Put Your Top-Spinning Skills to the Test with Carrom's Tabletop Skittles

Spin the top to score points in this wooden tabletop game that combines the classic spinning toys with bowling pins!

Published by Carrom®, Tabletop Skittles is designed for 2+ players, ages 10 and up, and has a quick playtime of 15-30 minutes.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to knock over wooden pins with a spinning top. The top is launched from one side of the board, while most pins are placed on the opposite side of the board. Pins are placed on circles that display the point value of that pin, ranging from 10 to 200 points. The pins that are closest to the launch area are worth fewer points than those that are farther away. In addition, there are several gates of various sizes that the top will need to pass through in order to hit more pins. To reach the elusive 200-point pin, the top will need to pass through 4 different gates — not an easy feat!

To launch a top, a player chooses one of the two available tops (each with different movement characteristics) and wraps a string around any section (the top, middle, or bottom). The top is then placed and held on the inside of the board, and the string is passed through the hole. The player then yanks the string to get the top spinning and everyone watches in suspense as it (hopefully) barrels into many pins to score.

The player adds up the score for any pins that were knocked down, and play continues with each player taking turns. Players can choose to play to a certain amount of points (e.g., 500) or take a certain number of turns. In either case, the player with the highest score wins the game.

Review

I have always been a big fan of tops of all sizes — from classic tops to perpetual tops, and even electronic tops. So, when given the chance to try this game, I was very excited to play.

Upon opening the box, I was impressed by the nice, wooden components. The tops and pins are smooth and polished, and the board is nicely cut and sanded. A fabric bag is included to hold all of the components securely, which is a nice touch. As a tabletop activity, the game itself is quite large but not unwieldy or unnecessarily bulky. It's a game that seems like it will last a long time, even the strings.

The rules are very simple to learn — just knock over as many pins as you can! The challenge is really in the skill of spinning the tops. There are many options and techniques you can choose from. Which top will you choose? Which section of the top will you wind? Clockwise or counterclockwise? How will you hold it when you launch it? How fast will you pull the string? All of these factors play into the success of your turn.

At first, it required many tries to finally get a good spin that I was excited about. I would launch the top and it would spin quickly but perfectly balanced near its launch position, avoiding the pins entirely. This led to many disappointments — we even wanted to tilt the table to get better outcomes — until I finally found my groove. For me, I experienced the best results by winding the bottom section and pulling the string as rapidly as possible. The first time I really got a good spin, watching the top fly into the pins with circular motions, was exhilarating! My 10-year-old daughter and I were whooping and hollering, causing the rest of the family to wonder what was going on in the game room.

Once you find your groove, you're not going to want to stop. The idea of finally getting that perfect spin that knocks over the 200-point pin keeps you playing over and over again. It hasn't happened for me yet, but the 100-point pins have been reachable for me. So, with just the right spin, it appears to be possible.

There are a few downsides to this game. First, it doesn't come in nice retail packaging, just a simple cardboard box, which doubles as the shipping box. This may or may not be an issue for you, but the box won't look nice next to your other games (it's likely too big for your game shelves, anyway). The game is meant to be set out for everyone to see as a display piece — it's great for a coffee table, for instance. Second, most spins end up being anti-climactic towards the end as the top sits still losing steam. Usually, there is not any chance of hitting more pins at this point, so we would just end each turn early to keep things moving. Third, the tops and pins are so smooth that often the top will just lightly touch a pin without knocking it over. Part of me wants to see some jagged edges that will knock the pins to high heaven and hurl the top in the opposite direction to continue the carnage. But I digress.

There are times when a pin will be pushed off of the scoring circle but not actually knocked over. The rules don't address this scenario, but we counted the score as if the pin were knocked over. It only seems fair. Also, while the game states that both tops are optimized for different movement, I am yet to discover the difference. Perhaps I will gain a better understanding after more experience with different spinning techniques.

The recommended age for this game is pretty spot-on. Kids under the age of 10 can certainly try to play this game, but they might get frustrated because they lack the strength and agility to get a good enough spin.

In the end, this game offers a great amount of fun and is a keeper for us. We played with many family members over the Thanksgiving holiday and it attracted a lot of attention. The younger kids struggled and lost interest quickly, but the older kids through adults had a good time. You don't have to play a full game, as it is fun to just give it a spin over and over again, trying to beat your best score.

Pros: nice wooden components, fun challenge, exciting when you get the right spin, easy to play over and over again

Cons: difficult for younger kids, no retail box, some turns are anticlimactic