Titan Adapts Laser Tag Around the Player So More People Can Play Together

Titan is Zone Laser Tag’s next-generation laser tag system, created around a simple question; what would laser tag look like if we redesigned the player experience today, rather than simply improving the equipment we already had?

The result is a system that brings experiences players recognise from modern video games into a physical, social attraction. Titan responds to individual players, makes the action around them more visible and understandable, captures their best moments, and turns each game into something more memorable and shareable.

Two changes are immediately obvious when a player picks up Titan; the cable is gone, the laser beam no longer locked to a single colour.

Titan’s new wireless phaser gives players much greater freedom to move by removing the physical connection between phaser and vest that has been the industry standard from the beginning.

For operators, that same cable is the biggest wear and service issue across laser tag equipment. Titan replaces it with proprietary wireless hardware developed specifically for demanding commercial laser tag operations. The connection is extremely stable, while phasers and player equipment can be paired and unpaired quickly between games.

Removing the cable creates new ways to configure the attraction. A younger child can play using only the lightweight phaser while an adult in the same game wears both phaser and vest, allowing operators to tailor the equipment to each group, regardless of age or size.

Combined with Titan’s new hardware design, removing the cable also helps reduce weight. The result is equipment that is easier and more comfortable for players of different ages and sizes to use.

Until now, all laser tag beams have been limited to a fixed mono colour. Titan’s colour-changing RGB laser can produce every colour and change the beam dynamically according to the player, their team or the current game state. All this while keeping the fat 1-inch laser beam that Zone is known for.

This makes gameplay easier to understand while creating a more visually exciting arena. If a pink player is trying to tag you, their pink beam identifies that threat as it moves through the haze. Teams become more distinct, the arena becomes more vibrant, and game information is communicated naturally through the environment.

Game events change the beam as well. During a rapid-fire power-up, for example, Titan pulses white through the player’s normal beam colour, making the change in ability immediately visible to both the player and everyone around them.

Titan then takes another familiar video-game idea and brings it into physical play with Tag-Cam.

A front-facing camera in the phaser works with new software that considers aim direction, proximity and available light before the trigger is pulled. This allows Titan to capture the moments surrounding successful tags without continuously recording throughout the entire game, conserving battery.

Those moments become part of the experience immediately.

The player who was tagged can see the Tag-Cam moment on their own phaser, while Zone’s redesigned scoreboard platform shares that footage to the wider group. A successful tag becomes something players and spectators can see and react to, rather than simply another point appearing on a score.

After the game, Tag-Cam footage links with Zone’s membership system, allowing players to access and share their own content. Titan also automatically compiles a personal highlight reel from each player’s best tags, turning gameplay into content they can take away and share socially.

A rear-facing camera adds selfies and further personalised player content.

Titan’s onboard player assistant and dynamic audio system add another layer of responsiveness. Themes, instructions and audio interactions change according to game events, player behaviour and skill. An experienced player and someone playing laser tag for the first time can therefore receive different feedback from the same system.

Zone’s scoreboard platform has been redesigned around this wider experience. Beyond scores and Tag-Cam replays, it delivers intelligent pre-game briefings based on the selected game and operating settings, switching to venue marketing and promotional content when it is not being used for active gameplay.

Titan brings the responsiveness players expect from modern video games into a physical multiplayer attraction; greater freedom of movement, more dynamic visual feedback, personalised audio, instant replays, and video highlights designed for sharing.

Partners

Greg Smith, head of software. Who had to make it all work
Patrick Holmes, founder of Zone. Product designer.
All the team in RND at Zone.