Buckeye football starts tomorrow and fans might see a new game heating up competition at tailgates. Cornhole has long been the go-to, but John Mally hopes to see more people playing Flimsee this year. Mally has taken a game that was already gaining exposure and refined it to an official set of rules and equipment.
By official rules, the outdoor game is played by placing four poles 35 feet apart to create two 16-inch wide goalposts. Plastic cups are placed over the tops of the poles and the games begin! Individuals can face each other head-on or in teams of two. Players throw a frisbee in attempts to hit the poles and send the cups flying through the air. If a player splits the uprights, they get two points. If they hit the pole and knock the cup off and the other team doesn’t catch it, they get one point. The challenge is in catching the cups – if the opponent catches the air-born cup, no points are rewarded. First to 12 wins.
“It’s fun to meet people who know how to play and go by the exact rules,” Mally says.
A non-official but encouraged house rule to add an extra challenge is to keep a drink in one hand at all times.
Mally found that building a lawn game was a lot of work, but a lot of fun work. Flimsee started as a dixie cups on of a snow pole during a trip to Put-In-Pay, and is now a patented game available online and at retailers across Columbus.
Mally and friends started playing the game as alternative to cornhole and other types of target and lawn games. Flimsee provided more action and moved at a faster pace. From there the quest was on to find the right materials and rules that they thought made the game the most fun.
“The game just continued to become so much more fun, competitive and addicting than we could have imagined,” Mally said.
Flimsee has been producing game sets since 2009. Mally says most of their growth has come from word-of-mouth and satisfied customers. They have also formed partnerships with bars in the area, including Ten Pin Alley in Hilliard and Woodlands Backyard in Grandview, to spread exposure. Lawn game enthusiasts interested in purchasing their own set can find Flimsee online or at Trek and Clintonville Outfitters.
While Columbus is providing a great market for Flimsee between the variety of community events and large universities like Ohio State, it’s a seasonal product. Mally is creating strategies to target the sets to other areas of the country during the winter months.
Flimsee is also innovating new ways to use the equipment for different games. Mally plans to launch more entertaining games in the future.
Overall, Mally says, “Staying active and engaging in something new makes Flimsee a truly special game that we all be proud is born and made in Ohio.”
For more information, visit flimsee.com.
