Tailgating games have come a long way since the tailgate party lifestyle really starting to gain popularity. It seems as though many tailgating games were originally backyard, lawn games brought to the parking lots. But all of that has changed in that people are inventing new tailgating games and combining elements of already established games with the new one. We recently discovered Pong-O and it certainly appears to be a nice combination of two different tailgating games.
Back when we started this tailgating blog in 2007, we discovered the first “hybrid” tailgating game, Sholf. Sholf took elements of shuffleboard and golf and combined them. Shuffleboard + Golf = Sholf. Although Pong-O doesn’t combine the names of the two games it has combined, it certainly melds the two together in a fun and exciting new tailgating game. Take a look at their intro video for an explanation and display of how Pong-O is played.
As you can see from the video, the tossing elements of Pong-O are identical with beer pong (although the configuration of the cups is not in a traditional triangle) and the defensive element is a lot like Polish Horseshoes. Most everyone knows beer pong and how it is played so no need to explain that. Not everyone is familiar with Polish Horseshoes. In Polish Horseshoes, if the flying disc knocks off the can or bottle, the defending team can catch it to score defensive points. Much like in Pong-O, if you catch a missed ping pong ball, that team earns points. So for all means and purposes, this is a lot like beer pong but with defensive scoring much like Polish Horseshoes.
As you can see in the above photos, I took Pong-O to the parking lot and set it up while tailgating. A lot of people saw it and commented that they liked it and how it was a new twist on the game of beer pong. It wasn’t until I started explaining the defensive rules to the game that they realized it was not just a free-standing beer pong stand that eliminated the need for a table. Many people remarked that it was similar to Point Pong in that the cups have their own stand and can be placed at varying distances. Most people also like the fact that Pong-O eliminated the opportunity to bounce the ball into the cups.
Although it was not created or invented to be a free-standing beer pong game, you can certainly use it that way. Get two of the Pong-O stands, set them up at your next tailgate party and you are playing beer pong without the table and without the bounces. (If you really like to bounce, you can easily insert a card table in the middle to still allow for bouncing.)
The craftsmanship of the Pong-O game is top notch. After all, the same guys that created Bog Toss and make those cornhole boards are also the same guys who came up with Pong-O. It comes smartly packaged and there is some assembly required once it arrives. Not to worry. This isn’t “some assembly required” like you are putting together a kid’s toy on Christmas Eve until dawn. If you can hand tighten a few wing nuts and follow a few instructions, you will be playing Pong-O in minutes.
Because Pong-O is brand new, because it is truly a unique game that combines two different tailgating games and because of the high quality of the game, we are definitely going to deem it “Tailgate Approved”. We liked this product so much that we decided to offer it for sale in our own online tailgating gear store, shop.tailgatingideas.com.
Pong-O normally sells for $49.99 per unit but we are offering a limited sale price of $44.99 for one + $9.99 shipping. If you want to buy two units and play Pong-O like beer pong, we’ll ship the second one for free. We are not sure how long the guys at Pong-O will allow us to offer these sale prices so if you think this would be a great game to play at your next tailgate, we would suggest picking up one or two because we don’t know when the sale prices will no longer be valid. You can buy Pong-O by clicking HERE.
