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Spin Master

There's An Actual Pimple Popping Board Game, & It's Seriously So Addicting

by Kate Miller

There are two kinds of people in this world — those who are utterly disgusted by pimple popping, and those who are delighted by it. If you're in the latter group, then you're probably familiar with Dr. Sandra Lee and her pop-it-like-it's-hot pimple YouTube channel. She's also starring in a new show on TLC called Dr. Pimple Popper, and there are already some pretty unbelievable spin-off products. For the popaholics out there, the Dr. Pimple's Pimple Popping Game is incredibly gross, yet so satisfying.

The board game from Spin Master challenges you to help a freaked out-looking guy named "Pimple Pete." To do so, you need to extract his pimples (using only two fingers) without disrupting his mega-zit, which is filled with water and will explode if you're not careful. Players take turns using the spinner to determine which zit they have to pop. If you successfully pop a pimple, then it's the next player's turn, but if you put too much pressure on the mega-zit, look out — it will gush water on you and it's game over.

The Pimple Pete game will cost $19.99 and will be available for purchase on Amazon on August 1, at Walmart on August 15, and at Target on October 1. While Pimple Pete is for ages 5 and up, something tells me a lot of adults will be taking on Pimple Pete's zit problem. There's a reason that Dr. Pimple Popper's uber-graphic instagram account has 2.7 million followers, and some of her YouTube videos have millions of views.

For those not already familiar with Dr. Pimple Popper on YouTube, her channel is a popaholics dream come true. Dr. Lee, AKA Dr. Pimple Popper, is a board-certified dermatologist who extracts everything from common blackheads to multiple cysts associated with a skin disorder called Steatocystoma multiplex. These videos are extremely graphic and not for the faint of heart. There's so much pus flying and blood and goo oozing that it is hard to even describe without puking a little. But for anyone who finds pimple popping cathartic, these videos are also oddly addicting.

In fact, a YouTube video from Dr. Pimple Popper tackling an "amazing baby-faced cyst," has wracked up almost 9.5 million views. (Warning: do not watch it unless you are prepared to be traumatized for life. You'll see things you can't unsee). But with that many YouTube views, it's easy to see why TLC decided to give Dr. Pimple Popper her own series. On TLC's website for the Dr. Pimple Popper show, they describe Dr. Lee as someone who has "pioneered the fastest growing medical fascination in decades."

A quick scroll through Twitter will confirm that the popaholic army is vast. Darren Hayes, @darrenhayes, wrote, "I just watched the commercial for the new #DrPimplePopper show and my hand was over my mouth, disgusted, and repulsed by what I was seeing while simultaneously disgusted and repulsed by how much I want to watch this show. Help me."

Another Twitter user, @kaelinnoe15, wrote, "The only thing getting me through this 10 hour shift is knowing Dr. PimplePopper comes on tonight."

But not everyone is waiting with bated breath for tonight's premiere of the show. Twitter user, @HannahLStrong wrote, "There's a new TLC show called Dr. PimplePopper. Brb — going to cancel by cable."

For the non-believers, the most convincing thing I've found to explain Dr. Pimple Popper's cultural domination comes from this succinct analogy from Entertainment Weekly: "To put it in TV terms, watching Dr. Pimple Popper at work is the dermatological equivalent of a procedural crime drama: Bad guy (hideous skin growth) commits terrible act; victim turns to a highly trained team of experts (Dr. Lee and her staff) for help; and by the end of the hour, the criminal has been sent away (in this case, to the medical waste bin)… hopefully for life."

If you want to take out some "bad guys" yourself, I suggest you pick up Dr. Pimple Popper's Pimple Pete board game as soon as it's available. Pop away, pop away, dear popaholics.