I tried Singapore’s first airsoft arena and it was a blast

When my secondary school friends invited me for a game of airsoft at Singapore’s first player-vs-player airsoft facility, TactSim, I was super excited and jumped at the opportunity. 

Although most of them are already in the army, I felt confident that my hours of first-person shooter games would help me hold my ground.

I was very wrong.

I found that out very quickly (and painfully) after I stepped out of cover and was immediately greeted with a handful of pellets to my face and chest.

For those who have never played airsoft before, it’s essentially laser-tag but instead of lasers, you have small plastic pellets being shot out of gas-powered guns. And unlike painless laser beams, these BB pellets hurt.

I was honestly quite stunned the first time I got hit as it felt like getting pricked by a needle. But the pain only added to the realism and excitement of the experience, as there was a painful consequence to getting shot. 

As for protection, the issued vest and visor kept me safe for the most part, but I would personally recommend wearing long, thick clothing as I still had bruises even though I wore both a shirt and a jacket.

The gameplay itself was amazing though. It revolves around trying to hold a central point in the arena and rewards teamwork and planning.

While this sounds simple, my adrenaline rush, combined with how deceivingly tiring airsoft is, meant that I was missing the majority of my shots. Most embarrassingly, I was so into the game that I sometimes didn’t even realise I had run out bullets and the game marshals had to remind me to reload.

On the other hand, my friends’ combat training allowed them to hold down the point and resulted in my team being pinned down for a large portion of the game.

Regardless, it was exhilarating and in the moments of bravery and success, you truly feel like a video-game character – just don’t get too excited and try to melee someone.

It’s also pretty honesty-based as the lack of sensors means that players have to call their own hits and walk back to their respawn area. 

Overall, while the gameplay itself was superb, there was a lot of time spent out of the game itself during the one-hour slot due to briefings and such. As a result, out of the one hour, we only managed to squeeze in about 15 minutes of actual game time. 

I was considerably tired by the end of it, but definitely felt like more game time would have been better due to how exciting it all was. 

For the price of $24 per pax for HomeTeamNS members and $34 for SAFRA members, I have to say that the price is a little steep. But with all that said and done, I would definitely do it again as I think the experience justifies the price. 

Probably just going to wear a winter jacket the next time though.

If you wish to book a session, you can do so here.