We have all watched television game shows at some point. Some of us might tune in every day for our regular favourites. And some us might even shout answers at the screen in the desperate hope that the contestants hear us and answer correctly. There are some very good shows on our screens that provide some excellent quizzing entertainment and now you can play some of your favourite television quiz shows as board games without having to leave the comfort of your own home and no need to be shouting at the screen. We having been trying the board game version of the popular show Tipping Point.
Tipping Point, the family board game, is a family quiz game based on the highly popular ITV television game show presented by Ben Shepherd. A rollercoaster ride of trivia, strategy, and a dash of good old gravity. Players must compete in two rounds by answering general knowledge questions to win tokens to drop into the Tipping Point machine to win. The winning team goes on to compete in the final round to try and win the jackpot counter. Tipping Point the board game is suitable for 3+ players or teams, age 10+ and has a playing time of around 60 minutes. This game promises to bring the excitement off the screen and into your living room, kitchen or wherever you play your board games.
In the box:
- Electronic Tipping Point Machine (requires 2x AA batteries – not supplied)
- 110 Question Cards (80 blue / 30 red)
- 80 Tokens including team colour, jackpot and forfeit tokens
- Instructions
Tipping Point isn’t technically a board game, it is a tabletop quiz game that uses an electronic Tipping Point machine, but you will be happy to hear that it is a smaller version than the one we see on our television screens.
Out of the box, it does require some quick assembly before you can play. As an electronic machine it requires power to operate. This power comes in the form of 2x AA batteries (these are not supplied and in a world where everything is charged by USB cables you may have to go out and buy some). To install the batteries in the machine you will need a cross head screwdriver to remove the battery compartment cover. Once the batteries are installed, slot the three parts of the Tipping Point machine together. Load the machine with 28 of the black/silver tokens (14 on each level – there is a line not to cross) with the remaining tokens placed in a draw pile on the table. The question cards need separating into red and blue piles and both sets shuffled.
Gather the players and split up into 3 or 4 teams (each team must have at least 1 player). Each team is then assigned a team colour: blue, green, red or yellow and given the corresponding token.
The gameplay is simple enough. The game is played in rounds with all players playing in rounds 1 and 2 with the highest scoring player/team going on to play in the final round. Players must answer trivia questions correctly, earning tokens to drop into the machine to try and push piles of other tokens over the tipping point for points. It’s like trying to get ketchup out of a bottle – a gentle tap might do nothing, but one too many, and it’s everywhere.
To play Round 1, each player/team is given 3 black/silver tokens and takes a blue question card (has 6 questions on it). Turn on the Tipping Point machine using the switch on the base and the token shelf will start moving. The player/team who has the youngest player starts first and asks the other teams the first question from their blue question card. The first team to shout out their team colour gets to answer the question. If the question is not answered correctly that team places one of their black/silver tokens in a penalty pot. If the question is answered correctly that team can opt to put one of their black/silver tokens into the Tipping Point machine or pass to another team to do so. Play then goes around the table to the next team and they ask a question from their card to the other teams. Play continues until all teams have used up their three black/silver tokens.
The questions cover a range of topics, ensuring that both young whiz kids and wise old owls can participate and play along together. With over 650 questions, you’re unlikely to get repeats unless you play this game more often than you check your phone – which takes some doing.
Answering questions correctly wins you tokens. These plastic tokens are for dropping into Drop Zones at the top of the Tipping Point machine, watching gravity drop them down, hitting pegs along the way to change the course of direction. The aim is to knock as many tokens as possible off the shelves and out of the machine to win those all important points.
Round one is complete when players have used up their tokens. Time for Round 2. Round 2 is played with some slight changes. Freeze and lose tokens are added to the machine and tokens added to the machine are taken from the draw pile rather than the teams pots. Play continues until all teams have asked the 6 questions on their cards. At the end of Round 2, the team with the highest number of tokens goes into the End Game to compete to be the winner.
For the End Game, the Tipping Point machine is loaded with 28 tokens again. The lucky team or player that has reached this stage drops in the Jackpot token onto any of the 4 drop zones. The final begins!
The object of the End Game is not to try and win lots of tokens but to get the Jackpot token out of the machine. To do this the team needs to win as many tokens as they can so they have as many as possible to drop into the machine and try to push the Jackpot token out. The other teams take it in turns to ask a total of 6 multiple choice questions from the red question cards – answering an easy question correctly earns the playing team 1 token, a medium question earns 2 tokens and a hard question earn 3 tokens. After winning tokens, these can be placed into the Tipping Point machine to try and eject the Jackpot. If the Jackpot token is still in the machine after all the tokens have been dropped, you lose.
Overall, we have loved playing Tipping Point. It is exciting fun without the television cameras or an audience of millions shouting answers at you. With over 650 questions to answer on a variety of different topics it is suitable for family play with plenty of re-play. Excellent quizzing fun combined with the unpredictability of the token drop and a splash of luck.
The machine is easy to set up and is more substantial than a politician’s promise. The rules are very easy to understand. The questions are quite varied and have different degrees of difficulty so that children (aged 10+) and adults can play together without any real difficulty – obviously everybody isn’t going to be able to answer every question as that would ruin the enjoyment.
Tipping Point is an excellent and fun tv show based board game. If you love watching the show, you will love this game! It has hours and hours of playable fun for friends and family game nights.
Can you beat the other teams or players before taking on the Tipping Point machine? You will have to play and find out. One thing I can guarantee is, win or lose, you will have lots of fun. This is a game that will become a family favourite, certainly not a closet dweller that will never see the light of day again.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £27.99
For more information, visit www.johnadams.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.
