War games have been around for years. They were used by the military for training. They would learn to use surprise attacks and use scenarios to make the game even more realistic. So how did a military practice become one of the most popular games of all time?

It all started in 1981. Since you couldn’t run around shooting each other with real guns, 11 people, including Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, and Charles Gaines came up with the ingenious idea of ​​using markers to shoot each other.

This soon evolved and markers were developed for shooting paintballs that were made from .68 caliber gelatin capsules. These were colored so that each team could distinguish who they had hit (some people had their own colored paintballs to see who they had hit individually).

The game of paintball has evolved since then. Weapons have been improved and accessories such as paintball grenades are now available. Now there are several ways to play paintball. There is capture of the flag (capture the flag of the other teams before they get yours), king of the hill (only one flag and one team have to capture it before the other).

The size of the game has not been developed either. It used to be the size of a basketball, but has now become the size of a wooded area. The largest game ever played was in 2005, which consisted of 3,000 people on a 700-acre field.

Protection in paintball has always been essential. Paintball pain is like being hit by a rubber band, but because the capsules can fly at a maximum of 300 feet per second, it is a risk not to wear protection. Protection includes:

Helmet
Chest pads
Gloves
Knee and elbow pads
Long-sleeved tops and pants

Paintball has gone from being a military practice to become the third most popular game (study conducted in 2005) in the world. The game is fun for the whole family and injury rates are minimal as long as the proper equipment is used and safety rules are followed.