The Best Drinking Games

I’m not a betting man, but I’d venture to say people have been playing drinking games since alcohol was invented. There’s something about nature’s sweet nectar that makes people go wild and play silly games with the only point being to get more messed up. Friggin’ Plato mentioned drinking games in his work, “Symposium,” which was about some crazy Athenian drinking parties. Ancient Chinese were so into drinking games, they had designated referees that monitored their parties. If a player quit a game prematurely, he was labelled a coward and/or deserter and not allowed to participate in further drinking games. We aren’t as strict here in America, but we do have our rules for drinking games and a little friendly hazing never hurt anyone. 

10. Edward 40 Hands (2 or More Players)

This game is for serious drunks only. It involves duct taping a 40oz beer bottle to each hand. The participants can’t take the beers off until both are finished, which makes going to the bathroom or doing any other activity quite difficult.

9. Dick the Dealer (3 – 6 Players)

The primary objective of this game is to get the dealer drunk by correctly guessing the dealer’s card. Nominate your first dealer, then going clockwise from the dealer, guess the card in the dealer’s hand. The dealer will then tell the person if they are correct, higher or lower value. If they are wrong, they guess again and drink the difference between the numbers if wrong again.

Ex. They guess 9, when it’s actually 2. They have to drink 7 sips or seconds of beer.

If they guess right on the first guess, the dealer drinks 4 sips or seconds of beer and 2 on the second guess. If the dealer stumps 3 people in a row, the next person is dealer. Towards the end of the game, the dealer gets dicked because there aren’t many cards left to pick from, which makes it easier to guess.

8. Asshole (4 – 6 Players)

The first hand in Asshole determines everyone’s initial rank to start the game. Deal out the entire deck. The main objective is to get rid of your cards first. Lay down any card(s) with the same face value. The next person lays down card(s) of equal or greater value, using the same amount thrown down.

Ex. Player lays down 2 – 10′s. The next player can only lay down 2 – 10′s (which skips the next guy), 2 – Jacks, 2 – Queens, 2 – Kings, 2 – Aces or a 2-card (the clearing card).

If a player lays down the same card as the previous player, the next player in rotation gets skipped and must drink. If the player can’t play a card, they get skipped and must drink. Everyone drinks when a 2 is played and the cards get cleared.

This continues until all cards have been played and order of rank has been established. Whoever is the first to get rid of their cards in the next hand becomes the new President and so on. For the follow round, a player outranking another can tell them what to do (i.e. Hey Asshole, get me a beer!). Just remember, they could be President next round and retaliate.

Ranks – President, Vice-President, Secretary & Asshole

Asshole Duties : Asshole must clear and deal the cards. Asshole must give their two best cards in their hand to the President in exchange for the President’s 2 worst cards.

President : If a player remains President for 3 rounds, he/she can create “special rules” such as the word ‘drink/drank/drunk can not be said.’

7. Quarters (Any Number of Players)

Play is best with 3-6 players. Select who goes first, either by coin flip or some other means.

Bounce the quarter off the table into a glass. If the quarter goes into the glass, the shooter chooses who they want to drink. The player continues to shoot and give out drinks until he/she misses. Then it’s the next person’s turn. Some people say if a player makes 3 shots in a row, they can issue “special rules” all players must follow or drink.

6. Boat Races (4 or More Players)

Separate people into even teams and stand them at a table facing their opposing player. On the signal, the first drinkers of each team chug their beer and places the empty glass upside down on their head. Then the next player and so on until the last person in line is done. First team to finish is the winner.

With Ice Trays

Items needed include beer, booze or mixed drink, an ice cube tray and straws. Fill the trays and each player starts at the same end of the tray but on opposite lanes. First player to finish all cube slots is the winner and races the next challenger.

5. Bullshit (4 – 11 Players)

Deal all cards. Multiple decks may be required depending on number of players. The main objective is for a player to get rid of all his/her cards first.

The player to the left of the dealer goes first. This player must put down one or more Aces. Once they put their cards FACE DOWN and say how many they have, the next player must play 2′s, the next 3′s and so on until Kings are played.

Any time a player is thought to be lying about the cards they say they have, Bullshit can be called. If the accusing player is correct, the bullshitting player must pick up all the cards and drink. If the accusing player is wrong, they must pick up all the cards and drink.

Cheating is encouraged in this game, but if someone calls Bullshit and catches someone in the act,they must pick up all the cards and drink. Play continues until someone is out of cards. The rest of the players must then chug what’s left of their drinks.

4. Flip Cup (4 or More Players)

This is much like Boat Races, but with a little more excitement. After a player chugs their beer, they must flip the cup off the edge so it lands on the table. Then it’s on to the next person and so on.

3. King’s Cup (3 or More Players)

Spread cards face-down around a large cup or container of some sort. Picking from clockwise order, a player draws one card at a time from the pile. Then it’s the next player’s turn.

Ace: Social – Propose a toast and everyone drinks.

2-6: Black (Clubs & Spades):  Drink the card’s value (3 = 3 sips or seconds).

2-6 Red (Hearts & Diamonds):  Give out the card’s value in drinks. The total may be split between multiple players.

7: Waterfall – All players start chugging at the same time. Whoever selected the card stops first. Players can’t stop until the person to their right has stopped.

8: All Thumbs – Everyone puts their thumbs on the table. The last person to do so drinks.

9: Rhyme – Start a sentence. The person to their must rhyme with the last word in the original sentence. This continues in clockwise order. Rhyming words may not be repeated. If a word is repeated or a player can’t think of one, they drink.

10: Category – Start a category, like ‘Types of dog’ then start it off. The player to his/her left must think of another one. This continues in clockwise order. If an item is repeated or a player can’t think of one, they drink.

Jack: Guys drink and a toast is given.

Queen: Ladies drink and a toast is given.

King: When the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Kings are drawn, the player pours as much of their drink into the center cup as they desire (regardless of what they are drinking). Then the player makes a new rule, such as ‘no showing your teeth.’ Anyone in violation of a rule must drink. Whoever draws the 4th and final King has to drink the contents of the Kings Cup and the game is over. This could be nasty if people are drinking different types of booze (i.e. beer, wine coolers, mixed drinks, etc.)

2. Power Hour / Centurion (Any Number of Players)

Warning: this game will mess you up. The rules are to take a shot of beer every minute for an entire hour. Real men do the Centurion and do a shot of beer ever minute for 100 minutes. At the end of the hour, a player will have drank about 5 beers (a little over 8 beers for the 100 minutes).

1. Beirut aka Beer Pong (2 – 4 Players)

Almost everyone has played beer pong at some point of their life. If not, I would like to see the bomb shelter they’ve been living in since the Cold War. This game requires some planning and props such as a table, ping pong balls and 12 cups of beer (usually plastic party cups). Arrange 6 cups of beer on each side of the table like bowling pins. Teams are on opposite sides of the table and take turns trying to land the ball into their opponent’s glass. If landed, the opponent must drink the beer that’s in the cup and take that cup from the table. If both players on a team make a cup, the balls come back to their side until a player misses. The winning team is the team who successfully makes the other team drink all their beers. The losing team must drink all the beer left on the winning team’s side.

Everyone has different rules at Beer Pong. Here’s how we play in my neck of the woods.

- No fingering or blowing the ball out of the cup before it lands
- Bouncing a ball into a cup means the opposing side has to drink 2 cups (one landed and one of the team’s choice)
- The team getting bounced on can swat a bounced ball
- Only one re-rack is allowed per game by each team
- No redemption
- If a team gets skunked (not making a single cup and losing), they both must run naked around the house

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