_ As part of my cousin’s birthday celebration, she decided to try paintball with all our friends using a Paintball USA deal she found in Groupon. We haven’t tried paintball yet so I thought it would be exciting. We purchased the Ninja Special Package and invited all of our closest friends for my cousin’s birthday.

Before the action, I did some research about paintball. I looked for the dos and don’ts in playing paintball. I also looked for helpful techniques that I can use against the opposing team.

The Field and The Game
Paintball USA has numerous fields to choose from. You have a choice of a colorful field with inflatables or a desert-like field with rusty tanks and dirty vehicle tires. We chose the desert-like battlefield to add more excitement and thrill.

Before the game started, we had an orientation on how the game should go. The rule is to attack and eliminate the opponents using paintball guns. However, every player must keep the velocity of the gun under 300 feet per second (FPS) to avoid sever skin damage. And since close-range shots are more painful, the player who got caught should surrender.

The Action
We were divided into two teams, red and green. Clad in camouflage outfits and armed with paintball guns, we were ready to conquer the battlefield. I actually didn’t have a clear game plan: the only thing on my mind that day was to shoot any opponent in sight. Since my cousin and I belonged in the same team, our first tactic was to hide for two minutes behind the bushes before an offensive move.

When I was just about to attack someone, I got shot on the right shoulder. Luckily, it was a friendly shot (shot from your own teammate). When I finally had the opportunity, I shot an opponent (one of my close friends) on the legs and she fell. I saw another target hiding behind a tank but I felt like someone was going to shoot me from behind so I hid first. I managed to save my bullets and shoot an opponent on the body. I thought I was saved from paint bullets until one member from the green team hit me on the chest. The paint scattered all over my outfit and I even tasted some of it, too.

The game lasted for 30 minutes. Afterwards, we were all exhausted and complaining of body aches in various places. It was an exhilarating experience, though, and we’ll definitely do it again!