Tactical Urban Combat Mall of America — Attraction in Bloomington

An absolute blast. We hired out the Nerf arena for a group of twenty and owned the place for an hour, also automatically reserving the party room afterwards. We enjoyed a nice range of popular games (including area control and capture the flag) running around like lunatics, shooting friends and family for fun, before switching over to padded melee weapons about halfway through, which proved to be even more insane. Some of us were a little disappointed we never switched back to guns at any point (anticipating that melee combat was intended to add some variety to the action, not permanently change it), but we all had tons of fun regardless. Your experience will certainly vary with whoever you do this with, though while I recommend doing this with a large group of your own (also allowing you to divide into two teams in advance), even a random drop-in group would still likely be a damn good time. The arena itself is well designed with plenty of cover and ambush points. The guns are in good condition, considering their obvious excessive use from kids of all ages. One strange point of note regards ammunition. In our briefing beforehand, we were told that most guns used all ammo types (colors), while some were specifically identified as using only one type (yellow). Which begs the question why they haven't made sure to only use ammo that all guns could use, or only use guns that could use all types of ammo, to remove this complication (risk of jamming/failing). Also, the party room is not so much a room, but a large open space nearby the battle arenas with a few tables and chairs, potentially shared with other folks (another group were setting up a birthday party next to us). Not really a dealbreaker, but worth being aware of in advance. Such a great time overall that I would absolutely do this again, with one or two minor adjustments in our planning and execution. Whilst ultimately securing a group of sixteen, trying to maximize the potential of this experience (also reducing the cost per person in hiring out the arena exclusively) by shooting for twenty was a logistical nightmare. I'd probably prefer around a dozen and just accept a higher shared cost per person. Also, we'd insist on using guns the entire time, with melee weapons as an option, without switching over halfway through. One final point of note is the booking process and on-site staff. The main guy you speak with when calling for information/booking is helpful, friendly, welcoming and appreciative. On location, we found staff doing a fine job of controlling what logistically must be the very definition of organized chaos, with so many different groups enjoying different experiences in different timeslots throughout the entire day. So close to a five star review it hurts. We pretty much had a five star experience. I just know it could have been ever so slightly better. Plus, we haven't experienced their laser tag arena, so I simply can't review/compare that. Still, this was a fantastic time for us, and...

This was absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had playing laser tag and nerf guns. I’m in town visiting my sister and nephews, and while we had planned on minigolf last night, they were completely booked and we just happened to see TUC. It ended up being the BEST thing that could have happened :) Keeping my 3 nephews (13, 11, and almost 10) not only entertained, but so involved that they forget to bicker, AND actually strategizing with each other is no small feat!! On top of that, my sister and I had A BLAST! This is NOT your typical laser tag/nerf wars. Between the different weapons, the huge playing area with unlimited places to hide, and all the variations of game play, you can’t help but get into the games. But none of that compares to how Travis, Annie, and Jeff (aka The TAJ team) stepped up and did everything they could to make our time even more enjoyable:) They were friendly, knowledgeable, and took the time to figure out what games and packages would be the best for our group. They went above and beyond, checking in with us throughout the experience and genuinely wanting to know what we liked or what we thought could be improved. Their focus was to make sure we not only had fun, but that we wanted to come back again and again. They convinced us that we had to try both games and explained that the experience would not be complete unless we did the full hour. We were a little hesitant, but I’m so glad we listened because they were right! We could have done another hour if it wasn’t already after 8 by the time we finished! And my nephews couldn’t stop talking about it - they are all already asking to have their next birthdays there. 10/10 would definitely recommend this place. And a SPECIAL THANKS TO THE TAJ TEAM!!!! We will be venturing here EVERY time I visit, and when all of our family comes to town for my sisters wedding, we will definitely be doing an adults only night as well :) I hope they start a membership option, because they’d already have 6...

Tactical Urban Combat (TUC) was absolutely amazing with my son. First off they offer laser tag, virtual reality (I have not tried this yet), and Nerf battles. I did laser tag about a year ago with my nephews and had a blast (pun intended). This go around my son had a birthday party of a friend and they did the Nerf experience. I will get the negatives out of the way first, the guns often jam, so it can be hard, especially for 8-10 year olds to fire them. Okay that was the one negative. Everything else was great, and it was made even better by our Ref JP. JP was absolutely amazing. He was extremely accommodating since our group had a couple of kids that had ADHD and a couple on the spectrum. He told us some about his personal life and how he has had to deal with people on the spectrum as well. He is fully ASD trained, and it showed. He helped out the kids, and he would ask them if they needed a "break" (sensory break). In addition to that JP is so energetic and fun it is hard not have a blast in there. He had fun games for the kids to play, and kept changing it up. He was extremely helpful with all of the kids, and so positive with everyone too. He also gave us a little extra time since it took awhile to go over rules, which was deeply appreciated. I can't recommend TUC enough to those that want to play laser tag, or to those 40 year olds out there that Nerf wars in their basements growing up and want to now experience it in a much bigger environment. JP let me join him during the last 5 minutes so the kids (10 of them) could all gang up on JP and myself. And yes I did hit my kid, but he got me several more times. TUC is a great time from kids 6+ all the way to well people older than me and I...