Written by Kieren Casey
How It All Started
Back in 2015, I joined a young adult group linked to both Sheffield Hallam and the University of Sheffield. Every Thursday, we met in a local church. We talked about the finer points of life and played some games. It was a great time. I loved the people I spent time with, and each week we took turns choosing the games.
I Had a Few Nerf Guns
It started as a one-off activity. I owned around 10 Nerf guns. One friend had about 10 as well, and another had far more. I asked them to bring their collections for a Nerf night.
And that was it. That night hooked me, and my friends too.
Whenever my turn came round to plan the evening, everyone expected a Nerf night. More than that, they wanted one. These nights often drew new faces and people who didn’t usually come along. They also sparked a bit of an addiction.
I Kept Buying Nerf Guns
Some of my friends donated Nerf guns to these nights. That certainly didn’t stop me buying more and more.
Zombie Nerf: The Fan Favourite
We played team games and free-for-alls, but one game beat them all: Zombie Nerf. To this day, it’s still my absolute favourite.
The church building was perfect for it. A corridor looped around the sports hall and the main church area, so players could race from one side to the other.
Here’s how it worked. We split everyone into two groups: Humans and Zombies. The Humans had Nerf guns. The Zombies chased them. If a Zombie caught a Human, that player became a Zombie and immediately hunted the remaining Humans.
When a Human shot a Zombie, one of two things happened, depending on the game. Either the Zombie went back to a respawn point and tried to sneak around again, or they froze for five seconds. That gave the Humans a chance to escape.
These games were intense! This is how I got addicted to Nerf.
From Hobby to Business
Before long, similar organisations started asking me to run their Nerf events. I began charging for them. Soon after, I was running kids’ parties too.
It’s been four years since my first kids’ Nerf party, and I’ve never looked back.
