bottle-bullseye Archives

About the Game

Bottle-Bullseye™ was the result of one Dad’s desire to get his children and their friends to play outside one day when he was trying to work from home. Despite countless attempts to promote the mountain of games, toys and sports equipment that were readily available, nothing seemed to keep them occupied for more than a few minutes. Desperate to find a way to get some uninterrupted time to work, the kids were offered $ get help prepare for trash pickup day and to go around the house and empty trash-cans and get the recycle bin out to the curb. After over an hour passed performing this 15-20 minute chore, the perplexed Dad checked to see what they were up to and was surprised to see the sounds he had been hearing were the sounds of bottles being flipped around the house. Happy that they had found something to do but concerned that they would grow bored and wander away from the house, the Dad grabbed some old vinyl floor tile left over from the previous owners of the house and made a few targets for the kids to aim at. The players enjoyed playing for points compared to random shots and the rest is history!

Bottle-Bullseye

One of the things the inventor of the game wanted to be sure to achieve was simplicity. By keeping the standard rules simple, the hope is that players will invite others to play as the rules are easy to learn and follow. Some of the other suggested “Game Modes” are intended to encourage creativity while keeping the basic principles of the game intact. Compared to other sports or games that require a bit of time to understand the rules and advanced game concepts, we believe that Bottle-Bullseye™ can be easily learned and enjoyed in a very short amount of time.

My Take on the Game

You’ve seen kids doing it for the past few years; at the family reunion, in the park, on the bleachers at the ball game… flipping half filled water bottles in the air, trying to get them to rotate *just so* and land upright. It takes skill, it takes practice and, guess what, it’s kind of fun. Building on this simple but addictive trend, A game company out of Buffalo, NY, AKE Games, has fleshed out the concepts and formalized them; creating a scoring system, a bullseye mat, and specially designed water bottles in order to bring some structure to the competition. They call it BOTTLE BULLSEYE.

The flipping bottles provided by the company are sturdier and of a more uniform design than your typical recycled water bottle (no thin, recycled plastic and no ridges or odd shapes) and have a large broad cap. This is important for scoring because, under AKE’s rules, players not only receive points for landing the bottle upright on its base but BONUS points for managing to land the bottle on its cap. The thickness and simple design of the bottles makes the “art” of flipping much easier to master. There are also two “tuning bottles” provided. These are essentially small squirt bottles which allow players to easily add water to their flipping bottles.

While the design of the flipping bottles was smart, perhaps the most unique aspect of what AKE Games provides is the bullseye mat, which is made from a thick rubber material that is naturally tacky. It provides an excellent surface for the flipping bottles to land, even when playing on carpet. As with any target game, the opportunity for more points increases as players manage to land their bottle closer to the bullseye. There are three different “game modes,” single player, team, and a “melee” or speed version that my kids found to be the most fun.

At first glance, some might question why they would want to pay for a game that most have been playing impromptu, and free, for years. What more do you need other than a half full Absopure bottle and flat surface? In truth the answer is “not much,” but then again, if you or your kids really enjoy the art of bottle flipping (and clearly many people do, given the number of You Tube videos devoted exclusively to the art and science of the flip) and have been inventing your own house rules to determine who the best flippin’ bottle flipper is, Bottle Bullseye is definitely worth a look.