Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party

Genre: Party Game / Misc.

Players: 2-8 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party is a Party Game released on Wii U in 2013, and there’s really nothing else quite like it on the market. Probably the closest comparison would be 1-2-Switch on the Nintendo Switch, but even that comparison falls short. Spin the Bottle is a Party Game in a very literal sense, as in the sort of thing you’d bring out for a party, perhaps with players who don’t even play videogames.

It works like this: Players are encouraged to shut their TV off while playing it (if you have it on, it displays simple, colorful 2D characters and mirrors the sounds from the Wii U gamepad). Players use the Wii U gamepad’s touchscreen to “spin the bottle” to randomly pair together two players at a time, and must then read instructions for a randomly-selected minigame on the Wii U gamepad’s screen. Using the Wii remote’s motion-sensing capabilities, players take turns participating in two-player cooperative minigames, with both of them scoring points if they succeed at their task. The first player to get three points wins.

The minigames in question don’t make use of either the TV screen or the Wii U gamepad’s screen. Instead, they rely primarily on the Wii remotes’ motion controls, with the screen simply indicating the remaining time for the game and indicating if the players won or lost the minigame. The majority of the gameplay takes place off-screen, just using the Wii remotes.

This will undoubtedly sound a lot like 1-2-Switch, a game that also famously placed the emphasis away from the screen. However, Spin the Bottle differs in two very important ways: first, the minigames are all cooperative in nature, and even though players are trying to compete for points, each round is a cooperative one. And secondly, the games here are far more inventive.

One, for example, has two players both trying to balance two Wii remotes between each others’ outstretched palms while they get into a sitting position and then stand. Another game directs one player to be blindfolded and walk around on all fours like a dog, directed by the other player to find the Wii remote without knocking it over. Yet another game has players each using their individual Wii remotes like a pump for an old-fashioned rail trolley.

The game has lighthearted music and colorful, abstract visuals (when you’re even looking at the screen). However, what’s really excellent is how this game uses sound in both the Wii U gamepad and the Wii remotes to shake up the gameplay, either adding to the simulated elements of the minigame, or making for a fun distraction. It’s a great use of the technology of the Wii remote that not enough games put to proper use.

The overall experience is all quite silly, and I can absolutely see this making for a fun time at a party. I definitely give this game credit for being very different from… well, pretty much anything on the market. Really, the biggest flaw I can point to here is that there are only 23 minigames, and to keep things fresh you would really want to have more. On the bright side, players can independently remove minigames from the randomized selection if there are some that the group simply doesn’t like. Oh, one other point of note here – this game is technically playable with 2 players, but really you want more than that for a decent game. I would expect 5-8 players would be ideal.

Overall, Spin the Bottle certainly has its flaws – namely, I really wish it offered more variety, and that lack of variety is really going to hurt how long this game will remain viable entertainment in the party setting it really requires to play. However, even with this flaw, this is a game that is so unique and creative that it should be considered a staple for every Wii U owner who plays with friends, simply because it is such a fun and unique experience while it lasts.

tl;dr – Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party is a Party game that has players ignoring the TV and Wii U gamepad’s screens to focus on various co-op minigames using just the Wii remotes’ motion-sensing abilities in a variety of wacky minigames. It’s unfortunately slim on content, and you really need a good number of players to really enjoy it how it’s meant to be played, but if you can manage it, this is a truly unique experience like no other. Any gamer who plays with friends and owns a Wii U should definitely get this game before the eShop closes, because there’s nothing else quite like it.

Grade: B-

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