Other Game Ideas

Here are some ideas I've come up with for games using the LTTO gear. Mainly these are based on the capabilities of the LTTO Deluxe (original) tagger, but should be playable on any LTTO gear. I've included a name, description, settings, and rules for each game.

  1. Capture the Flag (CTF)
  2. Medic!
  3. Zombies!
  4. Two (or more) Respawn Points or Zones
  5. Pandora's Zone
  6. Tag Down
  7. Hunt the Hooblicki
  8. The Gauntlet
  9. Escort

Capture the Flag (CTF)

By: Greg Gaub
Description: Be the first team to capture and return the opposing team's Flag to your team's base!

Settings:
TYPE: 2TOZ/3TOZ
TT: N
MM: N
TIME: 20 (or as desired)
RELD: UL
MEGA: 00
SHLD: 50
TAGS: 15

Requirements: One or more additional taggers capable of hosting the Zone games (Deluxe or IRT-2x) and something to hold them steady as a zone generator; Two or more Flags and holders; Non-playing volunteers/referrees at each base to monitor player activity, and to radio the other referrees when a team successfully captures a flag.

Scenario: Each team sets up a base containing a zone generator and their team's flag and flag holder. Follow the instructions below for setting up multiple Zone devices. The game is hosted as 2TOZ or 3TOZ as appropriate. Teams must use their skill, speed, and strategy to secure the other team's flag and return it to their base first. Players may NOT move when NEUT, and must allow another player to take the flag if they are carrying one.
Notes: As a Zone game, players cannot enter the opposing base or even their own base while NEUT, or else risk being tagged out by the base zone generator. Players may NOT physically prevent opposing team's players from taking their flag and may NOT take a flag from a player that is not NEUT. A NEUT player must remain stationary until the 15 second NEUT timer expires. During that time, if they have a flag, a teammate can take it and bring it back to their base, or an opposing team member can take it and bring it to theirs. Again, Laser Tag is a NON CONTACT sport. Players must tag and neutralize a flag-carrying opponent before they can take the flag. Teams must consider these rules when formulating their strategy.
WINNING: The first team to capture an opposing team's flag is declared the winning team, and calls an early end to the game. If no team captures an opposing flag, then the team that still has it's own flag wins. If both or neither team has their own flag, then the winning team is determined by the team with the most zone time.

Medic!

By: Greg Gaub
Description: After every 10 tags, the player is "injured" and must remain stationary (though can sit or stand as desired). Only the team medic(s) can "heal" the player with his respawn device. Each team needs at LEAST one medic, but the game is best played with two medics per team.

Settings:
TYPE: RESP/2TRS/3TRS
TT: N
MM: N
TIME: 30 (or as desired)
RELD: UL
MEGA: 00
SHLD: 99
TAGS: 99

Requirements: Tagger with ability to host Respawn games (the TMB can't). The host tagger is not used for game play unless a suitable replacement cannot be made or found. Preferably, a device which can learn the Respawn signal is given to the Captain/Medic for each team. Successfully tested replacements include TV Remote control with Learning capability and a Palm OS device with Omniremote software. To teach the device, simply host and begin a Respawn game, then follow the instructions for the device to program the signal. The hosting tagger emits the respawn signal on a quickly recurring basis. Additional attempts to program the remote might be neccessary. ALWAYS PREPARE THESE DEVICES PRIOR TO GAME DAY TO ENSURE THAT THEY FUNCTION PROPERLY! If possible, prepare two devices for each team, otherwise prepare one device for each team. If no devices are available that can emit the respawn signal other than LTTO Taggers, then follow the instructions below for creating multiple zones/respawns, and keep the tagger covered or in a large pocket until needed to respawn a player.

Scenario: As a Respawn game, each player is NEUTralized when they have been tagged 10 times. The player must remain stationary (lying, sitting, or standing are fine) and cannot change their location. To get back into the game, they must be Respawned by the team Medic who has a device that can emit the necessary signal to the individual player. The Medic can use the respawn device on him/herself as needed to remain in the game. The respawn device can be transfered to other players at any time throughout the game.

ZOMBIES!

By: Arin Bennett
Description: One zombie turns into many! Try to defeat the zombies before everyone becomes one! Best played with 8 or more total players.

Settings:
TYPE: OWNZ
TIME: As Desired, preferably >20
RELD: UL
MEGA: 0
SHLD: 0
TAGS: 20 (or as desired)

Requirements: Tagger with ability to host Zone games (the TMB can't). The Zone is not used for game play, and so debriefing is not necessary except to enable easy shut down of IRT-2X and Master Blaster taggers.

Scenario: One or two people are selected to be the zombies. The rest of the players are civilians. Civilians are able to use their taggers normally and can act normally. Zombies must stagger towards the civilians slowly, aiming only haphazardly and can only fire in short random bursts. Single, unaimed shots are recommended. When a zombie is hit, he falls to the ground, waits for the full 15 second NEUT period to end and then rises again and resumes his advance. When a civilian is hit, he falls to the ground, waits for the full 15 second NEUT period to end and then rises, only now he is a zombie and must turn on his former team. The balance of the game slowly shifts from one or two zombies being overwhelmed constantly to many zombies staggaring towards the unfortunate few that are left.
Winners are either: whomever is left as a civilian at the expiration of the game timer, or the last person to become a zombie. It is also possible in some cases that the civilians, being able to aim properly, will be able to destroy the Zombies before they take over.
Note: This game is drastically improved if the zombies play up their acting skills. Moaning, staggaring, and dramatic falling, coupled with saying "Brains..... Brains....!" makes the experience great fun for both teams. Also note that the OWNZ game type is only used to enable the 15 second NEUT period when tagged, and not for the game itself, therefore scoring is not used, and debriefing is not necessary.

Two (or more) Respawn Points or Zones

Description: Many players want to explore the possibilities of Zone or Respawn games with more than one Zone or Respawn points. Since LTTO does not support having multiple zones or respawns, we have to trick it into letting us. The trick works because the signal emitted by the Zone or Respawn is the same no matter how many teams the game is. It's just a standard signal that the tagger itself interprets as it needs to. So, while you can't have a Zone and a Respawn in the same game, as they're different kinds of games, you CAN have more than one Zone in a Zone game, or more than one Respawn in a Respawn game. Here's how:

  1. Host a Zone/Respawn game on one tagger for 99 minutes. This will be the "other" Zone or Respawn point. Note that the Zone signal differs from the Respawn signal, so don't host a Zone game in this step if you plan to play a Respawn game, or vice versa.
  2. You must Join at least two players to the extra device, or if it's a 3 team game, at least 3 players. Join them now.
  3. Start the game for the extra device, and allow the countdown to complete. When the "players" are done with the countdown, they need to shut down or reset their taggers to exit the game. They will join the "true" host later.
  4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for as many additional Zones or Respawn points as you need, then place each additional point in the locations you wish them to be. Setting the games for the extras at 99 minutes helps ensure that they will not shut down before the actual game ends.
  5. When all additional Zones/Respawns are ready, HOST the "real" game on the last device that is to be a Zone or Respawn. Set THIS device to the actual play time for the game. Remember that THIS device is the true host, and is also the device that will debrief for scores at the end of the game.
  6. Join all players to the true host, and begin the game.
  7. The game is played, and at the end of the allotted time, the players return to the staging area to be debriefed by the true hosting device.
  8. Note that the additional Zone/Respawns might need to be reset using the reset button on the panel to shut them down for the next game.

Settings: As desired.
Rules: Time to get creative! What can you do with more than one Zone? What can you do with more than one Respawn point? If you have anything you think is cool, feel free to contact me about it, and if it's well thought out and easy to understand, I'll post it here with your name on it!

Pandora's Zone

By: Greg Gaub
Description: Crack the safe in the zone without being tagged out before time expires.

Settings:
TYPE: 2TOZ or 3TOZ
TT: As Desired
MM: As Desired
TIME: 15
RELD: UL
MEGA: UL
SHLD: 10
TAGS: 20

Requirements: Tagger with ability to host Zone games (for future reference, the TMB can't), and a Spy Gear Safe Cracker toy.

Scenario: 2 teams starting at opposite ends of the playing field, preferably a forest or other area with lots of cover, must locate the safe which is in the Zone, then protect the cracker while the safe is cracked. Zone game is used to encourage teams to protect their safe cracker, and leave the zone when tagged.

The winning team is the one who's cracker opens the safe. If the time runs out without the safe being cracked, then debriefing determines the team with the most zone time, which then receives the prize in the safe.

Suggestions:
  1. The safe should probably contain a prize of some kind that is either useful to the entire team, or has enough for each team member. Candy bars? Vouchers for free game time (i.e. no need to donate batteries or money), or permission to use a TMB in the next game... Cheap but provides incentive.
  2. There really needs to be a ref to oversee things, particularly the zone itself to prevent someone who knows the tricks of the Safe from bypassing the cracking process.
  3. Hosting takes place in the normal hosting area, but the ref then takes the zone and safe to an unknown location in the play area for the teams to find and contend for.
  4. FRS radios should be used by the ref and at least one team member (leader?) of each team to facilitate the beginning of the game after the safe and zone are set up.
  5. Optimal time limit depends on skill level of the players and the playing field. I'd probably set it to 10 or 15 minutes, maybe more.
  6. The safe should probably be set up in Custom mode, with Hidden turned on, and a SMALL number of cracking challenges. The first game should probably even only have a single challenge, such as a single Code to break. This would be easy enough to do quickly, but require the cracker's focus, and need enough time to allow the other team to throw interference.

Tag Down

By: Greg Gaub
Description: Land as many tags on your opponents as you can in the time allotted.

Settings:
TYPE: CUST
TIME: 2
RELD: UL
MEGA: UL
SHLD: 0
TAGS: 99

Rules: This is a basic Free-for-All type game. The time should be kept short because people will just be blasting like crazy to land as many tags as possible on as many players as possible. Also, shorter time helps prevent anyone from actually being tagged out. Normal safety rules apply, but basically just run around trying to land as many tags as possible. Winner is determined by the debriefing at the end, which is based on the CUSTOM game scoring rules.

Hunt the Hooblicki

By: Brian Farley
Description: Land more tags on the "Hooblickus" taggers than the other team!

Settings:
TYPE: HUNT
TT: As Desired
MM: As Desired
TIME: 68
RELD: UL
MEGA: UL
SHLD: 0
TAGS: 99

Rules: This game is set-up as a HUNT game, but played like a HDSK game (needs a number of spare Taggers and some non-playing refs as well). You set the game up for about 6-8 minutes longer than you actually want it to last. Players join either Team1 or Team2, while the ref's join the HOOBLICKI (targets) to Team3. When the game starts, each team is gathered into their respective starting places (a ref watching each team to make sure no one peeks) while refs hide the HOOBLICKI in various tough-to-spot locations. At the signal of the master ref (should be timed randomly by the flip of a coin, heads for even minute tails for odd in order to maintain the random hunting direction aspect of the HSDK/HUNT games), the teams begin play. The teams try to locate a HOOBLICKUS and tag it out during their 60 seconds of hunting Team3, but they need to look out for the players on the other team which will be hunting them -- remember, you not only don't want to be found and tagged by them, you don't want to give away the HOOBLICKUS's location to them, either! So, for any given minute you will either be (1) Avoiding the enemy while hunting the HOOBLICKI, or (2) Hunting the enemy and trying to find out if they have spotted the hiding places of any HOOBLICKI you didn't know about.

A further twist to the strategy of this game is "overkill" -- if you tag a HOOBLICKUS during the phase of the game when you are not supposed to, it will "heal" the HOOBLICKUS (make it stronger), up to the 99-tags-until-out mark. This will negatively impact your own personal score for any tags landed ON THAT PARTICULAR HOOBLICKUS. But if you designate that HOOBLICKUS as one which you are not going to tag during the proper time for tagging it, your score for good tags on that HOOBLICKUS will remain at zero -- it does not underflow, so your score can't go below zero. Now all your team needs to do is designate a different player to each HOOBLICKUS known in order to pump that HOOBLICKUS back up between hunting periods, and the other players can score more than the standard number of tags-until-out on that HOOBLICKUS, thus increasing their scores. Somebody else on your team gets assigned to pump-up a different HOOBLICKUS for you to score overkills on. Kind of a low-down trick, especially if the other team doesn't know about it, but hey -- that's life for ya.

Keep in mind, the maximum number of tags on any given HOOBLICKUS that can be recorded in your favor is also 99, so there's no point in going to hyper-overkill, it's just a sneaky way to exploit a feature of the HUNT game to your advantage.


The Gauntlet

By: Greg Gaub
Description: Survive a passage through enemy territory alone!

Settings:
TYPE: TAGM
TT: As Desired
MM: As Desired
TIME: As Desired
RELD: As Desired
MEGA: As Desired
SHLD: As Desired
TAGS: As Desired

Rules: The play area should provide a defined pathway surrounded by good hiding areas. The TagMaster, host of the game, must traverse the path successfully, or tag out all opponents. The TagMaster may NOT leave the pathway. The opposing team is given ample time to go into the area and take their hiding positions before the TagMaster begins to traverse the pathway. If the TagMaster successfully traverses the designated pathway, or tags out all opponents, he wins. Or, if determined before hand, the TagMaster must traverse the pathway multiple times until either he, or the opposing team is tagged out. The most important rule is that the TagMaster must remain on the designated pathway, but the opposing team can hide anywhere within the play area.

Escort

By: Greg Gaub
Description: One team must escort it's VIP through enemy territory!

Settings:
TYPE: 2KNG
TT: As Desired
MM: As Desired
TIME: As Desired
RELD: As Desired
MEGA: As Desired
SHLD: As Desired
TAGS: As Desired

Rules: One team must escort their King through hostile territory. The opposing team is given time to enter the play area and take hiding positions. The Escort team must then traverse a pre-defined pathway through the play area. As a Kings game, only tags on the VIP, or leader of the opposition, who is unknown, count toward scoring. The Escort team wins if the VIP traverses the designated path successfully. The opposition wins if the VIP is tagged out. The Escort team wins by default if the opposing team leader (King) is tagged out before the VIP is.

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