It’s hard to believe that there just isn’t much tailgating left to do this year. Sure there are a lucky few who will be able to watch their teams play well into January, but Bills fans like myself and those fans of other teams currently in the cellar are most likely looking at only a handful of home games left. Now, it seems, the biggest question may be, what to do to make the most of the remainder of our fall tailgating season?
Personally, I’ve always found the addition of more activities for tailgaters to be a fun distraction from the standings, miserable weather, or whatever else is bringing your tailgate’s spirit down. Here at Tailgating Ideas we’re pretty lucky in that a lot of manufacturers and developers bring their products to us, so that we can take a solid look at them through the eye’s of a tailgater. So today I’m going to take a lot at tailgating game called Disc-Off.
Disclaimer: We were given a sample of Disc-Off, and we were also compensated for this review. Rest assured that this in no way affected our opinion of the product, or our ability to provide a fair and objective review of the product to our readers.
Disc-Off, to put it simply, is basically a derivative of Polish Horseshoes. I have to say that I was really happy to have the opportunity to do this review, because even though I had seen games of this type, I had never actually played one.
If you’re unfamiliar with this style of game it goes something like this. Bottles are placed on poles that are some distance apart, and frisbees are thrown at them. The objective is to knock the bottle off of the pole. Simple right?
The paperwork that came with our Disc-Off sample gave us the following rules to use. Poles would be set up 40-50 feet apart, hitting the bottle directly was worth 5 points, knocking the bottle off via hitting the pole was worth 3, and finally knocking the bottle off by skipping the frisbee off the ground was worth 1. Catching the bottle one-handed before it hit the ground was worth what the other player(s) would have earned had you not caught it. Players take turns until someone hits 15. Also included was my favorite tailgating rule of all time, “Make up your own rules…” Here is a video if you’re still unsure of what the game look like:
So now that you’re up to speed on what the game is all about I can start the actual review. The Disc-Off game came, disassembled, in a zippered white mesh bag. This bag with contents was about 11″x11″x7″, so it’s not taking up much in the way of space. After removing the product from the bag, all that was necessary to assemble were poles, and then attach them to the base. Everything went together quickly and without frustration. All that was needed from there was to place the poles where you want them, the bases allow them to stand on their own, and then play. When it comes to tailgating I’m always fond of games were you can set it up, and then play in just a matter of moments.
I was very impressed by the simplicity, yet very nice personalization that was on the Disc-Off game. As you can see from the photos the game I was sent features a game set with the colors of the Buffalo Bills, as well as decals to further show my team spirit. I can only imagine that obtaining the licenses or permissions to use official logos is a costly endeavor, so this seems to be a great way to circumvent that, while still getting the same feel. I also liked the construction of this product. Since everything is molded plastic there shouldn’t be much of an issue with items breaking under normal use, and it weighs almost nothing.
When it came to actual game play, my friends and I found this game to be rather challenging. Some of that stemmed from not throwing a frisbee in a long time. Even more came from the fact that it’s pretty difficult to hit an object of that size over a decent distance. Even if you get into a good rhythm of just throwing the disc, any amount of wind is going to have an effect on the throw, so its a constant learning curve. Among the 4 of us we launched the disc well off target more than we would have liked, and one even ended up with us trekking through the brush to retrieve it. Those mishaps lead me to my next point.
The only concerns I can think of with this product are that, at least to me, it is a very situation dependent type of game. I’ve been to tailgates where you can have all the space you want, but I’ve also been to many where you get your parking space, and maybe a few feet outside of it. Even if you modify the rules to fit your needs, you’ll still have a frisbee flying through the air, which can have the potential to go outside of your boundaries. Hitting other people/property and the disc flying into traffic are just 2 of the pitfalls that come to mind. And I would have to think that these considerations would be even more important if you had less skilled or capable players, i.e. children, or your buddy who is 3 sheets to the wind. This isn’t a deal breaker, just something to think about.
I’m going to deem the Disc-Off “Tailgating Approved” because it’s both a solid product, and a fun, albeit challenging, game. All packed up it’s small enough to bring with you should you happen to get an area spacious enough to play in, and its easy assembly/disassembly means you can easily pack it up if something should change and you find you can’t play it anymore. If you know you’ll have enough room this would make a great addition to your tailgate. I look forward to taking it with me in the future.
Pricing for a basic Disc-Off set starts at $49.97, and the prices will vary from there depending on what options you choose. Disc-Offs can be customized in just about any way, and any colors that you’d like. To learn more you can visit their site at http://www.disc-off.com/.