Office workers sneak a quick beer – without leaving their desks

‘Beer o’clock’ is being revived as office workers everywhere enjoy a beer courtesy of Spectrum Flip, a new game by Park Plaza County Hall London’s Spectrum Bar which launched on Friday 18 July. In its first week, the game has already been played by over 150,000 people in the UK, Denmark, France, Spain and Germany, as well as further afield in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, fuelled by office workers sneaking a quick beer during their lunch break.

Office hours have proven the most popular time for playing the game with 65% of plays occurring between 11.30am-2pm (local times) on weekdays, showing desk workers still enjoy a lunchtime drink without alerting the boss.

Players flip the bottle tops of Asahi beer into beer buckets at the back of Spectrum Bar, with those successfully hitting all five buckets winning a free beer from the bar in Central London. Sound easy? There’s a twist; as the player drinks their way through the bottles to free up the bottle tops, the screen becomes increasingly blurred and the onscreen hand becomes harder to control, reflecting increased levels of drunkenness.

“The game was planned as a thank you to our loyal customers,” says Philip Chambers, General Manager at Park Plaza County Hall.

“It appears to have become a way of passing time at work and we’re happy to help alleviate the boredom of a day in the office for workers around the world. We never imagined how far the game would spread but it proves all nationalities welcome a distraction during work, especially when it comes with free beer.”

The game has the extra benefit of raising the hotel’s profile internationally, with guests already booking the four-star deluxe hotel for their next visit to London.

“A friend in Australia forwarded the game to me,” says 41-year-old Richard Koss from New York, who booked a four-night stay at the hotel after playing Spectrum Flip. “I was planning on visiting London later this year so thought I may as well visit Park Plaza County Hall in person and claim my free beer.”

Spectrum Flip is available at Parkplazacountyhall.com/game.