Our Purpose
Creating friendly & safe places where our guests can socialize, play, laugh, eat, drink, and be happy.
Our Purpose is displayed on both of our entertainment venues’ websites. It’s a reminder of how important out-of-home entertainment venues are to bringing people together to share fun experiences with their friends, family, and the people who make up their community.
Our goal is to enable our guests to share wonderful experiences In Real Life at both of our venues and to do it more frequently. We accomplish this goal by providing them with the very best Social Gaming and Attraction experiences and the best spaces to hangout while playing, eating and drinking with their friends and family.
Important reminder: The three keys to the best out-of-home entertainment venues are: Playing, Eating & Drinking, and Socializing. ALL THREE are the must have ingredients to creating the best In Real Life experiences for our guests!
Krazy Arrowz - BEST of the BEST
We have been operating (4) Krazy Arrowz in our Rochester venue for almost 11 months. It’s been thoroughly tested and is 100% ready to be deployed to entertainment venues all over the world.
Krazy Arrowz is definitely one of the best and most unique Social Gaming experiences now available for out-of-home entertainment venues.
The first (4) lanes of Krazy Arrowz are on pace to generate over $100,000 in the first full year. That number is going to beat the first year revenue of the (7) lanes of Krazy Darts we installed in the same venue 2 plus years ago. During prime time hours, Krazy Arrowz has peaked out multiple times on Friday and Saturday night.
It’s important to note that the above Krazy Arrowz revenue does NOT include food and beverage. It all depends on the type of group, but food and beverage sales usually range between 100% to 200% in additional revenue.
Krazy Arrowz would have beaten our Axe Throwing’s first year sales, but our Axe Throwing started out with (8) lanes, which means it was able to generate higher revenue during our peak times. Axe Throwing was also our first social gaming experience, which means Axes had no other Social Gaming experiences to compete with.
We expect Krazy Arrowz to continue to grow and generate over $160,000 in its second year with the current (4) lanes. However, we are adding (4) additional lanes this coming January to handle the demand during our busier times as well as to handle larger group bookings.
It’s important to note that these numbers were achieved while competing with (7) Krazy Darts, (8) Krazy Axes, (5) Billiard Tables and several other Social Gaming experiences. Krazy Arrowz is also competing against our giant multilevel LASERTRON LED illuminated Laser Tag arena at just over 9,000 square feet.
It’s important to note that our total Social Gaming revenues have climbed every year since we added our first Social Gaming experience in our Rochester venue.
In fact, our group sales have increased every year for the last three years, which makes sense since Social Gaming has become a primary driver of our group revenue.
On a recent Saturday, Krazy Arrowz was booked solid from 6:30 PM until midnight, which is when we close. At one point, there was a 3 plus hour wait to play Arrowz.
We have sold over a dozen lanes of Krazy Arrowz to three different entertainment venues. These lanes will be installed over the next several months.
A Forever Social Gaming Experience
Prediction: Krazy Arrowz is going to become a much bigger and more profitable phenomena than Axe Throwing. In addition, it’s going to be a Forever Social Gaming Experience!
Why is Krazy Arrowz going to be a Forever Social Gaming Experience?
Because it has the edginess of Axe Throwing, but it’s dramatically easier to play. It can attract a much wider audience as well. Players are only standing 16 feet away from the targets and each lane is separated by smooth walls and a ceiling for player protection. Each lane can play at their own pace.
It’s important to note that kids as young as three can play in the same game using soft juggling balls to throw at the targets. Plus, six to eight year old kids can use a standard Nerf Blaster to score points. We recently had a grandmother attempt to use the bow and arrow, but she had a bad shoulder. Our staff member quickly offered her the use of a Nerf Blaster and she was able to play the entire session with her kids and grandchildren. She had a wonderful time playing with her entire family!!!
For operators who think archery is a bit too edgy, you should be more aware of what your kids are doing in middle school. Look mom and dad – No safety divider walls – just a wide open gym! 😊
Okay, I’m being a little sarcastic. In reality, a little bit of edginess is EXACTLY what our out of home entertainment venues need in order to pull people out of their homes and into our entertainment venues.
We have to be a little more edgy if we want to survive for the long-term.
To repeat a billion times, it’s all about providing our guests with the coolest and most unique social experiences that can only be done IN REAL LIFE with their friends and family.
Krazy Darts Update
To date, we have reached a significant milestone. We have sold over 200 Krazy Darts lanes with a growing number in the pipeline. In fact, our newest iteration, Krazy Darts XL, is now the preferred version of Krazy Darts.
Krazy Axes VIP
ONLY The Best Axe Throwing experiences and the Best Axe Throwing Operators are here to stay for the long-term.
Axe Throwing is by far one of the most difficult Social Gaming experiences to operate and should be avoided by most entertainment venues.
However, for those operators who like a challenge and have high quality staff members to operate it, Axe Throwing will continue to be a solid money maker far into the future.
By the way, the best Axe Throwing Operators understand that we all have to continue to update the quality of our Axe Throwing experiences – just like we have to do for all of our other attractions. Axe Throwing won’t generate the highest revenues possible if we don’t continue to improve the experience.
The good news is that most of the big improvements for Axe Throwing have already been figured out. Going forward it will be more about the game software updates as well as a few more tweaks here and there. And, as we all know, there will always be a new and better way to improve the attraction!
Not ALL Social Gaming Experiences Are Going to be Perennial Money Makers
There have been lots of new Social Gaming experiences entering the market over the last few years. Some of these experiences are already showing that they don’t have the secret sauce to keep attracting the same guests year after year.
Part of the problem is that the core gameplay isn’t easy to update or the core design of the game limits its ability to be improved.
The number one problem with many of the newer Social Gaming concepts was the idea that just a single Social Gaming experience was going to be enough. It boils down to this – a one pony show is NEVER going to work long-term!
The most successful IN REAL LIFE out-of-home entertainment venues are going to have 6 to 8 of the very best Social Gaming experiences – these will be the venues that not only survive but thrive!
Thanks for reading!
Jim Kessler
If you have any comments, questions, or feedback (pro or con), please feel free to email me at jkessler@lasertron.us.