Do you ever have those moments when you wonder why you can’t memorize your notes for a presentation, but can belt all the words to “All the Small Things” by Blink-182 at any given moment?
Me too. For some reason, all of my favorite songs from growing up are engrained in a deep part of my brain — deeper than most useful knowledge that would make better use of that space — that is ready to be used on-demand. It’s useful for moments like karaoke (look ma, no screen!) and concerts (remember those?). And it comes in especially handy with Big Potato‘s MTV, The Throwback Music Party Game.
Made for at least four players, this game is geared toward teens and adults, or basically anyone who remembers when MTV actually played music. It’s filled with all of the biggest MTV hits from the ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s, and the game itself comes with a buzzer, cards for more than 120 artists, and a gameboard.
There are two rounds for each game: the head-to-head battle and triple charades jeopardy. When I played with three family members, we all sang our hearts out, wracked our brains for those tip-of-the-tongue song titles, and went on a trip down memory lane reliving the anthems that defined our childhoods.
Everyone splits up into two teams. In the first round, one player will be nominated from each team to go head-to-head to name different songs based on the card, like “Songs containing the word ‘don’t.'” Players will go back and forth naming those songs and hitting the buzzer, giving the other player 15 seconds to come up with an answer. Go back and forth until someone (usually me, almost every round) gets too flustered, can’t think of anything, or time runs out. Winning this round is important to get a leg up in the next round.
Now … round two! The winner of the first round picks nine artist cards from eight genres, such as queens of MTV, teenage angst, and headbangers, and choose three of them. The opposing team gets the remaining six, chooses three of them, and discards the rest. Each team will take turns guessing the bands on the cards as a teammate describes them in one word, speaks lyrics, or performs songs by humming. The first team to collect cards from all eight genres wins!
From Busta Rhymes to Britney, MTV, The Throwback Music Party Game is a hit for anyone who has ever heard music to be crowned the master of MTV.
