On a sunny afternoon last week, my brother and I headed over to Rinkside at Gurnee Mills to see what we could find. I had driven past the striped building that houses Rinkside several times, but I had never been inside, and had only heard from acquaintances that both laser tag and ice skating could be found within. I wasn't sure how I felt about ice skating, but I knew that it had been too many years since I had last played laser tag, and I was ready to try my hand at it again.

The first thing I noticed upon entering Rinkside was the spacious reception area to my left, which looked as though it plays host to some sizeable birthday parties. I strolled past the teens and youngsters near the entrance towards a ride called "The Tornado", which resembled a black, mechanical octopus that raised and lowered riders in the buckets at the end of its arms while rotating in a circle. Looking around, the lights and sounds reminded me of various arcades and amusement parks that had delighted me in my youth. We secured our tickets for laser tag at the counter, and I decided to have a look around while waiting for our game to begin.

Walking to the left side of the room, I discovered another room that lead to the attraction that (I assume) gave Rinkside its namesake: a massive ice rink where young people of all shapes and sizes cruised across the frozen surface. A couple skaters were receiving lessons on the ice from adults, and I watched, impressed, as a girl of about eight or nine jumped and spun through the air, only to land and glide gracefully backwards like a professional.

Back in the arcade section, enthusiastic boys swiveled and fired from the cockpits of racing and flight simulators, fully immersed in the high-tech graphics. A video game from a series that I had played in years past caught my eye: Tekken 5. I hadn't played any of the games in the classic martial arts series since Tekken 3 was released about 10 years ago, but that didn't stop me from giving it a try. After only making it to level two, however, I decided to go a little more old-school and play some skee ball.

After a few rounds of skee ball it was almost time to begin laser tag, so we sidled over to the arena to check it out. From a television monitor above the entrance, we could see the teams currently playing. Kids fired over barricades and ducked behind pillars as we watched them from a birds-eye view. Soon it was our turn to give it a try, and we entered the corridor and were ushered into a room lit by Black light where we watched a short video hosted by a laser tag commando on how to score, where to shoot, and where to find bonuses. We were given our vests and phasers and let into the Black lit arena, my brother representing the red team while I played for blue.

The arena consisted of ramps, pillars, and barricades striped in orange and green that reflected the soft ultraviolet light. I ducked behind a pillar and shot out towards my brother, my red laser point visible on the walls. Low-key, trancelike music filtered through the room, giving it an otherworldly feel. A laser hit the dancing lights on my chest guard and it vibrated and lit up orange, and I ducked behind a column for protection. I shot out and saw orange flash up on the red team member's vest, indicating a hit for the blues. Mist rolled out overhead as I crouched down and I shot my laser into it out of curiosity, marveling at how the photons lit up in the cloud. Lasers flashed overhead from two different directions, and I moved up the ramp behind me to a window hole in the wall to gain a vantage point.

Sensors shook and flashed orange as we continued to trade shots and move stealthily behind the barricades. The counter on my light gun told me that I was being a little trigger-happy, as I had only landed about a fifth of my shots fired. I decided to tighten up my strategy and only fire when I had a clear shot. Lasers flew for a couple more minutes before the announcement came on that our time was up. Back outside of the arena we were shown the tally of our scores. My brother ended up with a higher score than I did, but only by a little, so I didn't feel to bad. My eyes readjusted to the light and I played a couple of rounds of a game called "Monopoly", where tokens are dropped through a moveable slide onto precariously stacked tokens behind glass in an effort to knock them over the ledge and win tickets. I cashed in my tickets for candy at the exchange counter and headed out, brainstorming about who I could bring with me for the next game of tag. Rinkside may be geared towards the younger customers, but I found plenty to enjoy there for those of us who have passed the kid stage but still remain kids at heart.

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