Hidden in the Wai-iti Valley lies the apocalyptic town of Purgatory that hides opponents firing paintball, and now gellyball is taking some of the sting out of the game for younger players on the Judgement field.
Armageddon Paintball is just the third venue in the country to gain a gellyball licence which uses battery-powered blasters to launch hydrated gel orbs for less pain and less bruising than its big brother, paintball.
Owners Norman and Bo Hensley have had three years and two floods at Armageddon and last week the local home-schooled kids gave gellyball the thumbs up after firing the gel balls at their opponents from fully automatic blasters.
Bo says the junior players already have splat master which uses smaller paintballs, but gellyball has the wow factor with the sound effect of automatic firing.
“As long as you pull the trigger, it keeps firing. So, it’s a little bit more exciting.”
Sessions last about an hour and Bo says that enables kids to play four to five games to empty their canisters of gel balls – which she adds are biodegradable.
“The kids are having heaps of fun and there’s lots of chattering afterwards. It’s new and new is always good!”
Norman says gellyball is aimed at six to 12-year-olds who are too young for paintball and it is now rolling out around the country.
