Strikeforce Sports NJ — Local services in Hackettstown

Go here. Read and follow the rules. Hold yourself accountable. Be nice. Have fun. Do those things and you’ll have a great time.

Been playing airsoft for a decade. I started at Grid Code/Phoenix indoor airsoft, and wish I could go back. Been around the country trying indoor airsoft fields with a dye and p*, and Strikeforce has been the only one that has got it right. Good vibes, nice people. I went 2 sundays in a row, 03/23-03/30/2025. First time, there were a good amount of players. Second time, there were 10 players, but they left real early dropping the count to 4-5. When there wasn’t enough players to balance out the teams the staff quickly adapted, made new game modes, rules, and joined in to play. We even all agreed to play with our guns upside down. We played ffa and gunfight (cod), cutting off sections of the map. We had fun both times. When we walked into the chrono area, I heard Deaftones and then A Day to Remember playing and I instantly knew we were chillin and gonna have fun.

Process: I walked in, was greeted, and was told the process of checking in. Went to chrono and my buddies gun didn't work. They fixed it on the spot and we were all good. Super simple process. Give them your eye pro and gun. Pay. Get two wrist bands and a zip tie on ur gun. Follow the rules and you’ll have a great time. $8 hpa refills and no propane (just to put it out there). STOP AND READ THE RULES ON THE WALL… Ask questions about the rules and ask everything you want before the game starts. Take accountability.

Addressing/comparing other reviews: Ref seems to be a bigger topic. I’m gonna have to agree. I wish I remembered the second refs name, but our first time, I did hear numerous complaints about the ref (with glasses). I think he needs a major briefing on how to treat people, before someone reciprocates the same energy and somethin breaks out. I shouldn’t have to tell my buddies to calm down because of a ref. I think he's gotta be checked internally before he gets checked by a customer. I bit my tongue then and now, and I’ll leave it at that.

The rules of the field: It might seem dumb to get kicked off the field for shooting in a corner. We all know that can be fine. Being a business though, safety is a priority. If the door is open, you shoot and it goes into the holding area, hits someone in the eye, you’re cooked and so is the business. If you shoot before game start, after the door is closed, sure, it’s a safe area, but someone new may be out of the refs sight and have their mask up. Seen that too many times.. If hpa isn’t semi locked, that is a valid reason to be kicked off the field. If you switch to full auto by accident even, that is still a valid reason to be kicked off for a game.

On the other hand, I do think the refs should ask if there are any new players at the start of every game so they can repeat the rules and explain how the game works. The second ref did it, but the first ref we had just walked in and said switch spawns. I don’t care if I don’t know what’s going on, I can assume. A new player is gonna walk in, be confused, and break rules. We were confused, but a simple “cool, we’ll go wherever and just play like its td” worked.

Overall, great place. Best I been to. It’s a chill environment. If you need something, say something, don’t expect someone to assume. If there’s one employee you don’t like, you can’t say the staff is bad. The staff are insanely good. They’re all young and it’s a chill environment. It’s not a corporate type environment like an Evike shop. It’s how it should be imo. You’re treated like a responsible adult (except from that one ref), but unfortunately some people can’t be treated that way and I think that’s where I see the bad reviews coming from. I didn’t have a problem. I read the rules, followed them, and asked questions.

I wrote so much because I miss the old days (grid code) in middle school and force on force from the army so bad. To get out and try so many places that get it wrong, this place has got it right.

Update: Issues seem to have been resolved....

Venue is nice. But the atmosphere needs a lot of work.

The referees tend to yell a lot and generally be in a bad mood. I understand they must be stressed from having to deal with constant cheating and new players throughout the day. However, they have very little patience and often come off as rude. I personally wouldn't mind the yelling if it was towards someone who deserved it. But there were several times where the referees would yell at someone who made a small, minor mistake. It also didn't help that the referees or the cashiers did not explain the rules before starting, or that some of the rules, such as not opening the glass doors once a game has begun, is not written on the rule board. A very brief run down of how to load, fire, and handle the rental gun would have been nice as well. Or at the very least ask if that is something you'd like to go over. That way a new player won't struggle.

I had some people completely new in my group to airsoft. The rental guys handed them a rental gun with full auto selected. They never went over the rules or anything, so the new guys didn't check before starting the game. Once the game started, a referee heard the full auto firing and almost immediately perma banned my friend from the field before I was able to talk him out of it.

Or another time my friend accidently pulled the trigger on his gun during the game startup and fired once single shot at the floor while holding the gun barrel down. Instantly ejected from the field, yelled at, and sat out for an hour before we talked them down from another perma ban and going over the security cameras.

My feedback to the owners would be to try to make the experience more welcoming to newcomers. The lack of instructions or briefing of rules, the thin patience of the referees, and the friendliness the referees have with only the regulars makes the atmosphere feel like you're stepping into some sort of after school club that you're not welcome in. There is a reason most of the positive reviews tend to come from the more experienced players, regulars, or people who went to the old location.

I do commend the employees at the front in the gun shop who reviewed the surveillance footage on one occasion and apologized for one of the referees yelling.

A lot of the referees are younger and I can relate to how I felt at that age. And airsoft tends to attract immature players who can be difficult to ref. On top of the incredibly wide age range I saw from the players, from high schoolers to middle aged adults. But it feels like the refs just don't want to be there and would rather be playing or somewhere else than reffing. I hope the management can further train, develop, or improve their refs. Otherwise I think this business will stagnate with the lack of...

I wanna give this the "this is my first airsoft game" heads up, and I'm typing this up after I got home. Overall I had a good time, but there were some things that put a damper on the night.

Positives: No Bang Bang (point blank shooting go brrr), super friendly staff, good selection of items off the shelf, reasonable rental prices, and a decent community. They helped me get set up to finish my gear loadout and gave solid recommendations.

Negatives: Not a lot of rules / no spawn safety zone. You cannot shoot from spawn (there's no long range site lines) and we were constantly just boxed in by campers for half my matches. A lot of the HPA kids abused this rule and would box us in and we couldn't get site lines to reasonably return fire one foot out of spawn. I understand they make up half the ticket income of the night, but it feels like the ref's wouldn't enforce grenade zone kills with them / enforce their hits. I ended up leaving an hour early to cool off because the last round pissed off a lot of people / constant overshoot.

I will be going back because it's the only option locally, but I really think just a taped off area to stop spawn camps would make a much more enjoyable time. And I will be going on the non-hpa...