Summer has arrived, which means that beer pong season is now officially OPEN! Obviously, The Best Drinking Game in the World™ is a great laugh no matter when you choose to play it, but it does feel particularly perfect when the sun's out and the barbecue's hot. Oh, and since the summer weather (hopefully) allows you to play outside, you won't have to worry about spilling beer all over the living room carpet.

We at Gadget Inspector reckon that this summer should be the Summer of Beer Pong, and we're certainly going to do all we can to make that dream a reality. If you want to get in on the fun and make this the best, booziest summer ever, here are five essential beer pong products that will help you to get started:
Party Pong
This party-friendly version of the game is a lifesaver when everyone wants to play beer pong at once!
Pool Party Pong: Inflatable Beer Pong Table
If you're lucky enough to have your own swimming pool, this nifty inflatable table will allow you and your pals to play beer pong while you're in the water!
Economy Beer Pong Set
Short on funds? You can still play beer pong - this nothing-but-the-basics set is only £2.79!
Twist Pong
Another interesting spin on the classic rules - anything could happen in a game of Twist Pong!
Original Beer Pong Kit
The original, the best, and everything you need for a good old-fashioned game of beer pong!

It's Thursday afternoon, which can only mean one thing: it's almost the weekend! Rest assured that we're already making plans for our 48 hours of freedom here at Gadget Inspector; if your Saturday night is still a blank slate, we'd highly recommend a few rounds of Twist Pong.

Oh, you don't know what Twist Pong is? Here's a quick primer, courtesy of YouTuber Fhat Sam:


As the man said, Twist Pong is exactly what it sounds like: beer pong with a twist! Every time your opponent gets his/her ball in one of your cups, you have to spin the spinner and do as it says - this could mean drinking two cups instead of one, or performing a crazy trick shot, or even swapping sides with your rival!

Twist Pong is just one of the super-cool beer pong games we have here at Gadget Inspector. If all that spinning makes you feel a bit dizzy, why not try one of the others instead?

We've told you about Twist Pong before, but this time, we can actually show you what a round of Twist Pong looks like! Watch the video above to see Paul and Matt from WheresMyChallenge going head-to-head and letting the Twist Pong spinner decides their fate! Who will win?

Twist Pong is a unique twist on the classic beer pong rules. Click here to buy a set of your own.
Party Pong
The trouble with beer pong as a party game is the fact that only two people can play (or four, if you're doing it in teams). The average party has, like, way more people than that, and this means that, if you're having a beer pong party, most of your guests can expect to be sat on the sidelines doing nothing for the whole evening.

But it doesn't haven't to be that way. Party Pong is a brand new game that takes the basic idea of beer pong and gets EVERYBODY in on the action! Here's how it works...

  1. Two 'shooters' are chosen - these are the people who will actually be playing beer pong. The shooters stand at opposite ends of the beer pong table while everyone else forms a circle around them.

  2. Fill 12 cups with beer and place them on the table (6 at each end). Then, shuffle the 'Party Forfeit' deck and place 1 card under each beer cup.

  3. Play beer pong! Shooters take it in turns to throw their ball at the other shooter's cups; if a ball lands in a cup, that cup's owner must drink the cup's contents, remove it from the table, and read out the 'Party Forfeit' card that was underneath.

  4. Here's where things get fun for everyone else: the WHOLE PARTY must now follow the card's instructions, whatever they may be. Usually, you'll end up playing some sort of mini-game like Fuzzy Duck or Categories, but there are 24 different cards in the Party Pong set, so it could be pretty much anything!

  5. Once the card's instructions have been carried out, play resumes as normal until another cup is hit. When one player runs out of cups, elect two new shooters and start the game again! Woo-hoo!
Now, we know what you're thinking: "That sounds like a heap of fun! How can I play?"

Well, you can either click here and purchase a shiny new Party Pong set from the Gadget Inspector website...or you can enter our Twitter competition and try to win one!

Win a Party Pong set

We're giving away a complete Party Pong set - including cups, balls, and those all-important forfeit cards - to one lucky tweeter, and all you have to do to be in with a chance is follow @GadgetInspector and retweet this post!

The winner will be announced in a week's time. Best of luck!
Twist Pong logo

Beer pong is a bit of a favourite here at Gadget HQ. When the day's work is done, we can often be found tossing balls at cups and getting progressively tipsier in the process.

But here's the problem: practice, as you know, makes perfect, and most of the GI staff can end the game in half a dozen throws nowadays. The challenge is fading, and the whole boozy endeavour has become significantly less thrilling than it used to be.

Thank goodness, then, for Twist Pong. True to its name, this game puts a fresh new twist on the beer pong we all know and love - you still have to throw balls at cups, but if your opponent's ball lands in one of your cups, your fate will be decided by the spinner!
Twist Pong
In a normal game of beer pong, you would simply drink the contents of your slain cup and carry on with the game. In Twist Pong, the drinking of the beer is preceded by a twist of the spinner, whose instructions must then be followed without question. Here's a list of the possible outcomes:
  • BUZZKILL (Miss a turn)
  • DIZZY (Spin around 8 times before taking your next shot)
  • DOUBLE UP (Drink two cups instead of the usual one)
  • GO LONG (Take 3 steps back before taking your next shot)
  • SAFETY (You may keep the cup that your opponent just hit)
  • SWITCH (Switch sides with your opponent - their cups are now yours)
  • TRICK (Perform a trick shot on your next turn)
  • 1UP (Refill one of the cups you have lost and put it back in play)
As you can see, anything can happen, and it won't necessarily be good news for the player who just scored!

Twist Pong is a boon to beer pong fans everywhere. That spinner breathes new life into a classic party game, and with all those different rules, you'll be on the edge of your seat until the very last cup!

Here's what the Twist Pong set contains:
Twist Pong
1 x spinner, 2 x balls, 7 x red cups, 7 x blue cups, box with instructions

Click here to order a Twist Pong set for your next party, or visit our Party Games department for more like this!