What is paintball?
Paintball is a team game where players tag each other with small, washable balls of paint fired from air-powered markers. When a ball breaks on you, you are out. Games are played in the woods, in mock towns and on fast inflatable fields, and the goal is usually to eliminate the other team or grab their flag.
We have been answering that question since 2002.
Paintball in thirty seconds
- The gear
- A paintball mask, a marker, a loader (hopper) that holds the paint, and a tank of compressed air or CO2.
- The paint
- A thin gelatin shell around coloured, water-soluble fill. Standard balls are .68 calibre; low-impact balls are .50.
- The speed
- Most fields limit markers to about 280 to 300 feet per second, checked on a chronograph.
- The rule that matters
- Masks stay on in every playing area, and barrel covers go on whenever you leave the field.
- Who plays
- Kids at birthday parties, office teams, weekend regulars and professional speedball teams.
- Where to start
- A walk-on day or group booking at a local field. Rental gear is included in most packages.
Start here
- Your First Day of Paintball: What to Expect Booking, cost, what to wear, the safety briefing and what getting hit really feels like.
- Types of Paintball: Speedball, Woodsball, Scenario, Milsim and More The main ways people play paintball, what each one feels like, and which one to try first.
- How Do You Play Paintball? The common game types you will play on your first day, from elimination to spy.
- Paintball FAQ Does it hurt? How old do you have to be? What does it cost?
Ways to play
Same masks, same paint, very different games. Tap one to read more.
- RecreationalWalk-on days and group bookings. Where everyone starts.
- SpeedballFive-a-side on inflatable fields. Fast, loud and competitive.
- WoodsballTrees, brush and forts. Stealth, flanking and patience.
- ScenarioThemed big games with missions and hundreds of players.
- MilsimRealistic rules, gear and missions. Often magfed.
- Low-impactSmaller .50 calibre paint for kids and nervous first-timers.
From the archive
36 articles written by players between 2002 and 2005, kept in their own words.
Getting started
Gear
Since 2002
WhatIsPaintball.com started as "the site for those who don't know squat about paintball and want to know more." It grew into a home for player-written articles, reviews, tech help, a forum and an IRC channel. The old server is gone, but the archive lives on here, cleaned up and updated where the sport has moved on.