January 7, 2010

Buzz Shot Beer Pong Card Game

We don't play much Beirut or Beer Pong anymore, but we remember one problem we consistently ran into when we did - the goddamned rule variants. Sometimes someone cries foul about this or that, saying "you're not allowed to move your feet when you throw," or "in Nebraska you're not allowed to bend your elbows" or whatever, or sometimes there were arguments about what happens when you bounce it into the cup instead of just sinking it, etc. Usually this was taken care of by stopping the game and setting up house rules, but we just want to be able to shut up and play.

We've just received a card game called Buzz Shot that attempts to alleviate some of the confusion, add some spice for seasoned beer pongers, and even make the game more appealing for newcomers. We haven't played yet but it seems simple enough - you shuffle the deck, each player flips a card before they shoot, and they have to follow the rule on the card.

Maybe you need to step back and take a long shot, or maybe you have to bounce it, or maybe you have to hand over the ball to a third party to try to make your shot - you won't know until you flip your card. All in all it seems you end up playing Beer Pong Horse, and we like the consistency-slash-randomness the card deck would add to the game - hope that card laminate is beer-resistant.

Seems like a cool, simple idea - we'll let you know if we have any other thoughts as soon as we get a chance to play it. You can pick up a deck of your own for ten bucks (or two decks for $15) at Buzz-Shot.com.