This project was quite the adventure for my group. We initially thought we would build a model house, we spent quite a while planning that. Then, when it became clear that it wasn’t actually going too far, we switched to the laser tag arena. From there, it went pretty fast. First, we went and played laser tag to get an idea of how the arena was set up and different obstacles they used. Then, we assembled some scrap wood into a base. Next, we cut and spray painted some walls. Then, we glued/screwed it all together. Overall, this project was very fun to do, and challenged us to work quickly and efficiently.
This project interested me because I had played laser tag a few times previously, and wanted to learn more about the logistical side, rather than just the fun. After one of our group members said she had never played, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do this project. Though I do not specifically want to work at a laser tag arena in my lifetime, the general concept of upkeep cost and area I will most likely use in my lifetime. I am very interested in Entrepreneurship, so being able to calculate the cost to run the business, to figure out how many customers you need could be extremely useful in the future. The Math: Assuming that our arena is a 1/20 scale model, we can evaluate it as a 40 ft by 60 ft space. The area of the model is 6 ft^2. The area of the arena it’s modeling is 2400 ft^2. From the square footage of the play area, we can assume that there’s about 600 ft^2 of other space, for employees and maintenance. Based on the total square footage of the place, we can judge the rent to be about $5000 a month, assuming the business is renting the space. In addition, according to Entrepreneur, it costs from $10,000 to $50,000 to start a laser tag location. That’s for games, equipment and employees. So the cost of starting this laser tag place in real life would be around $35,000. Also, most laser tag places have mirrors, that you can shoot your lasers into. The lasers then bounce off, at the same angle as impact. This is another mathematical principal. There’s a lot of math involved in laser tag. What I’ve learned is that Math+Laser Tag = fun. |