I played two things tonight that I haven’t done in a very long time: laser tag and Dance Dance Revolution.

The first was both exciting and not, as laser tag is wont to be.  There’s always a bit of a thrill to walking (no running!) around a dark maze-like structure filled with mirrors, lights, and small children, indiscriminately pressing a trigger over and over again.

But there’s also a bit of an anticlimax to the actual shot.  It’s cool to see the red beam hit a target, but there’s no real consequence.  The other person looks up and sees you, hangs their head in dismay, and walks away quietly.  A moment later, you feel a buzz and realize you’ve been hit by someone standing behind you.

It’s also a varied range of ages that play.  In my game tonight, half the people I shot were about half my height.  It’s tough: I want to not treat them differently, but I also don’t want to pick out the weaker kids, camp behind them, and pop out to shoot them every five seconds.  To keep the game interesting, you want to keep moving around, even though staying in one spot may be better for your score at the end.

Still, it was fun, and DDR was exhausting.  Laser tag usually makes my legs a bit sore (because I don’t follow the rules and I do kneel and bob up and down as I’m moving or hiding), but I managed to stay relatively strong until a final 6-foot difficulty song made them feel like jello.