If you’re into playing paintball, you’ll have to leave Everett. Thankfully DoodleBug Sportz has an awesome paintball park just minutes away in Snohomish where you can play paintball to your heart's content. 

You may remember our Live in Everett video of DoodleBug’s prior indoor paintball park that used to be located in Everett. Unfortunately, that park has since closed, so we rounded up some friends and Live in Everett Patrons to go check out Doodelbug’s Outdoor Paintball Park.

First off, one nice thing about our group's experience was that we could use “friendly fire.” This reduces the speed of the paintballs to 1/3rd the normal speed and allows children as young as six years old to play.

We did have a few kids playing in our group, the youngest of which were ages 6 and 8. They did get pretty rattled by the first game. The paintballs still hurt a bit, depending on where they hit you. The kiddos were troopers, though, and mostly enjoyed finding hiding places for the remaining games. 

Overall the park is quite large, with many different separate courses so multiple groups can play at once.

After arriving and getting checked in, we had a dedicated ref who helped us check out all of our gear, taught us how to use it, and ran each game for us. Groups even get their own picnic area with tables, so you have a place to leave things as you move between the different courses. 

Our ref had us switch up the teams every game, which probably helped keep things fair. You can play different games, but our group enjoyed doing single elimination. So each round, we played five on five, and if you got hit once, you’re out. The last player standing wins it for their team. 

Everyone in our group had a great time. It was nice that we were all pretty new to paintball which seemed to help level the playing field a bit. 

In addition to private groups, DoodleBug also offers open sessions, kids’ sessions, league play, and more. You can check out maps of their different paintball fields over on their website.

With such an array of options and fields, it’s no wonder DoodleBug has such great reviews. And if you’re looking to delve into paintball and want your own gear, Doodlebug still has a ProShop located in Everett where you can find everything you need for your paintball adventures!

The best tip I gleaned from our paintball experience was to be patient. I was almost always one of the first ones out because I was too impatient to play defense. But hey, I had fun all the same. There’s something gleefully restorative in spending a Saturday afternoon army crawling about with some pals. 

Doodlebug’s Paintball Park may not be in Everett proper, but if you’re looking to play paintball, you won’t regret the short drive just down the street. Happy paintballing!

Doodlebug Sportz Outdoor Paintball Park
9600 115th Ave SE
Snohomish WA 98290
425) 257-9800

Garret is the co-founder + CEO of Live in Everett. He’s also journeying toward wholeness at GarretHunt.com.