When someone tells you their product works, that’s marketing. When they build their own business on it, that’s something else entirely.
Axcitement isn’t just the company behind the projected target system you see in axe throwing venues across the country. We’re also venue operators. Right here in Lewisville, Texas, we run two experiences under one roof: GatSplat Paintball and Grab Your Axe. We use our own system every single day to do it.
The story behind it
GatSplat has been a Lewisville staple for over 14 years. Spanning 26,000 square feet just off I-35 on Business 121, it’s the kind of place that has hosted thousands of birthday parties, bachelor parties, and team building events over the years.
Axe throwing came into the picture around 2020, when our founder, Larry Dague, took a trip to a local axe throwing venue and walked away frustrated. The targets were wooden planks that made it difficult for the axe to stick, and without prior experience, that’s not exactly a great time when you came out just for fun on a Friday night.
That frustration turned into a question: what if axe throwing was not only safe but actually fun for everyone, not just people with practice? Larry solved it two ways: end grain wood targets that give new throwers a real shot at sticking the axe on the first visit, and an anti-bounce border system that keeps axes from bouncing back toward throwers.
Larry built Axcitement around that problem-solving mindset. Today, the team he hand-picked carries that vision forward, running venues, supporting operators, and proving every day that the product works.
What it looks like in practice
GatSplat started offering axe throwing for a simple reason. Parents were waiting around while their kids played paintball, and waiting around is boring. Adding Grab Your Axe gave the whole family something to do. What started as a convenience has become a destination on its own. People now come specifically to throw axes, and many of them add a paintball session while they’re at it.
The Axcitement system runs in the lanes every day. We see how it performs with brand new throwers who have never held an axe. We see how it holds up under heavy use. We see what guests respond to and what coaches need to run a smooth session. That real-world experience shapes everything we build.
Why this matters to you
When you invest in Axcitement for your venue, you’re not buying from someone who has only seen the product on paper. You’re buying from a team that operates venues with it, troubleshoots with it, and depends on it to deliver a good guest experience day after day.
That’s the difference.
