go Paintball!
Who didn’t play “war” or some form of “cops and thieves” when they were a kid? Who hasn’t pretended they were GI Joe, Predator’s Dutch, or Die Hard’s John McClane? It’s time to bring those childhood memories back with a real-life combat experience, courtesy of a paintballing day out!
Ideally suited to a group event – whether it’s a buddy’s birthday, the football team’s end of season celebration, or just your response to a challenge from the staff in another department – paintballing takes you out into the woods or some other quiet spot and turns you into soldiers for the day.
Originally, paintballing was a two-team up-front affair, with simple 10-shot pistols that fired balls of vegetable-based dye (so the environment isn’t damaged). Everyone kitted out in goggles and cammo overalls, split into two teams and hunted each other through the woods, the winner being the team who had the last man standing. Professional marshals watched for kills, so there was no cheating!
Modern paintball is a much more complex, involving affair. The equipment has advanced incredibly, so you can arm yourself with pistols, shotguns, machine guns – all firing the same, safe vegetable-paint balls – or even paint grenades! And there are dozens of fun scenarios to try, including any of the following:
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the traditional paintballing staple, last man standing
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fortress, with one team defending a flag and the other trying to capture it
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capture the flag, with each team defending their flag while trying to capture the enemy’s
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mercenaries, where a third group plays on either side, as they wish
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sniper, with individuals who hide and pick off the group before they’re found and “killed”
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manhunt, with one or two people given a head-start, then pursued by everyone else
Exercise, Exhilaration and Enemy Kills
Paintballing isn’t just an exhilarating day of fun fake warfare; it’s a great way to get some exercise and even to settle scores, without anyone getting hurt. Basketball supporter rivalries, work department confrontations, or just friends who need a way to prove who’s the best - instead of arguing, getting riled up, and maybe even damaging your friendships and work relations, take it to the paintballing arena and sort out in combat!
Then everyone can get together at the end of the day and laugh, sharing their stories of shooting their enemies – or being shot by them!
The Ideal Group Event
Instead of a tired disco or going to a boring restaurant for your best buddy’s birthday, take them paintballing. It’s much more fun, a lot healthier, and completely original. Or how about paintballing as the ideal team-building experience at work? Your boss is always trying to get you all to work better together, so ask them to organize a real team event, ideally with another department: what better way to build strong group relations than when you’re covering each other as you charge the enemy’s fortress?!
No Muss, No Fuss
If the idea of running around in the woods and getting splattered with paint doesn’t appeal to you so much, or you live in an area where the weather’s less than conducive, consider a laser tag game instead. The indoor, no-mess version of paintballing is just as much fun, and is a great birthday party idea for kids too young to wield paint weapons!