Paintball ·Jul 08, 2025

Paintball for beginners – equipment, rules, and tips

What is paintball and what do you need to play?

We’ve created a guide explaining what paintball is and what equipment you need to play! If you’re completely new to it, it can be a good idea to try it out before buying equipment, so you’ll have a better idea of what you need or would like. Contact your nearest paintball club and they’ll be happy to help! The paintball community is very welcoming, so they’ll be more than happy to help. Wondering if playing hurts? The answer is no.You’re so full of adrenaline, and as long as you’re wearing some clothes, it doesn’t hurt much—but you can expect to get a couple of bruises! Paintball is great exercise, suitable for all ages and genders, and above all, incredibly fun!

First, a little history

Did you know that the paintball marker was invented in 1960 and was originally used by lumberjacks to mark trees? It wasn’t until 1970 that paintball itself was invented, and the world’s first official paintball game was played in 1981.It didn’t take many years after that for it to become a very popular sport all over the world! In the USA, paintball has become a bigger sport than snowboarding and English football!

Paintball Equipment

So what do you need to play paintball? Quite a lot, actually! You need a marker (the gun itself), a hopper, an air/CO2 tank, a paintball mask, and of course, paintballs! All of these come in many different varieties, which we’ll go through now.

Paintball Marker

There are mechanical, electronic, semi-automatic, and fully automatic markers! We recommend checking what the people you’ll be playing with use, so you can buy the same equipment and be on an even footing.We have markers in all price ranges, so your budget is really the only limitation here! A classic and safe choice is the Tippmann 98, a semi-automatic marker that’s easy to use and delivers great performance. Another model is the Tippmann Stormer Basic, a mechanical paintball marker that’s very easy to use! You can find all our markers here!

Paintball hopper

As a first purchase, we recommend a gravity-feed hopper. They are mechanically powered, work well, and are an affordable option (they don’t work with fully automatic markers). If you want a better alternative, choose an electronic hopper. They feed the balls a little faster, have a higher capacity, and the balls are less likely to get stuck thanks to something called “anti-jam,” but these hoppers are also quite a bit more expensive.A standard gravity-feed magazine with 200 rounds that fits most markers can be found here!

Air/CO2 tanks

When choosing which tank to get, it’s a good idea to check what they offer at the place where you’ll be playing or where you can refill the tank. Air is the most common option, and most markers are ready to use with air. One advantage of choosing CO2 is that it’s cheaper and a good choice if you’re buying a mechanical marker. However, not all paintball markers can use CO2 due to their internal components, and not every location offers CO2 refills. All Tippmann markers can use both CO2 and air. For beginners, we usually recommend buying a 0.8 L, 200-bar air tank.You’ll get an affordable, high-quality tank that’s perfect for your needs! You can find this type of tank here! Otherwise, you can find all our air and CO2 tanks here! Not sure what to choose? Send us an email at post@game-on.no.

Paintball Masks

We recommend buying a mask that covers your entire face, is made of good quality materials, and has a double lens. You want one that fits well and doesn’t fog up, because otherwise it can ruin the entire game! That’s why we recommend investing a little more and buying a slightly more expensive mask. If you normally wear glasses, we recommend buying the Dye i5, as there’s room for them under the mask.Otherwise, you can find all our paintball masks here!

Paintballs

As a beginner, or for rental markers such as the T12, Tippmann 98, and SW-1, we recommend buying affordable paintballs, as they are harder and don't break as easily. We highly recommend Virst Field Paintballs! Generally, we say that 500 shots are enough for one tank, but if you're going to play for a full day and have the option to refill your tank with air/CO2, we recommend having between 1,000 and 2,000 paintballs. A box contains 2,000 paintballs. You can find all our paintballs here! We also recommend buying pods to carry your paintballs in while playing, along with a pod belt. You can find both here!