Music recognition and music trivia games have always been a crowd-pleaser, who doesn’t love music? Whether it’s humming a tune, guessing a lyric or identifying a song from just a few notes, these games tap into our shared love of music and the thrill of the memories that our favourite tunes recall. When it comes to music-themed board games, they are instantly engaging and often hilarious when players struggle to name a track they’ve heard, and possibly sang along with, countless times. From pub quizzes to TV game shows, the format has proven timeless. Spot the Intro, from Cheatwell Games, takes this concept and packages it into a board game that combines the excitement of music trivia with the competitive fun of racing around a game board. It’s a clever way to bring the energy of a music quiz night into the living room.
Spot the Intro, the original music recognition board game, is a vibrant, family-friendly music-themed board game for 2 or more players, age 14+. It blends music trivia, nostalgia and fun into an experience that will delight players across the generations. It’s a game that thrives on the universal joy of music, making it an excellent choice for family game nights and parties. The aim, to be the first player to work their way around the board, listening to songs and answering musical questions, making your way to the finish line and be the winner.
In the box:
- 480 Spot the Intro Cards
- Playing Board
- 4x Playing Counters
- Rules / Instructions
To play Spot the Intro you will need access to a smartphone or tablet, something you can scan QR codes with, and internet access. Why? Well you need to listen to songs to answer the questions so scanning the QR code takes you to the correct song for the question so you can listen to it.
Before you start to play, get you phone ready and split into 2 to 4 players (or teams – try to have a mix of ages to cover as many music genres and decades as possible). Place the gameboard in the centre of the table with each player or team placing their different coloured counter on the START space. The board is laid out like a record deck with a vinyl record on it. The image of the vinyl is the playing surface and features the different decades used in the game (there are two decades per space), interspersed with multicoloured spaces.
To play, the youngest player (or the team with the youngest player) gets to start first. They can select any decade that suits them best (from 1960s to 2010s). The player to their left them takes a card from the box that matches that decade and scans the QR code in the centre of the card. Once the QR code is scanned, the Spot the Into website opens up – here it displays the name of the song and artist or band, as well as the music service you want to use to listen to the music (Amazon, Apple, Spotify or YouTube – you may need a subscription to some services, but YouTube is free). Click the copy button (clearly labelled CLICK) and then the streaming service you want to use for Android or Apple. Paste the song into your streaming services search bar. Once the song is playing, play it for 15 seconds and then pause it. The player or team that is answering needs to answer within the 15 seconds – name the song, gain 1 point (with an extra point for naming the artist), get it wrong or don’t answer in time, your turn ends. Answer the bonus question as well, gain an extra point. Players can earn up to 3 point per question which relates to how many spaces they move on the board.
The game continues with the next player or team, answering a question from the decade that their playing piece lands on, or if a multicoloured space you can pick any decade. But it isn’t first to the finish – when you reach the finish space, on your next turn you select any card but to win you must get all three points (Song, Artist and Bonus Question).
Overall, if you are a music fan then Spot the Intro is a fantastic game, simple yet effective. You can’t just play it straight out of the box, you do need to have a smartphone, internet access and a music streaming service to provide the snippets of tracks spanning six decades (from the 1960s to the 2010s), with the challenge being to identify the track and artist in just 15 seconds! Each card also includes a bonus question, adding an extra layer of competition and ensuring that rounds remain varied and unpredictable.
With 960 songs that span the decades, it is a game that all generations of the family can join in and play, making it just as must fun for teenagers as well as parents and grandparents. It’s large library caters for all musical tastes across 6 decades. Not only does the different music allow different generations to play together but it is great at sparking conversations about old and new music as well as introducing players to musical styles that they may not have listened to before. And it is perfect for bringing back memories.
The gameplay is fast, having only 15 seconds to name the song from a tiny snippet to listen to and the board is easy to navigate. We also really liked that to win the game is more involved than just reaching the finish line, you have to get all 3 answers correct to be victorious. Our only niggle was that when scanning the QR code it doesn’t take you straight to the song, you have to copy and paste the link into your favourite streaming service rather than it just playing in YouTube or something like Spotify Free (or setting it up to use your own subscription). It is a bit of faff but doesn’t slow the game down too much.
Spot the Intro is a fun party game for music lovers. It is quick to play and highly enjoyable. It has simple rules, very inclusive and the variation of songs over the decades gives it a good level of difficulty. It’s easy to learn, quick to play and endlessly entertaining, delivering a unique blend of nostalgia, time pressure and hilarity (and some dreadful sing-a-longs).
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £20
For more information, visit cheatwell.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
