With this year’s opening of the highly anticipated GameZone, there will be plenty for Eastern Bay children to do these holidays.

Katie Leigh Farrington, a cleaning company business owner, and her partner Katie Farrington, a phlebotomist, have opened a new Lazer Tag and game room extravaganza on Gateway West.

The pair moved to Whakatāne from Tauranga for a quieter lifestyle out of the city but they slowly realised it was just “too quiet”.

The mums have two girls in their family with winter birthdays – a time many of Whakatāne’s outdoor party activity sites are closed.

So they decided to create their own and came up with the idea of GameZone.

GameZone has an indoor Lazer Tag arena which can accommodate up to 14 people a round, with a range of family-friendly game modes including elimination, domination and capture the flag.

There is a games room with racing and flight simulators, a pool table and a Virtual Reality machine with over 30 games, ranging from shooting zombies to walking around skyscrapers.

With a party room upstairs that can be decorated with balloon garlands and banners for each event, GameZone is quickly proving an ideal birthday party and school holiday activity.

“We’re really picking up. The word has been getting out, and the birthday parties are a hit. After one hour of laser tag kids are absolutely fizzing,” Mrs Farrington said.

She recommends laser tag for children aged seven and up because of the weight of the laser guns.

There have been multiple Facebook posts on community pages raving about the new centre, and its affordable prices compared to alternatives of taking a family or birthday party convoy out of the district to Rotorua or Tauranga.

“I get enjoyment and a buzz from people’s reactions, it makes me feel like we’re on the right path. One woman from Ōpōtiki said she was so grateful she didn’t have to travel further.”

The couple are eagerly receiving feedback from the community, with a definite plan to run GameZone through the next two school holidays.

They are also awaiting the arrival of an outdoor laser tag arena, which will be an exciting transportable activity for parties, community events and schools.

“We’ve got big ideas for this place, we just need the people coming in,” Mrs Farrington said.

To find out more information, Katie and Katie Farrington can be contacted through the GameZone Facebook page or via emailing [email protected].