Best holiday car games: a Swift punch should do it

Friday, 23 December 2016

The basic premise of the 'in-car' Swift Game is to yell out 'Swift!' and punch the person next to you when you see a Suzuki Swift.

Games are the best way to remove the boredom from a long road trip and while telling your little brother to 'stop hitting himself' while forcing him to hit himself is the pinnacle of comedic entertainment for a 10-year-old, it won't cut it for the adults in the car. So let's try some classics.

The Swift Game is an absolute classic road-trip amusement that can often end in tears, but really doesn't need to. It all depends on how you play it.

Originally known as the Beetle Game, Punch Buggy or Slug Bug, the basic premise of the Swift Game is to yell out 'Swift!' and punch (lightly) the person next to you when you see a Suzuki Swift. You get to throw a double if it's a yellow one.

While originally the Volkswagen Beetle was used as a trigger for this mobile violence, the change in focus to the Suzuki Swift came about due to the decline in numbers of the original Beetle, along with the prevalence and easily recognisable shape of the small Suzuki in New Zealand.

READ MORE: Best holiday car games: I Spy

However, the game is still playable in its original form if the new Beetle is used, although that's highly controversial among Punch Buggy enthusiasts. It can also be played with particular body styles (such as convertible or station wagon) if Swifts and Beetles are scarce.

A tamer version can be played that requires a gentle tap if less in-car violence is desired or if the age difference is too great, because no-one finds it funny if grandma gets her false teeth broken because someone saw a yellow Japanese used-import coming the other way.

Where did it come from?

Unsurprisingly, Punch Buggy originated in the USA in the early 1960s, right when the VW Beetle was at the peak of its popularity there and had pretty much cemented its cult status in popular culture.

An alternative theory that we've just made up is that it was invented by grumpy conservative parents who wanted to instil a deep fear of hippies in their children by having them associate the pain of sibling assault with the sight of the Beetle.