As the years go by, it seems as though the game of beer pong is evolving and is changing quite rapidly to meet the insatiable demand for new ways to play the game. Other tailgating games like cornhole and washers have remained pretty stagnant in developing new ways to play those games but beer pong is changing constantly. When we discovered Pong Islands we were intrigued and knew we needed to test them out for ourselves.
As you can see in the above photo, Pong Islands are free standing beer pong platforms that can be set up on any flat surface. You can also see in the photo that Pong Islands take up about 10% of the space a traditional 8′ x 2′ beer pong table requires. And as you can imagine, once Pong Islands are broken down, they take up 10% of the space in your tailgating vehicle on the way to the venue or after the tailgate is over. Take a look at the gallery below to see more examples of Pong Islands in use.
Pong Islands consist of two tripod stands and two bi-level trays. The bottom tray attaches to the clear acrylic using spacers, long screws and wingnuts. The trays are very easy to assemble and do not require any tools. You could use a phillips screwdriver to hold the screw steady while you hand tighten the wing nut but it is not necessary. The acrylic top has holes perfectly sized for beer pong cups and hold them in place and steady, avoiding the dreaded “sloppy rack”. Also by keeping the cups tightly racked and held tightly, this completely eliminates the tips, spills and sliding of cups that occurs on a traditional beer pong table that gets wet. A metal piece attaches to the underside of the bottom tray via those long screws and wingnuts to allow the fully assembled trays to screw onto the tops of the tripods stands. Also included are hooks with clips that clamp onto the rim of an extra party cup for the wash cup that hangs on one of the tightening screws of the stand.
The versatility of Pong Islands allows you to raise or lower the cups as high or low as you like. I would suggest raising the Pong Islands side by side to compare the level that all players can agree on. It is not imperative to have the height be the standard 27.5″ off the ground. If you are a stickler for playing on “official” playing dimensions, (27.5″ is the height the World Series of Beer Pong has agreed upon for their annual competition.) the first time you assemble Pong Islands, use a white or silver Sharpie or Magic marker to mark points on the black stands where the exact level is to achieve the desired height. That way you won’t have to measure each time you play.
While testing and reviewing Pong islands, we fell in love with a few features right away. We loved how Pong Islands take up minimal space when set up and when packed away, take up even less space in your tailgating vehicle. We also loved the aspect of the tight rack and the elimination of tips and spills. Another feature we liked was the fact that the clear acrylic top that holds the cups allows for you to see the whole cup. For some players that is a huge deal and only seeing the top of the cup of the rim throws off their aim. A comparable product we reviewed back during football season, Point Pong, is similar but the cups are recessed and the shooter can not see the entire cup.
Some people may argue that the rigid racking system make it difficult for unique re-rack configuration, notably the straight line re-rack. If that is your preferred configuration, simply turn the Pong Island slightly until the cups line up in a straight line. Another argument against using Pong Islands is that you can not use other beer pong accessories like the N-Ice Rack to keep the cups cold or Spin Pong that rotates the cups to add an element of challenge to the game. The counter argument would be these are accessories and you could modify the Pong Islands by simply unscrewing the top tray and placing these accessories directly on the bottom tray.
We mentioned earlier how we reviewed Point Pong back in September 2012. It received a positive review from us but unfortunately the price of Point Pong was a bit higher than what some tailgaters were willing to pay. We liked the fact that Pong Islands are affordably priced at $80 for a set of two. That is cheaper than most standard, portable beer pong tables.
After thoroughly testing and reviewing Pong Islands, we are going to deem Pong Islands “Tailgate Approved”. It is lightweight yet sturdy enough to handle the rigors of a tailgating parking lot game of beer pong. The ability to transport it to the parking lot with minimal space required in your vehicle leaves room for a bigger cooler or more chairs. The space it requires when fully set up in your parking space is also minimal and you could even get a game of beer pong going between two parked cars. On top of all those attractive features, we liked the fact that it costs less than most beer pong tables.
In review, Pong Islands are lightweight yet sturdy and durable, take up less space during transport and require less space during game play, eliminates tips and spills and is highly affordable. Sounds like a winner to us.
As you can tell, we thought so highly of Pong Islands we believe it would be a great product to add to our online Tailgating Gear store. Pong Islands are priced at $80 for the set and can be purchased HERE.
