Paintball is a sport where players use guns (or markers) that shoot marble sized paintballs consisting of 68 caliber gelatin capsules filled with colored polyethylene glycol. The paintballs are shot at other players, and once the player is marked by the paintball, they are automatically eliminated.

The goal in playing paintball is that players must capture the flag of their opponents. The teams start on opposing sides and attempt to get the opponents' flag. During the game, the players of each team must avoid their opponents and protect their flag. Once a player hangs their opponents' flag in the designated area or near the area or their starting point, they will be considered as the winner of the game.

There are two kinds of flags that can be seen in the battle field, the neutral and center flag. The game will start with a single flag at the center of the battle field, or with one on each end. The winner will be determined by which team is the first to bring their opponents' flag to the end of their field.

The elimination process will be based on the team that defeats all the players of their opponents.

This game is played in many forms and styles: the woods ball, speedball, scenario paintballs, tournaments and the x-balls. Listed below are some of the ways paintball games are played with a description of each:

• Woods ball is the original paintball game. This is played mostly in a wooded area that is large enough to hold dozens of players. Of all the paintball games, this is generally the longest because players often consume a lot of time in stalking their opponents.

• Speedball is the fastest. This game is played on a field similar to the size of a basketball court, and sometimes on a field twice the size. The battlefield contains many bunkers or barriers which are used by the players in their strategy to penetrate and defeat their opponents. The size and layout of the field requires the players to move as swiftly as possible or face elimination. Speedball is the most common style that is used in tournaments.

• Scenario paintball games consist mostly of large scale reenactments of wars that have happened in the past. This normally involves more than a hundred people that will act as one character in the particular scenario or story being told.

• The popularity of paintball has resulted in tournaments. The very first tournaments were based on the woods ball format. Over time, speedball became the preferred format because of the bunkers and other accessories that can be used during the paintball game. The tournaments are set up for two teams with three, five, or sometimes seven team players. Most rules are based on the accumulation of in each round or game. Points are counted for the team that is first to secure the flag of their opponent, bring the flag back to their own base, for eliminating opposing players and for the team that has the most players remaining in the game after the time has expired.

• The newest newest tournament format of gameis the x-ball. X-balls are composed of two teams that battle each other to win the round or the game. The games can have many round and is based on time duration, which can be between 16-20 minutes. The winner is judged on the team that has the highest rate of capturing the center flag.