buffalo battleground

I went here with my 11 year-old son not knowing what to expect. Their website did not have much information on what to expect. I thought it was out doors until i showed up and found it was an indoor activity. I called ahead to see what we should wear and to get more information. I was told 'no open-toed shoes'. I asked if long-sleeved shirts were required. The response was 'you can wear them if you want.' We show up with long-sleeved shirts, jeans and sneakers. We rent their helmets which are face shields only. We played for 30 minutes before my son got shot in the head. Each pelt I received left a bruise. I can imagine getting hit in the head was pretty painful. Your ears are exposed if you use their helmets. What would happen if you got shot in the ear? I'm not a 'nanny type Dad' but I thought it was pretty dangerous. The kids that had been there before were wearing scarves and ear muffs. The teams were divided up in the beginning in a staging room. The people that had been there before seemed to congregate together to talk. People who were new seems to gather in an opposite corner of the room and sat silent. When the moderator divided the teams, everyone who had been there before was put on the same team. There was very little instruction, and we went out to the playing area. The experienced team ambushed the novice team every time before we even got out of the 'safe zone'. It was a painful and bad experience in general. For the $80+ dollars that it cost for two people to play, I expected more. We left after half an hour.

It is held indoors, so weather isn't a concern. They use air-soft plastic BB's. There is a large arena with obstacles to hide behind and rooms to serve as the 'team base' I (Dad) went with my 11 year old son. Neither of us had done this type of activity previously. I called ahead and asked what we should wear. I was told 'No open toed shoes." I asked if T-shirt were OK or if they had to be long-sleeved shirts. They said, 'You can wear them if you want." I asked if gloves were required, he said no. He said they rent the masks and that is all we really need. There were about 20 people participating in our sessions. The teams were split up by the referee. He divided the room, but he failed to take into account that all of the people who hadn't done this before were on one side because all of the other people who were regulars were talking to each other and got placed on the same team. We were given arm bands that were much too small to determine who was on which team. The session started and the 'pros' ambushed our base because they knew what they were doing. It happened every game. Players had no idea who they were shooting at. The pros brought their own guns with flashlights and lasers built in. Our team had the basic rental equipment.Without proper protective equipment, the BB's hurt at close range. My son was shot in the back of the head and it hurt- I hurt when I was shot in the arms with a long sleeved shirt. After that, he just wanted to go. The pros were covered head-to-toe in protective gear. It was not fun.We stayed for an hour out of the 4 hours we were allowed. The attendant asked if we had fun. We replied in the negative and he didn't really care.For the $90 we spent ($25 for equipment rental and $20 to play) I expected much more. The rental fee should have included more protection.