I’ve played beer pong, so you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered Mountain Pong. Mountain Pong is, well… It’s beer pong on steroids. I’ve played beer pong at parties and in Las Vegas at O’Sheas Casino, but have never seen anything like this. It all started on Kickstarter when Mike Rockwell wanted to get Mountain Pong off the ground. With a mission to aim higher, Mike raised 150% of his goal and orders are rushing in. In an effort to learn more about Mike and Mountain Pong, I reached out for an interview. This has been a long time coming, but it is my pleasure to introduce you to Mike Rockwell. Cheers!
Let me guess… You have played beer pong before?
How did you know? Yes, I played beer pong just about every weekend in college.
Where did the idea for Mountain Pong come from?
I was in a fraternity in college and we played the same games every weekend. I wanted to create a new game that would be more challenging and rewarding to play.
How long did it take you to develop the first prototype?
I came up with the idea during one of my classes. I took out a notebook and started to sketch a multi-level beer pong game.
Explain the official rules of Mountain Pong.
There are basically three different ways to play. The first and the most challenging is climbing the mountain. In this version, one must finish the bottom level first in order to move to the level above. Then that level must be finished off before one can move up the the level above. The last cup to be made is the top cup which is the most difficult. The second way to play is to just make any of the cups at random. Once all the cups are made the game is over. The third way to play is a quick version which utilizes rewards when upper level cups are made. These rules can be found on our website.
What if I want to make my own rules? Do you support that?
Of course! It is just like beer pong, the house always makes the rules. That is the beauty of Mountain Pong, there are a variety of different versions and games to play so it never gets boring.
Why did you decide to use Kickstarter to raise money?
We used it to raise money as well as get media attention. No one had ever heard of Mountain Pong until we launched it on Kickstarter. We were able to fulfill our goal of $30,000 within eight days! This was primarily due to the social media sensation of a new beer pong game on the market.
Who is producing these units?
We have a manufacturer located right here in the USA. All of out products are made in the USA. Sure, we could make these overseas for cheaper, but we wanted a high quality product which was durable and made in America.
Right now you can buy a black or white Mountain Pong. Are more colors coming? Also, what about custom colors or logos for sports teams?
That could be fun! Think custom cornhole boards or something! We have plans in the future to let the customer choose from a variety of colors for their Mountain Pong set. As well as getting custom sports teams and Greek letters on their sets. This will all happen a little later on down the road, once we are able to prove our selves as a company.
Have you ever played beer pong with something besides cheap domestic beer? Say shots of whiskey or craft beer?
I have played beer pong with just about everything. We used to have wine pong back in the day which was not the most pleasant game. I would say pretty much everyone starts off playing pong with pretty awful cheap beers and upgrades as they get older.
How did you decide the different levels for rewards for Kickstarter?
We wanted to offer some early bird specials to give people incentive to buy early. These rewards went a lot faster than the other rewards.
You surpassed your goal… Seems the sky is the limit. What are you going to do with all that extra revenue?
We put all the extra revenue right back into our company. We want to completely change the college beer pong game.
Wait… What is Mountain Pong Mini?
I developed a smaller version for people who are on a budget but still want a new game to play. Mountain Pong Mini utilizes six cups instead of twelve cups. This allows games to go by a lot quicker which is great for parties.
I want a Mountain Pong! Where can I get one? Oh, shirts. Fun!
We are currently selling Mountain Pong on our website. They make for great Christmas gifts!
What does the future look like for Mountain Pong?
We plan on growing our business as fast as possible. We are working on getting more colors to choose from as well as school logos. Who knows, maybe we will start making Mountain Pong custom tables.
In all of the interview I do, I give the artist the last word. Go.
Mountain Pong really is a game changer. I have been playing it for about a year now and I cannot go back to normal pong. Mountain Pong is perfect for tailgating and for parties since the cups are unable to spill. No more cleaning up messes!
Connect with Mountain Pong:
Website: http://www.mountainpong.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountain-pong
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mountainpongllc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mountainpong
