Spot the Intro

£30

Think you have a great memory for songs? Then Spot the Intro by Cheatwell Games is perfect for you! The game brings all the fun of intro guessing games into board game form – great for bringing out at family gatherings this festive season. With music from every decade between the 1960s and 2010s the game gets all the family involved as they work alone, or in teams to spot the intro and move across the game board to the finish line.

I sat down to play Spot the Intro with some music-loving friends and had a great time. We split into 3 teams of 2 people and placed a team counter on the starting line. The first question allows you to choose an intro from any of the decade decks. Each card has a QR code on one side for one decade, and another for a different decade on the back. The correct side QR code is scanned by the team to the left of the playing team, which takes you to the Spot the Intro website. Here you are shown the song title which allows you to copy and paste the song into your preferred music streaming service. We used Spotify, but you can use streaming services such as Apple and Amazon Music too. 15 seconds of the song's intro is played, and then the team are given 15 seconds to correctly identify the artist and song title. If the team get these correct, there is also a bonus question for each intro giving you the possibility of gaining an extra third point for that round.

We had a great time playing, and whilst I personally had little knowledge of many of the 1960s songs, I was leading my team in the more recent ones. The range of music decades makes it perfect for playing with a wide range of ages as older players may remember songs from the 1960s and 1970s that the younger players may not have even been alive for! For each point won for correctly identifying the artist, song name and bonus question, you move this many places across the board. Whatever space you land on will determine which decade you will be getting a song from on your next turn – this is often in the choice of 2 decades to best choose one suited to your team. However, much like the starting place the multicoloured spaces allow you to choose from any of the decades that you like. The first team to get to the ‘finish’ square, and then answers the song name, artist, and bonus question correctly wins the game.

My only issue with Spot the Intro is that it is largely a smartphone-focused game, which is not necessarily what I’m searching for when I’m buying a board game. To play you need an online connection to access the Spot the Intro website, however, this makes the game impossible to play without an internet connection. Personally, a big perk of playing board games is that they are accessible and can be taken to even remote areas and are still playable. However, I can see how this is the only main way to make a game like this work – although maybe an offline app where you can input codes would be ideal so the game can still be played whilst disconnected from the internet.

Overall, there’s no denying Spot the Intro is very fun to play and would make a great addition to any family gathering this Christmas. I had a great time playing this with friends, and it really had a song for everyone. If you are looking for a slightly different board game to play this Christmas, that will be a fun mix of nostalgia and inevitable singing across the group – then this is an easy pick.

Pros:

• Hidden QR codes for each song made for the Spot the Intro Website
• Range of songs spanning over 50 years of music
• Works with a range of music streaming services to best suit your preferences

Cons:

• Requires the use of a smartphone and an internet connection – therefore not super portable or accessible in places without this