Review: Pom Pom Game
Publisher: Sears
Year: 1963?
Tagline: AGES 3 AND UP

Two children are launching balls into the basket on the cover

how we met

Bill and I were popping around the few but mighty thrift options in our town in June, and there was Pom Pom Game.

There are plenty of vintage games that don’t resonate with me for whatever reason, and the older they get the less interested I often become. But Pom Pom Game was cheap and simple, has a funny old cover, and I haven’t played anything by Sears yet (to my knowledge). So I was sold.

how it plays

Each player is given seven balls of their color. When all players decide it’s time to start play, they try to flip their balls into the basket. After all seven balls of each color have been flipped one time, play stops and each player gets a point for each of their color ball landed in the basket. The player with the most balls in the basket wins!

A close up of the level showing it can move
The lever can be moved ever so slightly from side to side to change the direction of the ball, but it didn’t make much of a difference in my experience

how it went

We played Pom Pom Game twice during the July 4th holiday. The game requires almost no explanation, but it does require some learning as you start to play. There is a softness that has to go into flicking your Pom Pom into the basket without overshooting. And once you get it, you get it.

Our play showing many balls in the basket
One of few shots of our play

It is not uncommon for balls of another color to land in your launch zone. Even on the cover, the girl is clearly launching a red ball from the yellow player space. And she appears just as invested in the outcome as if that were a yellow ball. This does happen.

The board without any balls showing
One criticism is that the box is not large enough to store the basket without squishing it. I assume it is squished brand new even

Our play did not contain a lot of memorable moments. We were flipping our balls into the basket as prudently as we could. Some of us had longer learning curves than others, but we equalized pretty quickly. We played twice, since play only takes moments.

An overview shot showing all the balls
Lay your eyeballs on these colorful balls

Keri was the best at landing balls in the basket, and she won Pom Pom Game!

play or pass

Pass for sure. Pom Pom Game is light fun and does not claim any strategic depth. This is just flicking balls into a net and dealing with the aftermath of missing balls. But I feel lucky to have found it.

If you find Pom Pom Game at thrift pick it up. It is rare and some people want it. And then you can help the people that want Pom Pom Game, find it. And as long as the game is in decent condition, you can’t hurt it by doing a play through or two while it rests in your home.