Spice up your summer gathering with one of these new outdoor games

Spice up your summer gathering with one of these new outdoor games

Just as you're planning what you'll throw on the grill, who will be in charge of bringing the coolers to the tailgate or what you're going to wear to beach, a key to preparing for any great outdoor event is making sure you remember to bring your favorite lawn game. Great outdoor games can be played anywhere there's a bit of open space and are fun for all participants, regardless of skill level or athletic ability. 

The classic lawn games have stuck around for as long as they have because they get everyone involved and keep them entertained. But as great as games like bocce and horseshoes are, why not try adding a new game that follows these main tenets of great summer games to the mix this year?

Noticing a lack of options beyond the traditional lawn games, three small-scale entrepreneurs have recently brought their ideas forward to help revitalize your outdoor social events. Here are three new games that everyone - young and old alike - will be sure to love.

Rollors

A fun new lawn game for the entire family that was created by Matt Butler, an Iraq war veteran. The game combines the elements of bocce and bowling, the handcrafted wood discs are rolled by each team toward a goal. Play unfolds much like it would in bocce; each player tries to get their Rollors closest to the goal. The winning teams adds up the numbers on their closest-to-the-goal discs, and gets double the points if their Rollor remains upright instead of falling on one of its flat sides. 

"Just like the any classic lawn game that's been handed down generations, we decided to use high-quality materials, as demonstrated by our wood discs," says Butler, who hatched the idea during his downtime while stationed in the Middle East. 

Beach Bocce

Those who have brought a bocce set to the beach know that it adds an element to the game that can't be replicated on dry land. Trying to drop shots close to the jack (target ball) in soft sand or navigating incoming waves and seaweed when the jack is placed close to the water's edge provides extra fun and challenge to this traditional lawn game. But they also know that exposure to sand and water cause a lot of wear, scratching and rusting to a standard bocce set. The makers of Beach Bocce solved this problem by constructing their balls out of tough polymers for durability and then sizing them for portable play. They complemented the design with bright beach colors to enhance the fun for everyone.

Creator Jeanne Bell, who grew up in New Orleans, came up with the idea after finding that bocce was the perfect activity for a relaxing trip to the beach. With Beach Bocce, you can enjoy a rousing beach game without any worry that you're damaging your bocce set in the process.

 Poleish Sport's Bottle Bash

Everyone loves throwing a flying disc, but what in the world is Bottle Bash? Combine two ambitious entrepreneurs, a little time, and some spare parts out of their garage and a new outdoor game was born. In the game of Bottle Bash (also known as Polish horseshoes), teams of two take turns throwing discs at the opposing team's bottle or pole to score points. The opposite team must then work together to catch the disc and falling bottle if hit to avoid having points scored against them. The game set includes 165-gram competitive flying disc, two telescoping aluminum alloy poles with built-in scoring system, custom lifelike plastic bottle and a high-quality mesh carrying bag.

 "Not only do you get to test your accuracy with a disc, but the game requires a lot of teamwork to prevent the other team from scoring, which is the great social aspect of Bottle Bash," says Bryan Biederman, one of the partners of Poleish Sports who saw the opportunity to provide a new, high quality game to the growing outdoor entertainment market.

Each of these new games offers a new take on the classic lawn games, which introduce an element of familiarity as well as something new and exciting. If you're looking for something that will add a little flavor to your next outdoor gathering, you can't go wrong with one of these games.