Drinking games without cards
The best drinking games without cards need nothing but the people at the table: Never Have I Ever, Paranoia, Medusa and counting games like Buzz and Cheers to the Governor. Here are 25 of them in four groups, from pure talking games to a few that use cups, a coin or one phone, with full rules for the eight best.
Never Have I Ever
Say something you have never done. Everyone who has done it drinks.
Full rulesTalking and Words need nothing at all. Cups needs cups, a ball or a coin, and Phone needs one iPhone.
Tap the card to draw a random game. Switch off cups or phone games if you don't have them, and the deck only picks games you can start right now.
- Games
- 25
- Players
- 2 to 20
- You need
- Nothing, or cups
25 drinking games with no cards needed
Talking games are best early, when people are still getting to know each other. Word and counting games get harder the longer the night runs, which is the point. Bring out the cups when you have a long table and some space.
Talking games
8- Never Have I Ever: say something you have never done. Everyone who has done it drinks.
- Most Likely To: read a "who is most likely to" question and everyone points on three. Most fingers drinks.
- Truth or Drink: answer a personal question honestly, or take a sip and keep your secret.
- Would You Rather: two impossible options, everyone picks a side on three, and the smaller side drinks.
- Paranoia: whisper a question about the group to your neighbour. They answer out loud with a name, and nobody else hears what was asked.
- Two Truths and a Lie: tell three things about yourself, one of them made up. Everyone who picks the wrong one drinks.
- Hot Seat: one player sits in the hot seat and the table asks anything. Skip a question and it costs a sip.
- Medusa: everyone looks down, then up at one person on three. Lock eyes with someone and you both shout Medusa and drink.
Word and counting games
7- Buzz: count around the circle, but say buzz instead of any number with a 7 in it or divisible by 7.
- Fuzzy Duck: pass "fuzzy duck" around the circle. Anyone can say "does he?" to reverse it into "ducky fuzz". Trip over the words and you drink.
- Cheers to the Governor: count to 21 around the circle. Whoever says 21 gets a toast and swaps a number for a new rule.
- Categories: name a category, like beer brands or Disney films, and go around naming things in it. Freeze or repeat and you drink.
- Thumper: everyone drums the table and has their own hand sign. Pass the turn by doing your sign and then someone else's, and the first mistake drinks.
- Questions: hold a conversation using only questions. Answer with a statement, hesitate or laugh and you drink.
- I Went to the Market: say "I went to the market and bought" plus an item. Each player repeats the whole list and adds one, and the first to forget drinks.
Cup and coin games
5- Beer Pong: two teams, ten cups each in a triangle at opposite ends of a table. Sink a ball in a cup and the other team drinks it.
- Flip Cup: two teams on either side of a table. Drink, then flip your empty cup upside down from the edge before your teammate can go.
- Rage Cage: bounce a ping pong ball into an empty cup and pass it on. If the player behind you lands theirs first, they stack your cup and you drink one from the middle.
- Quarters: bounce a coin off the table into a glass. Land it and you pick who drinks.
- Chandelier: a cup for each player in a ring around one cup in the middle. Bounce a ball into someone's cup and they drink, land the middle one and everyone races to finish.
Games on one phone
5- Imposter: the phone gives everyone a secret word except one player. One clue each, then vote out the faker.
- The Bomb: say an answer to the category on screen and pass the phone before the hidden fuse runs out.
- The Spy: everyone knows the location except the spy, who has to bluff through the questions.
- Pandora's Box: everyone writes a question, and the answers are read out without names.
- Roulette: spin the wheel and take whatever dare or penalty it lands on.
How to play the 8 best drinking games without cards
These eight need the least setup and work in almost any room. For the question games, like Never Have I Ever and Most Likely To, follow the links above: those pages have the rules and hundreds of questions you can draw.
Paranoia
- WhisperThe first player whispers a question to the person on their left. It has to be answered with the name of someone in the room, like "who here would survive the longest on a desert island?"
- Answer out loudThe person who heard the question says only the name, out loud. Nobody else knows what was asked.
- Pay to knowThe named player can take a sip to hear the question. Some tables flip a coin instead: heads, the question is read out for everyone.
- Pass it onThe player who answered whispers the next question to their left.
Medusa
Everyone sits in a circle with their head down, eyes on the table. One player counts to three, and on three everyone looks up straight at one other person. Look at someone who is looking right back at you, and you both shout Medusa and drink. If your target is looking at someone else, you are safe. Rounds take five seconds, so it is a great game to fill gaps.
Buzz
Go around the circle counting from 1. Any number that contains a 7 or is divisible by 7 is replaced with buzz, so it goes 5, 6, buzz, 8 and later 13, buzz, 15, 16, buzz. Say a banned number or buzz on a safe one and you drink, and the count starts again at 1. For a harder version, add fizz for every number divisible by 5.
Fuzzy Duck
- The first player says "fuzzy duck" and the circle passes it around, one player at a time.
- Anyone can say "does he?" instead. That reverses the direction, and the phrase becomes "ducky fuzz".
- Another "does he?" switches it back. Any stumble, wrong phrase or long pause is a sip.
- It gets harder fast, and the slips are half the fun.
Cheers to the Governor
- Count to 21Go around the circle, one number each, from 1 to 21.
- ToastThe player who says 21 gets a toast, everyone says "cheers to the governor", and the table takes a sip together.
- Add a ruleThat player changes one number. For example: 7 becomes a clap, 12 becomes the name of a cartoon dog, or 4 and 15 swap places.
- Start overCount again with all the rules so far. Get one wrong and you drink, and the count goes back to 1.
Thumper
Everyone picks a simple hand sign, like a salute or a peace sign, and shows it to the table. Everyone drums on the table with both hands. The starting player does their own sign and then someone else's sign. That player has to do their own sign and then pass it on with another player's sign, without stopping the drumming. Too slow, wrong sign or no sign means a sip, and that player starts the next round.
Flip Cup
- Line upTwo teams of equal size stand on either side of a table, facing each other. Each player has a cup with a small splash in it.
- GoThe first players on each team toast, drink, and put the empty cup at the edge of the table, mouth up.
- FlipFlick the bottom edge of the cup with a finger so it flips and lands upside down. Only then can the next teammate start.
- WinThe first team to flip every cup wins. Best of three.
Rage Cage
Put a ring of cups with a little in each in the middle of the table, and give two empty cups and ping pong balls to two players on opposite sides. Each tries to bounce their ball into their empty cup. Land it and pass the cup and ball to the left; land it on the first try and you can pass to anyone. If you land yours while the player on your left is still trying, stack your cup into theirs: they drink one of the middle cups, empty it and keep playing with it. The game ends when the middle cups are gone.
Which game for which room
| Situation | Best game | Also good |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting at a dinner table | Paranoia | Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie |
| People who just met | Two Truths and a Lie | Would You Rather, Imposter |
| Big loud group | Cheers to the Governor | Buzz, Medusa |
| You have a long table | Flip Cup | Beer Pong, Rage Cage |
| Small round table and a coin | Quarters | Chandelier |
| Waiting for a taxi or in a queue | Fuzzy Duck | Categories, I Went to the Market |
| Nobody wants to run the game | Imposter | The Bomb, Roulette |
The game that needs nothing but a phone
In The Bomb, the phone shows a category, you shout an answer and pass it on before the hidden fuse blows somewhere between 15 and 45 seconds. Dronk has 350 categories in 7 packs, plus Imposter, Roulette and 13 more games, all on one iPhone.
Get Dronk free on iPhone
Keep it fun
- One sip, not one drink. Counting games create a lot of penalties. Keep them small, and let water count.
- Anyone can pass. In Paranoia and Hot Seat, a player can always skip a question without drinking if it goes too far.
- Switch speeds. When the table gets loud, move from cups to a talking game, or the other way round.
Got a deck after all? See the drinking card games, or the full list of drinking games.
Questions people ask
What drinking games can you play without anything?
Never Have I Ever, Most Likely To, Paranoia, Medusa, Two Truths and a Lie, Hot Seat, Buzz, Fuzzy Duck, Cheers to the Governor, Categories, Thumper, Questions and I Went to the Market all need nothing but the players and their drinks.
What is the best drinking game without cards for a big group?
Cheers to the Governor and Medusa both work for ten or more, because everyone plays every round. Flip Cup is the best team game if you have a table.
How do you play Paranoia?
Whisper a question to the player on your left that has to be answered with a name. They say the name out loud, and the named player can take a sip to find out what the question was.
What can you play with just cups?
Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Rage Cage and Chandelier. Quarters only needs a glass and a coin.
Are there drinking games for two without cards?
Yes. Never Have I Ever, Truth or Drink, Two Truths and a Lie and Questions all work with two players. More ideas are in the guide to drinking games for two people.
Keep the night going
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