COLUMBUS, OHIO
AN ALL NEW THEME FOR 2025
April 25-27, 2025
ONE WEEKEND ONLY
Due to scheduling limitations, we will not be adding additional weekends in 2025. This will be your only chance to experience the event until 2026.
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3200+ five Star Reviews*
ONCE A YEAR SPECIAL EVENT
Nightmare Combat is a very large production that takes place once a year on select dates.
This is not open year round. 2025 dates were just announced below.
2025 EVENT DATES
Friday
April 25
Early Access
Saturday
April 26
Early Access
Sunday
April 27
Early Access
FEATURED ON
"like being on the set of a horror movie" - Columbus Dispatch
Nightmare Combat is a special, once a year event in Columbus, Ohio that combines the thrills and chills of the Halloween season with the exhilarating fun of laser tag! This tactical experience puts your survival skills to the test by putting you face to face with the creatures that haunt your dreams. You will receive a realistic training weapon so you’re ready to take on whatever it is lurking in the dark.
ALL NEW MISSION FOR 2025
Nightmare Combat: Summer Slaycation – School’s out, but the terror is just beginning. What was supposed to be the ultimate summer bash turned into an all-out nightmare when a group of high schoolers unwittingly unleashed a horde of bloodthirsty demons.
Now, these creatures stalk their every move, turning their summer dreams into a season of screams. Armed with laser weapons, you’ll fight your way through a cursed campground, battle through the haunted halls of summer school, and survive the chaos of a sinister summer fair where the fun never stops—but neither does the fear.
The only way out is to lock, load, and light up the darkness before it consumes you.
Cutting Edge Weapons
You will be armed with realistic looking & feeling laser tag weapons. Your weapons will be full weight and include a metal design. The equipment features realistic recoil, muzzle flash, live scoring, and more.
40,000 Square FEet
You will journey through a 40,000 square foot immersive environment featuring Hollywood quality sets. This event will feature a world themed after a post apocalyptic cityscape complete with overturned cars, city streets, a carnival sideshow, abandoned buildings, and countless other scenes.
50+ Live Performers
You will encounter dozens of live actors and performers with professional costumes and makeup. These actors have targets built into their costumes that are triggered by your weapons and will signify you when they have been defeated. Just like any video game you will also have to conquer the giant boss before you complete your mission.Â
Upgrade: 2 Way Scoring – The monsters now have proximity sensors that inflict damage on players if they don’t defeat them before they get too close. Different monsters take more shots to kill and inflict different amounts of damage on players health.
FIGHT FOR THE LEADERBOARD
You will score points for every monster that you defeat. Different enemies will give you different amounts of points based on how difficult they are to kill. Some monsters will take a few shots to kill and some will take dozens of direct hits to take down. Look out for a few secrets along the way that can give you bonus points.
At the end of your mission you can view your score on the screen of your gun as well as a leaderboard posted at the exit. You can compare your score to other players on your team and other teams that have recently played.
Buy Tickets
Due to very high demand and limited capacity all tickets for this event MUST be purchased online in advance.
"incredibly popular, selling out all 12 sessions in mere minutes" Columbus Dispatch
Get 2025 early access
Secure Your Tickets Now
Past dates sold out within an hour after launch. Get access to 2025 tickets before they are even released to the public by signing up for Early Access.
EVENT LOCATION
Fear Columbus Haunted House
2605 NORTHLAND PLAZA DR.
COLUMBUS, OHIO 43231
Frequently Asked Questions
Groups are limited to 6 members going through the experience together. Larger groups can split up into smaller teams during the mission.
Update for 2025:Â The new experience for 2025 better allows all members of the group an equal opportunity to play so guests in the “back” of the group are just important to the team’s success.Â
You do not need to bring a full team of 6 to participate!
On average most guests spend over 30 minutes in the mission not including time for group photo ops, waiting in line, or shopping in Fear Gear store. We provide no guarantees on the length of the experience because it is based on how quickly you travel through the experience.Â
When planning your visit please allow for at least 90 minutes between the time you arrive and the time you leave. If you are purchasing multiple time slots in the same day please give ample time between.
You must be at least 13 years of age to attend the event. Anyone under 15 years of age MUST have at least one parent/guardian in the group. Everyone must sign a waiver before entering the attraction and anyone under 18 must have a parent sign on their behalf.
Please be aware that this is a very graphic and violent experience featuring full size and weight weapons and 50+ live performers. We want everyone to have fun but this is not an event intended for children. Do not mistake this event with your kids playing classic laser tag.Â
You will select an Arrival Time when purchasing your tickets. This is the time you will start the pre-show briefing, this is not a guaranteed time you will start your mission. Wait times for this event are usually very minimal but unexpected delays are always possible so plan accordingly.
All guests will get the entire experience regardless of what Arrival Time you select. Do not be afraid to select a later Arrival Time, you will not be rushed and the attraction will be fully operational until the last group is complete. Later Arrival Times usually have shorter wait times as well.
All new for 2025. Each time slot will now get to experience an entire audio visual pre-show. This new intro will set the stage and outline the all new storyline and format of the mission.
The new format of Nightmare Combat is all based around time based objectives. You will travel through the experience and take part in different objectives that must be completed before you continue.Â
This ensure that each player in the group now gets an equal opportunity to play and prevents players who first enter the room from having the best chance of shooting monsters.
You will have to complete several different timed objectives throughout the mission. Each one has unique challenges and theming.
New for 2025, we have enhanced the experience and made objectives time-based so you will get more playing time than ever before.
- 10 Minutes: Security Screening and Checkin
- 10 Minutes: New Briefing Pre-Show
- 5 Minutes: Group Photo
- 5 Minutes: Training
- 30+ Minutes: Main Mission
- 10 Minutes: Debriefing and Scoring
Please allow 60-90 minutes for your experience between all parts of the experience, potential delays, shopping in store, and security/checkin.
The new format of the experience allows us to time space between groups to prevent groups walking at different paces from being able to catch up to the next group.
We have added more live monsters than ever before as well as dozens of new animatronics.Â
The new format of the experience involves more hordes and boss battles.