Flippin' Penguins

Despite what they say in those highbrow nature documentaries, penguins are unfathomably ridiculous. Just ask Pingu or Chilly Willy. They also lend themselves to being immortalized in plastic and wobbled off moving icebergs for your amusement - at least they do now!

That's because Flippin' Penguins is a fabulously silly game where players must launch hat-wearing penguins onto a wobbly revolving iceberg. It sounds silly and it is. But it's also seriously entertaining in a way that only games this infantile can be.

Each player starts with two penguins. The idea is to wait until one drops into the slot by your flipper and then launch your sub-Antarctic flightless seabird onto the floating mass of glacial ice. (See, we can make it sound cerebral if we feel like it). The first player to flip both of their penguins, plus the additional 'joker' penguin, onto the iceberg wins.

If all this sounds easy, it isn't. For starters the whole battery-operated shebang is constantly rotating and tilting. Secondly - and this is the fun bit - opponents will be trying to knock your penguins off the iceberg with their own. Timing is everything, and just when you think you've won, a flying penguin will invariably bodycheck yours off the ice, forcing you to start over. You can also accidentally flip your opponents' penguins onto the iceberg when you meant to flip them off the base and into oblivion (well the floor) instead. Aargh!

Yes, Flippin' Penguins makes Hungry Hungry Hippos look like advanced chess, and yes, it's gloriously childish. It's also the most fun you can have with a couple of friends after a night out without feeling guilty in the morning. So don't get cold feet, get Flippin' Penguins!