How Long Does A Paintball Game Last? – Paintball Beasts

Paintball is played in a variety of different formats and variations. While some paintball games last only for a few minutes, others might go on for an hour or sometimes even a whole day. In this blog post, we’ll talk about how long does a paintball game lasts and the duration of different formats of paintball.

Pre-match Briefing Duration

A paintball game usually starts with a briefing session, in which the strategy and game rules are explained. The length of this part will vary from field to field but it is generally short.

Once everyone has been briefed, players can start playing paintball straight away or form teams depending on how many people have shown up at the venue.

How Long Does a Paintball Game Last?

The average duration of how long a paintball game lasts depends on factors such as the format in which paintball is played, the total number of participants, the size of the paintball field, and the overall strategy employed by both sides during play.

Paintball can be played over large areas with multiple dimensions which adds more complexity to how long will it last.

Woodsball

Woodsball is one of the most popular formats in paintball. As the name suggests, Woodsball is often played in natural terrain with trees, bushes, and ditches used as natural bunkers/obstacles. Moreover, woodsball guns are more realistic and tactical in nature

Based on how large or small the venue is, a woodsball game will have a different length of time. Generally speaking, woodsball fields are pretty big and have several hiding places, this allows the user to make the best use of stealth and strategy in order to win matches.

On average, a woodsball game usually lasts anywhere between 30 to 60 mins. Here are some of the famous woodsball variations along with their average time duration.

1. Elimination

In elimination, both teams start with a specific number of players on the field, and one by one each player gets eliminated until there is only one team left. One team wins when it eliminates all the players of the opposing team.

Generally, most Elimination games are fairly quick due to this variation’s fast pace nature. Some eliminations games can be pretty intense while others might end up being less tactical depending upon where they take place along the map/field.

Average time duration: 10 – 20 mins

2. Capture the Flag

This one might sound familiar to many of you. Although there are a lot of variations in capture the flag, the most famous one involves 2 flags. One in your enemy base and the other in your base. In order to win this game, a team has to capture their enemy’s flag from their base while defending their flag at the same time.

You also get eliminated if you get hit by a paintball during the game, pretty intense right? Well, that’s where strategy comes in. Capture the Flag is one of the few paintball games which you can win without firing a single paintball. Obviously, this would not be possible without a solid strategy.

Average time duration: 10 – 15 mins

3. Protect the President

Protect the President or sometimes called Protect the VIP is a format that involves two teams. One team takes on the role of the attacker while the other takes on the role of protector. A player from the defending side is assigned as the President.

In order to win, the attackers have to eliminate the president, while the defenders have to protect the president. This makes it an intense game where there’s no room for mistakes.

Average time duration: 10 – 20 mins

4. Zombies

The objective of Zombies is to assign one player the role of zombie while all the other players hide somewhere in the field. The player assigned the role of zombie must be more skilled than the rest of the players.

A zombie can only be eliminated by getting a headshot. Non-zombie players can also be infected and become zombies if they got marked by a zombie during the game.

Average time duration: 20 – 30 mins

Speedball

Speedball is the most intense format of paintball. If you are an adrenaline junkie, then this one would interest you more than others. This game involves both teams trying to eliminate each other by shooting at opponents directly on a field. 

The inflatable bunkers are placed in order to give cover from enemy fire while allowing players to move quickly between bases/flags which makes it feel like speed-racing.

Typically speedball is played in a small field on purpose. The average time duration of a speedball game is around 10 – 30 mins. However, the games can last considerably shorter or longer depending on how intense it gets and where they take place at.

Average time duration: 10 – 30 mins

Military Simulation Paintball

Military Simulation or Milsim paintball is a variation of paintball that involves more realistic military simulation gameplay. Instead of inflatable bunkers, real bunkers along with other props are used to create the feeling of being on a battlefield.

This makes it possible for players to utilize tactics and strategy during the game just like what you would do if you were playing war games using airsoft guns or rifles.

Typically Mil-Sim paintball games last longer than regular speedball or woodsball games simply because they have many objectives involved whereas normal paintball games usually have one objective – elimination.

Since Mil-Sim paintball involves historic re-enactments of military events, a single Mil-Sim game usually lasts 4 to 8 hours or sometimes even a couple of days.

Average time duration: 4 hours to a couple of days

Magfed Paintball

Magfed paintball is a variation of paintball where players utilize magazines instead of hoppers for feeding the paintballs into their marker. This is done in order to increase the difficulty and make the game more tactical.

The mag-fed markers are usually more accurate which makes it possible to shoot at a longer range with less chance of missing your target.

One thing you need to know about Magfed Paintball is that most Mag-Fed guns have a very high rate of fire and low magazine capacity so they can run out of ammo pretty fast if not used properly.

Average time duration: 15 – 20 mins

Final Words – Wrapping it up

These were some of the examples among many different formats that exist within the sport. Different paintball formats provide opportunities for different types of people with different levels of expertise ranging from beginners to professionals.

Now you have the basic knowledge about these different formats and how long they generally last it is time to rock the field with your preferred format.

Happy Paintballing!