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Pop the Pig® is an international preschool classic that is adored by millions of children–it’s the #2 best-selling new kids game of the last five years. Kids spin the spinner, pop a hamburger into the pig’s mouth, then pump his head. The more they pump, the more his belly grows until . . . pop! Kids love the suspense as they watch his belly grow; the player who makes his belly burst loses the game. Redesigned in 2013 to make it easier for kids 4 and up to play, children can quickly reset this pig game with one pump of the pig’s head and experience consistent belly busting game-play each and every time. Pop the Pig provides hours of fun and is completely kid powered (no batteries needed). For added convenience, all pieces can be stored inside the pig. Kids won’t see a pop up pirate, but they will get to pop a pig. For ages 4 and up, 2-6 players. From the makers of Gooey Louie and Jumping Jack.
- Objectionable premise.
- Gross-out humor related to excessive eating.
- Unclear win/loss condition.
- Feeding a pig until its belly pops.
- Compares to the Mr. Creosote sketch from Monty Python's 'The Meaning of Life'.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Button Pumping — Players pump a button, making the pig's belly grow larger.
- spinner — Players spin a dial to determine which burger to feed the pig.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- So you might be thinking 'Well, this is completely facetious, right? There can't be even more than one Russian roulette game for kids, can there?' This is why I'm doing this video, because this is a weird phenomenon.
- So this is more like a top 10 list of games where the WTF factor rises with every step we go on the ladder.
- It gets down to, like, what is a game and what is a toy? Well, i've looked at this quite a bit. A game has to involve some degree of skill or choice or agency, and that's why, for the purposes of this list, something like Kerplunk or Topple, where you have to make some decisions... it's very minimal, that is the 'decision space,' we call it, but at least you're doing something and you have some control over the outcome of the thing.
- Because they're they're not games! If you work in a toy company and your boss comes to you and says 'Alright! We need a new game, and you can have a certain amount of hunk of plastic on the table,' well of course you're going to design one of these things because it's completely brainless. It's an engineering exercise. It's not a game design exercise because there's no actual game involved here.