The beauty of the new urban axe throwing facilities popping up around the country is that they are accessible, social and as low-key or ramped up as you want them to be. Think of them as an updated — and far hipper — version of the 1970s bowling alley.

Much of the credit for bringing axe throwing to the United States goes to 35-year old Krista Paton of Philadelphia. Working in Toronto in 2013, she attended a party at a local axe throwing facility. “I had an amazing time, felt like I was good enough to compete, and thought that people in the United States needed to experience this,” she says.