Hide and seek. Only better.

Better than any childhood memory, whatever the game was called: Capture the Flag, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians.

Hawaii All-Star Paintball & Airsoft Games on Nimitz Highway is perfect for the weekend warrior or the birthday child. The 7 acres of landfill and renovated land off Keehi Lagoon is one of the biggest playgrounds on Oahu, with plenty of room to roam, live out fantasies or just have fun.

"It’s good exercise, too," 20-year-old college student Mari Okada said. "It’s a good way to meet people and it’s fun."

The 4-foot-10 Okada has been playing for less than a month, talked into it by her boyfriend. But she epitomizes what players say is great about the sport: It is for everyone, regardless of size, gender, age or ability.

"There’s no glass ceiling. We have lots of girls playing, it’s a level playing field," owner Brandon Cayetano said. "We do have a minimum age. We find that (age) 10 is the magic number in terms of safety.

"And safety is No. 1 with us. You have your mask on at all times on the field. You have your safety on the gun when not playing. No hand-to-hand allowed."

And if players break the rules? Cayetano said they are usually given the benefit of the doubt "one time," he said. "But we have no problems telling people to go.

"We cut you loose to have fun out there, but we want there to be respect out there, too. No cheating."

Two referees are assigned to most games, overseeing one of the three fields from lookout posts. The most common foul is when a player tries to brush evidence of being hit by a paintball from his or her outfit or body.

(Incidental paint splashed when a paintball hits the ground doesn’t count as a legal, eliminating hit).

Players can be on pre-arranged teams or randomly assigned, the later in the case of the "walk-in" players. Games pit teams of equal abilities on fields that match their experience.

Cayetano said a lot of his business is walk-in players but that about 40 to 45 percent are military. The park also is open for birthday parties and corporate "team building."

For "newbies," equipment rental is part of the $30 all-day package. It includes all the protective gear needed as well as a paintball gun.

For players with their own equipment, the day rate is $15. Serious players find that their addiction can come with a price: $3,000 for all the gear, half going for a tournament-level gun.

"What I like about paintball is that jocks and geeks are equals on the open field. And the image of the sport has changed," local comedian Koa Is AOK said.

Cayetano, son of former Hawaii Governor Ben, was recognized as a "Living Legend" of the sport in 2010.

At the tournament level, teams from Hawaii All-Star have done well at nationals, including winning championships. At last weekend’s, CenterMass Hawaii finished second in its division at the National Professional Paintball League’s Surf City USA Open in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Regardless of the level of expertise, Cayetano said one thing holds true for all levels.

"You get out there, the adrenaline gets going, and you feel like a kid again," he said.

Note

Another paintball park — Hawaii Extreme Paintball — opened last month in Kapolei. Its Hawaiian Heat finished sixth in its division at the Surf City Open.