Airsoft Target Games

Airsoft competitors use replicas of actual guns to fire nonlethal 6 millimeter diameter pellets. Most of the game types involve a "warfare simulation," or skirmish between opposing teams, such as Capture the Flag, played in a demarcated gaming area. Shooting the Airsoft weapons accurately requires the same skill as firing an actual rifle or pistol. A competitor can modify many of these games to improve his ability to hit a target, or he can play targeting games designed for competitive shooters.

  1. Manhunt

    • The game of Manhunt can help you perfect your shooting with a moving target. In this game type, competitors draw straws; whoever picks the shortest straw becomes the prey, and enters the gaming area without a weapon. After a 10-minute head start, the remaining competitors set out to hunt the prey down. In a normal game of Manhunt, the first person to "shoot" the prey wins, but you can modify Manhunt to improve targeting skills by taping a target to the prey's back or chest and only counting shots that hit within a certain area of the target. To increase the competition, mark each competitor's bullets a different color beforehand, and have the prey wear a sticky target to which the pellets will adhere. Determine the winner by whoever made the best shot.

    Assassination

    • Like Manhunt, Assassination games pick one player as the unarmed prey, but in an Assassination, other armed players act as "bodyguards." These bodyguards must defend the prey as they escort her to a predetermined area of the map without the prey getting shot. Normally, if someone shoots the prey, the game ends, but you can modify Assassination games by making the prey wear a target or carry a water balloon. Only shots that burst the balloon or hit a selected area of the target count.

    Action Shooting

    • Action shooting games require a player to hit a series of targets in order, either by progressing through a course (such as moving room-to-room in a building) or by firing at numbered targets set at varying distances. These games use pistols, and begin with the weapon in the holster. You can set up water balloons or use paper or sticky targets, and determine the winner by whoever completes the course in the fastest time while hitting all of the targets or rank the winner by whoever hits all of the targets with the greatest accuracy in a fixed period of time.

    Bench Shooting

    • Bench rest shooting games test the ability to fire a rifle with precision while under a time constraint. These games position a sticky or paper target at a fixed distance from a "bench" on which the shooter sits or lies. Each competitor receives a fixed time in which to complete a certain number of shots at the target. Whoever places all of his shots with the greatest accuracy wins.