There are many variants of paintballing that you can choose from. If you are planning a paintballing party or a team building day then you will probably want to decide in advance what version you are going to use. This is a basic outline of the paintballing games that you can play and the rules that go with them:
Team Death Match / Slayer / Elimination
This is the very earliest form of paintballing, the original. It is also the simplest to follow. The aim is to eliminate the players from the opposite team. This is done by simply shooting them once with a paintball. It has to hit them on their head or body to count, splatter bouncing off another object or person does not count.
Capture the Flag
Both teams have a flag situated on the opposite side to their starting position. The aim of the game is to simply capture your flag from the enemy and bring it back to your starting base before the other team manages the same thing. This is about retrieving something that is rightfully yours.
Bomb the Base
This is a similar game to Capture the Flag but technically it is opposite. There is a bomb situated in between the bases of each team. The aim is to get the bomb and plant it in the base of the opposite team thereby “destructing” the home of the other team.
Attack & Defend
One team occupy a castle or base and must defend it against the opposite team. The other team meanwhile try to siege the castle and raise the flag. If the team invading is shot they are allowed to go back to their starting position and try again.
Protect the President
One member of the defence team is given the title of President. As the name suggests, the aim for the defence team is to keep the President alive and escort him to safety. The safety zone is behind enemy lines and the attacking team’s aim is to kill (paintball) the President.
Reinforcements / Resurrections
This is a good version if you are concerned about people being knocked out early and bored. It allows one or more eliminated players to return to the game “resurrected” if there are an odd number players left on the team.
Jail Tag
This adaptation is aimed primarily at children who do not want to have to sit out once they are shot. In this version those who are paintballed are taken to “jail”, a designated area on the pitch. The teams can rescue teammates who are jailed by touching their hand but may be shot in the process and sent to prison themselves.
Tag
A very simple version based on the childhood game of the same name. One person is “it” and whoever they hit is then on. To mix it up you might want to have to people as “it” at one time. The individuals who are on wear an armband so that they are easily recognised.
Vampire, Terminator, Zombie
This is another version which alleviates the problem of somebody being hit early in the game and knocked out. At the beginning of the game individuals are given the power to become either vampires, predators, terminators, or zombies. Vampires can turn members of the opposite team into vampires by shooting them. Terminators need to be hit in a certain area such as the face or their left arm to be out. Zombies can be hit multiple times but have to move slowly or they might have to convert players by physically touching them with the gun rather than just a paintball.
Hostile Takeover
This game is completely different to the others. You can be divided into 2 teams or more, depending on how large your group is. There are at least 4 neutral targets; these might be vehicles, bases, or buildings. The aim is to seize control of these neutral bases, all of which are worth a different number of points. The overall winner is who has the most points at the end.
Superman
This is quite an extreme version of paintball and appropriate for adults only. It is different to the others because you are only out when you declare yourself out. In other words you can be hit multiple times, have no ammunition left, but still not be out unless you want to be. The winner is whoever is left in the game the longest. It is usually played as the last game because it is an opportunity to get rid of all of your remaining paint.
Civil War
Quite an unusual version of the game, Civil War paintball comes from the way that soldiers fought in the Civil War. While you might imagine that it’s about teams splitting up and fighting against each other, it is actually just about the positioning of the players. Each team takes turns to shoot at each other. The distance between the groups should be quite big so that team A try and take aim at team B and then vice versa. After each team has shot, you then move forward one step so that the target becomes closer each time.
Scramble
Like most of the other games this involves 2 teams. However, it is a very different version because everybody begins the game with either 2 paintball guns or 2 paintballs and you need to find another member of your team who has the corresponding part. Another way to do it is to give each player a gun to start with and hide paintballs all over the field but the problem with this is that some people might not be able to find any.
Bunny Hunt
Quite simply, there is one person who is the “bunny” and he is in hiding. The others have to find him and chase him out. You can limit the number of paintballs that the hunters carry or provide the bunny with his own gun if you want to make it fairer. If the bunny hits a hunter then he might have to sit out for a bit or he might be completely out depending on how you want to play it.
Arm Bands
This is one the few versions where there are no teams and instead everybody looks after themselves. You must try to hit any many players as possible. Once a player is hit then they are “dead” and the person who shot them takes their armband. At the end whoever has the most armbands is the winner.
Traitor
Each team has a leader whom the other team must shoot to win the game. However, the twist of this version is that both teams also contain a “traitor”. The traitor is determined by “names in a hat” before the beginning of the game. At some point the traitor will turn on his own teammates.
References
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Different-Types-of-Paintball-Games
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/splat.shtml
http://orangekid.hubpages.com/hub/20-Paintball-Games-You-Have-To-Play
http://paintballonline.8m.com/Begin/types.html
http://www.paintballgames.co.uk/top-six-types-paintball-games