Unleash the Force: Saber Wars at Archers Arena in Toronto!

Take a break from the ordinary and step into a galaxy far, far away at Archers Arena Toronto. We've got a new adventure lined up for you - Saber Wars! Unleash your inner Jedi (or Sith, we don't judge) and come join us for some lightsaber action!

Remember fencing? Well, Saber Wars is like that, but with a cosmic twist! And don't worry, it's all about the tap-to-kill fun, making it perfect for kids and adults alike.

And oh boy, have we got some game modes for you! Fancy yourself as an emperor or a princess? We've got 'Emperor vs Princess' mode. Got a strategic mind? Test your mettle in 'Attack and Defend,' 'Capture the Flag,' or 'King of the Hill.' Feeling a little Anakin? Try 'Anakin Younglings.' We promise it's more fun than it sounds. And to spice things up, we've even got a mode where you can add Nerf Blasters pistol single shot to the mix. Talk about variety!

All of this cosmic fun comes at $53.10 per person for 90 minutes of games, and guess what? The training's on us! It's also a part of our Multi-Activity Packages, in case you're looking to mix it up.

But that's not all, folks! We've got the Saber Academy ready to help you master the force. We're talking expert instruction, in-depth training programs, and a community that's as enthusiastic about saber-swinging as you are. It's the perfect place to master your saber skills while having a blast!

But hold on, Toronto, there's more! We've got a sweet Early Bird Discount for our swift saber enthusiasts. Click here and you're all set.

But act fast! There are only 20 spots available for this steal of a deal. So don't wait. Let's light up those sabers and let the fun begin! May the force be with you!

So what are you waiting for, Toronto? Ready to step into Saber Wars at Archers Arena? We're ready when you are. Let the force guide you!

Lockdown Lifted!!!

We are back!
Starting from the 1st of February, we are now at 50% capacity!
Up to 24 people in the Party Room and up to 15 people in one court!

We have all sorts of activities to celebrate your birthday, participate in a team building event, or just have a blast! Come find out what's happening today with us - we promise it will be exciting!!!

Party Room

Need a private room for your birthday party, team building event or gathering?

Our Karaoke Party Room is a great space to relax and bring in outside food and drinks, and BYOB with a Special Occassions Permit

We have lots of amenities included and a premium karaoke HD sound system with 200,000 songs and on YouTube!

Combat Archery

Want to be able to shoot at your friends Hunger Games style?
Or headshot, headshot, pow pow pow like Hawkeye?

You’ll not only be able to shoot at your friends, but they’ll also be able to shoot back at you! It's like playing extreme dodgeball with bows and arrows - only instead of being thrown into the mix when someone scores on their opponent, there are rules!

Ricochets don’t count, your bow or arrow also counts as an extension of your body, you wear helmets and the arrows are foam-tipped so you get to feel/witness the impact without it being dangerous!

Beginner Archery Training

Want to practice your target aiming before stepping into combat?
Rack up those headshots?

Our coaches can guide you through in a one-hour long session! There are digital targets to shoot at and you and up to 6 of your friends can play together - with a variety of games such as Around the World or Headshot Bob with everyone for themselves by testing their accuracy or speed (or both!) or teams or maybe even against the coach!

Personal scores and stats can be generated and if you compare yourself across the different session, you’ll be able to measure your progress and improvement! Plus if one person has been playing longer than another maybe they know some secrets that might give an edge?

Nerf Wars

Prefer shooting in a more modern fashion?

Do so Nerf Blaster Style! With the Nerf Surgefire, you can fry your opponent from afar with its powerful darts. The gun has quickly spinning barrels that can release its multiple darts at once or in rapid-fire succession for the distance!

The Nerf Strongarm’s high-powered blasters make it easier than ever to take down foes in close quarters combat as well; just don't forget about those rangefinder capabilities if there are obstacles between yourself and an enemy target.

Saber Wars

Relive your Star War’s fantasy by joining the ranks of the Jedi Council or succumbing to the dark side! Defend Princess Leia from being captured or (if you’re bringing kids) reenact the infamous Youngling’s scene 😈

Bubble Soccer

You can't stay grounded for too long when you’re playing Bubble Soccer! The Bubble Soccer Suit will make you feel like an unstoppable force.

Get ready and feel the world tilt as you bounce off your friends (safely of course!) in this activity. You’ll be running, tumbling and rolling around without even realizing that time is passing by until it's over too quickly.

The suits are sanitized and cleaned before and after each session!

Blacklight Dodgeball or Blacklight Basketball

We play a different type of dodgeball. We forget our problems and just have fun. We bring back nostalgic childhood memories while dodging brightly-colored missiles thrown by our arch-enemy!

We also have another option: glow-in-the-dark basketball. We thought of a way for people of all ages to enjoy their favorite sport indoors when it is dark or raining outside.

At any of these sessions, you can have a music dance party. You can provide the music or we can do it for you. You should wear bright-colored clothes so they will be easier to see and play with.

Private Gym Space

At $12 per person per hour - minimum 2 people charge on weekdays, and minimum 4 people charge on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - Archer’s Arena offers private gym space if you want to exercise without having to worry about a monthly subscription or other outside people.

Train with no judgment at our indoor gym that will be private to you and your group during your session and lose all those extra pounds built up during quarantine.

Saber Wars at Archers Arena!

That’s right, we offer saber war battles!

Now as safety is our number 1 priority, this activity isn’t pulling off fancy moves, jumping/floating around, and hitting each other as hard as possible - imagine more like Fencing or Kendo, where it’s tap-to-kill.

We have lots of game modes and objectives to spice things up! To list a few - Emperor vs Princess, Attack and Defend, King of the Hill, and Anakin Younglings.

Emperor vs Princess

The group splits into 2, and each side has a VIP to defend/attack. The VIP only has 1 life, while the non-VIP players have unlimited lives!

Therefore each side has to keep track of how many hits each enemy has and try to narrow down the unknown VIP!

In continuation with the Star Wars theme, the players that are on the Emperor side play with Nerf Guns, while the Princess side are armed with sabers.

Attack and Defend

In this game mode, one side attacks, one side defends!

Each person on the defensive side only has one life, and if they are hit by a saber, they’re out for the rest of the game. They also defend their base within a certain time limit, and if they’re successful, the defending team wins!

The attacking side has more lives - If they are hit, that person raises their saber up in the air to signify they are out, walk to the respawn point, and then they are able to come back in the game.

But don’t think it will be so easy! The defending team also have bunkers and shields they can use, so each side has to strategize properly to make sure they win!

King of the Hill

One person is selected as king, and the rest of the party has to knock that person off to reign as king! Each king has to last as long as possible and whoever is the last king, is the winner.

It is a game of endurance, wits, and tactics to remain and reign as the winning king!

Anakin Younglings

Finally, what you’ve all been wondering about! This is our favorite game mode out of them all! Here is a Tiktok video to explain everything below:

One person is to be Anakin, and only Anakin has the saber. Everyone else is the “youngling” and they do not have a saber. Younglings have to run away from Anakin and save their teammates by tapping them on the shoulder.

The aim of the game is to survive as long as possible, but if Anakin manages to reenact his movie scene then he will arise to become the fearsome Darth Vader!

Come live out your role-playing fantasy at Archers Arena!

We're Back Open, Hope You're Ready To Play!

Now that we’ve re-opened, things have been going GREAT thanks to awesome customers like YOU! Yeah, we’re talking to you. Thanks to all who have come back to play so far. We’re so grateful that you’ve remembered us after all this time away, and that you’re coming back to get active and have fun! You’ve gotten bubbled up for epic matches of Bubble Soccer, battled it out with family in strategic games of Combat Archery, and everything in between. We’ve been loving seeing people come out and let loose again.

THINGS ARE PICKING UP

We’ve been very busy, and are starting to fill up our days at capacity (based on Ontario’s Step 3 rules). That being said, please be sure to BOOK AHEAD! That’s the way to ensure you save your spot for your next gathering, B-Day, or battle to solve your latest family dispute. We are operating at 50% capacity as per the guidelines, and with our two large courts, archery range, gym, party room, and 4 separate entrances, this is isn’t a problem.

IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK

You can still play all your favourite activities: Combat Archery, Nerf Wars, Saber Wars, Bubble Soccer, and Blacklight Dodgeball. As well as a fun new addition, glow in the dark Basketball, which can be done on its own, or as apart of your Blacklight Dodgeball game. You can also rent our courts to play some regular B-Ball with your friends. And of course, we still have target archery and advanced archery lessons for those who want to channel their inner Hawkeye or Katniss. We can never be too ready for the zombie apocalypse after all. We have expert coaches, and up to 50 pound bows that you can shoot as we progress you through the lesson.

COME PLAY

So all that being said, it’s time to lose some of that lockdown weight in the most fun ways possible. Come get active with us at Archers Arena and learn that exercise doesn’t have to be a chore, birthdays can be a blast, and work parties CAN be fun after all. If you have any hesitations know that we prided ourselves on keeping things super clean before the pandemic, but have taken things to a whole new level to ensure your safety, and ours. Between uses, our bows, Bubble Soccer bubbles, Nerf blasters, and all of our equipment are now cleaned thoroughly with iso-propyl alcohol as well as sterilized and deodorized with UVC lights. We’re ready if you are. Just remember to BOOK AHEAD to guarantee your spot.

Thanks again to all who have come out so far, it’s been great seeing so many familiar players, and lots of new ones too. We’ll see you soon, in the Arena!

-Team Archers Arena

P.S. During the lockdowns we were keeping quite busy on TikTok and went from 10K to almost 350K followers. Be sure to follow us here to keep up to date with all things Archers Arena, and hopefully get entertained and learn something along the way. You can also check us out on Instagram or Facebook.

Keeping Things Safe Since Day 1

Safety has always been our number one priority since Archers Arena opened.  For starters, when Sam Lai (owner of the Arena) started playing Combat Archery, he noticed that getting shot on side of the face or on the top of the head still stung a bit.   This led him to implement hockey helmets instead of paintball masks. 

WE’LL PROTECT YOUR NOGGIN

Nothing against the places that use paintball masks, but the feedback we were getting was that people were finding it a bit hard to breath, and the paintball masks weren’t really doing the job with the full force the foam arrows could potentially hit with.   A hockey helmet is built to withstand a puck to the face.  This makes the hockey helmet a much nicer choice while being pelted with a foam arrow.  People can bring their own, or use one of ours, which we thoroughly clean wash with iso-propyl alcohol as well as sterilize and deodorize with a UVC light so you can put your battle gear on with peace of mind.

CHANGING THE BOW

Another successful change we’ve made along the way is that we used to play with heavier bows.   At a whopping 30 pounds it was very easy to get back at your boss on team-building day.    We then reduced the bows to 22 pounds and found it led to way less painful hits.  That made the game a much more inclusive experience for people of all comfort levels with the sport.  We also use the thickest foam you can buy anywhere for our arrow tips.  This helps to ensure your mighty uncle Hank doesn’t bruise your sweet aunt Mod, and everyone can have a good time.

HOLD.  HOLD.  HOLD.

The hold command was an addition by a past coach.  If someone yells hold, everyone is trained to get down on one knee and do the same.  Coaches teach everyone about this important command.  This is in case anything is wrong or there are any safety concerns on the court.  If you’re having a great time and somebody gets injured, no one is having a good time.  Before we can have fun, we must be safe.  That is our number one rule.  We never want people to leave injured.  This applies to our coaches and staff, as well as our customers.  

ARM GUARDS

Arm guards are something we implanted right away.  We saw people leaving other facilities with bruises or cuts on their arms from the bowstrings.  We don’t think it’s necessary to risk drawing blood at your niece’s birthday party.  So sanitized armguards are available for anyone who wants to use them.  

SHIELD YOUR FAMILY JEWLS

Something no one ever asked for is a used jock.  Can you imagine the horror of checking in and out sweaty jocks like shoes at a bowling ally?  We wouldn’t want to do that to you, or our staff.  However, we do 100% recommend that men wear a jock to avoid becoming a permanent soprano.  Okay, we’re being a bit dramatic but we have definitely seen some pretty nasty crotch shots, and feel it’s better safe than sorry.  You can ask any of our regulars, a jock is the way to go. 

A CULTURE OF SAFETY

We guess the point we’re making here is that safety has always been a priority for us at Archers Arena.   When COVID-19 changed the world, we were ready.  We’ve been dealing with large groups, birthday parties, shared equipment, and much more for many years before this.  We’ve always been cutting edge in the safety department and we’re not going to stop now.  There’s nothing fun about getting hurt or sick when you just wanted a fun night out, and rest assured, at Archers Arena we go above and beyond when it comes to keeping things clean and safe during all of our awesome activities.

-Team Archers Arena

A Love Letter To Combat Archery

The first time I tried Combat Archery (also known as Archery Tag) at Archers Arena in Toronto was for a friends B-day.   I enjoyed it, but the main thing I noticed was how quickly it went by and how good of a workout it was.  It’s a really good workout.  I was surprised.  After a few hours of running around and pelting my friends with arrows, I was absolutely exhausted, sweating, and my crotch region hurt a lot.  This is because I didn’t take the website’s advice and wear a jock, so I got pegged square in the nut sack a few times.  

Disclaimer #1:  Wear A Jock

Anyway, we happened to show up on a night called “Community Night”, which fell on a Friday.  So there were other archers there, some new to the game like us, but also some more seasoned players.  The vibe was friendly, and at the end of the evening the coach welcomed us back.  They said something like “we do this every Friday”.  On the drive home, I pondered.  I’d wanted to make some big changes moving into the New Year and a workout routine was one of them.  I asked myself if this could be a sport I could play every week, and the quick answer was “Hell Yes!” As the great Charles Bukowski once said, “go all the way.”  So I went all in.

Disclaimer #2:  Go All The Way

I made a promise to go play Combat Archery at least once a week, and was able to make that consistent.  I played every Friday, and on Tuesdays sometimes too.  The months passed, and just like with many things, as I put more time and practice in, I kept getting better.  I was no longer as scared to face off against some of the best players.  I even started entering into tournaments that took place in Toronto at Archers Arena, and in Ottawa at Archery Games.  I met so many great people and incredibly skilled Archery Combat players at those tournaments.  Players hailing from Montreal’s Combat D’Archers,  folks from Archery Games in Boston,  and from Vancouver’s 6 Pack Beach, which I even got to go visit and and join in their community night on their awesome indoor sand court.   Now, I’m not trying to pretend like I went to some Archery Combat boot camp where I did nothing but breath, eat, sleep, and poop the sport until I came out a hardened archer warrior… but I did immerse myself in the community, and I was consistent. 

Disclaimer #3:  Be Consistent

With anything in life really, to see progress, you have to be consistent.  Chip away at it, slowly but surely.  That’s why I feel that if you’re interested in diving into Combat Archery, or another passion of some sort, really give it time.  Understand that you’re going to fail a bunch, that’s part of the fun.  Honestly, I’ve listened to an unhealthy amount of motivational speakers in my lifetime and I would say that one of the most common threads in all of the conflicting noise is that we must embrace failure.  I’ve had my good days and bad days.  For starters, I can proudly say I’ve worn a jock every time since that first fateful day when my gonads were threatened.  See, I learned from my first fatal error, adjusted, and improved.  There were lots of these little improvements, and still are.  The gang is starting to call me the “human net” because I catch everything, but you think this was always the case?  I was pummelled with foam arrow after foam arrow until I really started to hone my catching skills.

Disclaimer #4:  It’s About The Community

When it all comes down to it, it really is about the community.  It would be fun to take all the credit for how far I’ve come in this sport, but that would be a flat out lie and I’d deserve to be full drawed at point blank in the tallywacker (no cup).  It’s the community that has kept me coming back, the coaches, the regulars, the newbies, everyone.  Without getting too sentimental, there are many great people who come and go from Archers Arena, as well as some just as great people from other facilities that we’ve competed against along the way.  We all come from so many different backgrounds, careers, and life experiences.  However, we are brought together by one common thing, the love of Combat Archery.  

Disclaimer #5:  Find a Common Goal

For whatever reason, us Combat Archers enjoy aggressively launching foam arrows at each other, or maybe it’s the games, or the competition we love.  Either way, it’s amazing  how this shared interest can bring out such a wide array of people.   We go to battle on the court, but in between it’s all smiles.  It makes me think about our species, and this wacky time we live in.  It makes me wonder if we’d all be better off, and much happier, spending our moments on this earth focusing on the ways we’re the same rather than the ways we are different.

Disclaimer #6: We’re All In This Together

I’ve been playing this sport for over a year and a half now, and honestly, I have more fun every time I come out. As things are opening back up and regulations are loosening over group activities, I understand that times have changed.  All businesses that host Combat Archery are having to adjust the ways they operate.  The good news is that by the nature of this sport being a group activity with shared equipment, these establishments have been ahead of the curb on cleanliness and safety.  I know that if we all work together,  and learn from each others communities, we will get through this uncertain time.  In doing so we’re going to come out of this pandemic stronger and safer than ever.  Looking forward to the day when we can all join together again for another epic tournament, but until then, much love, and keep aiming!

Written by: James McDougall

Visit www.ArchersArena.com to learn more about Combat Archery and many of the other activities you can try out at Archers Arena in Toronto.