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- Idea Of The Day - Make the Bar Game That Turns Every Beer Into a Digital Shootout
Idea Of The Day - Make the Bar Game That Turns Every Beer Into a Digital Shootout
GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), delivering you a startup idea that’ll make nightlife louder, sharper, and way more fun.
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Bar Boardroom

Bars. Bullets. Buzz. No Danger.

Inspired by the MFM Podcast Episode 210
The One Liner
Topgolf meets Call of Duty.
The 140 character tweet (or X) version
Bars have axe throwing. Soon they’ll have digital shooting. Real-feel guns. No bullets. Pure adrenaline.
The Longer Story Version
The Problem
Entertainment’s gotten lazy. Every city is recycling the same “fun” like axe throwing, pickleball, karaoke pods.
They all follow the same script: grab a drink, do an activity, call it an experience. But the thrill’s gone.
And yet, the most popular games in the world are shooters. Billions of hours spent virtually aiming and firing and all from the couch.
What if you could take that energy, that competitiveness, and bring it into the real world - safely, socially, and with a buzz in your hand?
The Solution
Picture this: a bar with craft beer on tap, LED targets lighting the walls, and digital recoil guns that feel exactly like the real thing.
No bullets. No danger. Just precision, competition, and dopamine.
You’re laughing with friends, taking turns, watching replays in slow-mo as the leaderboard updates overhead.
It’s part simulation, part sport, part spectacle and it works anywhere: bars, corporate events, even high-end home setups.
The whole vibe? Adrenaline without aftermath.
How We’d Build It
Level 1 — Proof of Fun
Use smart airsoft or SIRT guns connected to sensors like MantisX or Laser Ammo kits.
Build a simple Unity simulation with real-time leaderboards and sound effects that hit like a movie.
Host pop-ups in breweries and event spaces. $25 for 10 minutes. Collect data, collect smiles, collect TikToks.
Level 2 — Real System
Custom-design digital guns with real recoil using Arduino haptics or Gunsim SDK.
Build the software layer with Unreal Engine for cinematic physics and multiplayer mode.
Add a sleek brand kit like dark matte finish, bold logo, not “gun culture,” just “precision entertainment.”
Roll out to bars and corporate partners with plug-and-play stations and subscription software updates.
Level 3 — The Platform
Create a compact home version: projector, sensor mat, Bluetooth guns.
Partner with beverage brands or hospitality groups to sponsor leaderboards and tournaments.
Launch a “Range League” — local tournaments with national finals streamed online.
Use ViralMoment, Koala AI, or Captions.app to turn every player’s shot into social content instantly.
Why It Needs to Exist
Because everything fun right now is either digital or dull.
People want something that feels alive again, that is tactile, competitive, and just dangerous enough to make you feel something.
This is that. A real-world game built for the post-Topgolf era where simulation meets social, and entertainment finally evolves.
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The Bar Boardroom

Three bar owners. One wild pitch.
It’s Monday morning. The neon lights are off, the beer taps are silent, and three tired operators sit around a sticky oak table arguing about the latest “next big thing in nightlife.”
The idea on the table: a virtual shooting range, real-feel digital guns, LED targets, and no bullets. Just simulated recoil, flashing lights, and bragging rights.
Tony (The Operator):
“Look, I just want butts in seats. If this gets people off their couches and into my bar, I’m in. Axe throwing had people lined up for months, and that’s literally just people paying to throw sharp objects at plywood. This? It’s safer, flashier, cleaner. You can run tournaments, charge per round, sell more drinks between games. I don’t care if it’s called ‘Call of Duty Karaoke’ if it fills the register, it works.”
Lisa (The Skeptic):
“Yeah, until someone tweets ‘guns and alcohol’ in the same sentence and your Yelp page becomes a war zone. I get it, it’s virtual. No bullets, no danger. But perception is reality. You put a gun-shaped anything next to a margarita and you’re playing with fire. The world’s sensitive. People don’t want to drink next to simulated weapons they want to feel safe, not like they’re at a military carnival. The optics are brutal.”
Rico (The Gambler):
“Optics? Lisa, please. We literally sell tequila shots named after bad decisions. If this thing goes viral, I’ll build one in every city. You saw what happened with Topgolf, it’s just hitting balls and drinking beer, but they made it cinematic. Add lighting, slow-motion replays, TikTok leaderboards? You’re not selling violence; you’re selling dopamine. It’s content-first nightlife. People want to feel like they’re in a movie. This gives them that.”
Tony:
“Rico’s got a point. Nobody cares what it is, they care if it looks fun on social. You film a group of friends in slow-mo, lights flashing, music blaring, all hitting targets in sync? That’s a reel that prints views. Bars live and die by word-of-mouth now. If this gives us a new hook every weekend, I’ll sign up tomorrow.”
Lisa:
“You’re both thinking short-term. Sure, it’s viral until the first person posts a clip out of context. Then it’s ‘drunk people shooting guns in bars’ all over the news. You think corporate sponsors or local regulators won’t call? You’re not just buying equipment, you’re buying liability.”
Rico:
“Then brand it smart. Call it The Range or Target Club, make it feel premium. Drop the ‘gun’ talk entirely. People said axe throwing was dangerous too. You make it about precision, not power. You sell competition, not chaos. Add in a zero-alcohol version for corporate events and family nights, boom scalability.”
Tony:
“I’m with Rico. We test it. Rent the setup for one month, theme a few nights, ‘Digital Duel Fridays,’ ‘Date Night at The Range.’ If it tanks, we shut it down. If it pops, we’ve got a new revenue stream. The real question isn’t whether it’s controversial. It’s whether it converts.”
Lisa:
(sighs) “I hate that you might be right.”
And that’s the thing. Ideas like this live in that blurry middle between brilliant and bad PR, between innovation and insanity.
Most great entertainment concepts start there. Somebody takes a bet, ignores the pearl-clutching, and gives people a new way to feel alive for a few hours.
That’s what this idea is, a new kind of bar sport, born from risk, running on adrenaline, and designed for the algorithm.
And honestly? It probably works.
The Unwritten Startups
Some startups never got built.
The founder got busy. The timing was off. The idea sat in a Notes app until it disappeared.
But if someone had started this one?
📓 The Creator CRM — the tool that tracks every brand, lead, and collab so creators stop living in spreadsheets.
📓 The Voice-Note Search Engine — where every meeting, memo, and rant becomes searchable insight.
📓 The Parent Paywall — a subscription that sends your parents curated life updates so you can stop the “why don’t you call?” texts.
They all exist - inside NTE Pro.
Over 5,500 ideas and counting, waiting for someone bold enough to make them real.
The only question is: who builds them this time?
📓 Read the Unwritten — NTE Pro
One More Meme


