Top of the Pops: The Game Review

After the release of Blockbuster, it’s actually a bit of a no-brainer that Big Potato would put out another take on the format. Moving from film to music, we’ve got Top of the Pops Party Game and while it does follow much the same format as its predecessor, it has one important addition: Kazoos.

The goal is simple, be the first team to collect a card from each of the eight different categories and bask in that warm trivia feel. However, if you’re clueless about any categories, there are rules for changing things up so you only need ten cards regardless of category. Especially useful for luddites like myself who know next to nothing about the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, Pop Stars of the Future, or even most Chart Toppers. About the only ones I can reliably get are the One Hit Wonders which is sort of poetic in a sense.

Like Blockbuster, players can cash in three cards of the same category to steal a card from the other team which means that there is hope for musical hermits as long as they have the luck of the draw. The head-to-head round can be a little… competitive though as the buzzer/timer keeps the pressure high and one wrong answer can see you lumped with the harder cards in the next segment of the game.

But most importantly, there are kazoos and they play an integral part. Each round you have three artist cards which your team has to guess based off of; one word, a lyric, or your rendition of their songs on kazoo. As expected it can get chaotic as a player from each team desperately tries to remember any Atomic Kitten song while another blasts The BeeGees on kazoo. 

ANNA BLACKWELL

Play it? YES

Publisher: Big Potato Games

Designer: Big Potato Games

Time: 30 minutes

Players: 3+

Ages: 14+

Price: £20

This article originally appeared in issue 47 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

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