Party Gadgets

Feb 201504

Twist Pong in Action!

Rebecca Gillard party gadgets

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.

Jan 201528

Party Pong: Win a Set for Yourself!

Joel Dear party gadgets

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...

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.
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.
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.
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!
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!

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!

Jan 201515

Twist Pong: Beer Pong with a Twist!

Joel Dear party gadgets

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!

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:

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!

Dec 201422

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Joel Dear party gadgets

We know, we know - it's not even Christmas yet, so how can anyone be expected to start thinking about New Year's?

Don't worry, though, because that's the whole point: we know that you're neck-deep in wrapping paper and Quality Street right now, and so we're here to think about the New Year so that you don't have to.

If you're hosting the party...

Hosting the New Year's Eve party is a big responsibility, and not just because of all the tidying you'll have to do (probably hungover) on New Year's Day. When the party is being held at your house, the onus is on you to give everyone a night to remember. Here are some of the things you'll need:

Touch Speaker for Smartphones

Parties need music, but how best to provide it? If you use your stereo, you'll have to change the CD every 45 minutes; if you play Spotify off your phone or laptop, well, it'll sound like it's being played off a phone or laptop. What you need is this ingenious Touch Speaker - simply place your phone on top for instant amplification! There are no cables or pairing required, which makes this speaker ideal for parties - if someone wants to put their own music on, they simply have to take off the current phone and put theirs on instead!

Party Cups

Paper cups are surprisingly hard to come by at the last minute - by the afternoon of December 31, every shop in your area will most likely have sold out. So why not order some Solo cups now and save yourself the panic on the day? These top-quality cups are just like the ones you've seen in countless American teen movies, and those parties are always awesome, right?

Jagerbomb Cups

Of course, Solo cups aren't the only option, and if you're planning to serve up a few Jagerbombs at your NYE bash, these specially-moulded Bomber cups may well be a better choice. Fill the middle section with alcohol, fill the rest of the cup with energy drink, and get ready to drop one last bomb before the big countdown!

Bar Tools

You can rest assured that people will bring plenty of booze to your party, but all of those bottles will be useless if you've no means of getting into them. You'll need a bottle opener at the very least, but if you want to turn things up to 11, we heartily recommend our 'Manly Bar Tool' set (featuring, among other things: a hammer-shaped bottle opener, a screwdriver corkscrew, and a saw for slicing lemons).

Beer Pong Kit

No party is complete without a bit of beer pong! This American-style kit contains 14 cups, 2 balls, and a pair of mats on which to place the cups; if you really want to impress your guests, you might consider purchasing a Professional Beer Pong Table too!

If you're going to somebody else's party...

Just because you're not the host doesn't mean that you can't make an effort. Here are a few fun items that you might consider bringing along - each one is sure to kick the party into a higher gear!

Yard of Ale Glass

Challenge your friends and find out who the best drinker in your group is! As the name suggests, this absurdly large vessel holds and entire YARD of ale (or lager, or whatever). Furthermore, it's marked with ratings (ranging from 'Wimp' to 'Solid Legend') that will let you know exactly how a big a drinker you are.

Beer Bong

Of course, if drinking is your game then there's no beating a good old-fashioned beer bong. We've got a huge variety of bongs to choose from, ranging from the classic 2ft design to double bongs, balcony bongs, six-person bongs and more besides!

Drinking Games

Nothing whiles away the hours 'til midnight like a couple of drinking games. Our personal favourite is Drinking Jenga (pictured above) - pulling those blocks out becomes even harder when you're already a bit tiddly!

There's loads more like this in our Party Essentials section. No matter what you're doing this New Year's Eve, we hope you have a great time - try not to get too drunk!

Sep 201409

Become a Beer Pong Master!

Joel Dear party gadgets

Bored of 'Drink While You Think' and 'Never Have I Ever'? Looking for a kickass new drinking game to play this weekend? We've got the perfect solution, and its name is BEER PONG. Perhaps you've heard of it.

Beer pong is huge - hugemongous, in fact - in the States, but it's still a pretty new concept here in Blighty. In case you're unfamiliar, here's a quick primer:

You will need:

12 pong cups
2 water cups
2 ping-pong balls
A table (preferably a proper beer pong table)
2 or more players
Lots of beer!

Note that our American Beer Pong Set contains more or less everything you'll need for a game of beer pong.

How to play:

At both ends of the table, arrange 6 cups in a pyramid formation (1 at the front, 3 at the back, 2 in the middle).

Pour beer into each of the 12 cups. Keep the two water-filled cups nearby in case the balls need a wash.

Players stand at either end of the table, taking it in turns to throw their ball at the other player's cups.

If your opponent's ball lands in your cup, you have to drink the contents of that cup and remove it from play.

The first player to run out of cups is the loser.

Those are just the basics, mind you. There are endless variations and additional rules - some people will tell you get an extra shot every time you sink a ball, which means that, if you've got crazy good aim, it's possible to clear the whole table before your opponent has even had a turn. Others enforce the '3 Misses, 1 Cup' rule, which means that you lose a cup if you miss three shots in a row (this is a good way to speed the game along!)

Now, once you've mastered beer pong in its most rudimentary form, you'll probably start itching for a new challenge. And that, dear reader, is where we can help - here are some twists on the classic beer pong format that will push even the most seasoned pong veteran to the limits:

Twist Pong

Spin the spinner after every successful shot - anything could happen, including trick shots, cups coming back into play, and players SWITCHING SIDES of the table!

Shot Glass Pong

Can you land a shot when the cups are teeny-tiny?