Drinking games
Here are 30 drinking games with the rules in one sentence each, sorted by what you have on the table: a deck of cards, cups and a ball, nothing at all, or a phone. Draw a card to let the deck pick tonight's game.
Kings Cup
Cards in a circle around a cup, every card has a rule, and the fourth king drinks the cup.
Full rulesSwitch off what you don't have, like cups or cards, and the deck only picks games you can play right now.
Every game links to the full rules where we have them. The penalty can always be a sip of anything, water included.
- Games
- 30
- Players
- 2 to 20
- Sorted by
- What you have
30 drinking games and how to play them
Drinking games with a deck of cards
9- Kings Cup: cards in a circle around a cup, every card has a rule, and the fourth king drinks the cup.
- Ride the Bus: guess red or black, higher or lower, inside or outside and the suit. Every miss is a sip, and the loser rides the bus.
- Pyramid: cards face down in a pyramid. Flip one row at a time, and if you hold a matching card you hand out sips. Bluffing is allowed, getting caught is not.
- Horse Race: the four aces race down a track of cards. Bet sips on a suit before the start, and the winners hand out what they bet.
- F the Dealer: the dealer draws a card and you guess its value in two tries with a higher or lower hint. Guess right and the dealer drinks, miss and you drink.
- Higher or Lower: guess whether the next card is higher or lower. A wrong guess is a sip. One of the best games for two.
- President: get rid of your cards first. The finishing order sets the ranks for the next round, and the president makes a rule.
- Drunk UNO: normal UNO where draw cards are sips, and anyone who forgets to say UNO drinks.
- Cheat: play cards face down and say what they are. Get caught lying and you drink, call cheat on an honest player and you drink.
Drinking games with no cards
10- Never Have I Ever: say something you have never done, and everyone who has done it drinks.
- Most Likely To: read a question, everyone points at once, and whoever gets the most fingers drinks.
- Truth or Drink: answer the question honestly or take a sip instead.
- Would You Rather: everyone picks a side at the same time, and the smaller side drinks.
- Paranoia: whisper a question to the person next to you, and they answer out loud with a name. If the named person wants to hear the question, they drink.
- Categories: pick a category and go around naming things in it. Hesitate or repeat and you drink.
- Buzz: count up around the circle and say buzz instead of any number with a 7 in it or divisible by 7. Mess up and you drink.
- Fuzzy Duck: pass "fuzzy duck" around the circle. Anyone can ask "does he?" to reverse direction and switch to "ducky fuzz". Stumble and you drink.
- Cheers to the Governor: count to 21 around the circle. Whoever says 21 replaces one of the numbers with a new rule.
- Two Truths and a Lie: say three things about yourself, one of them false. Everyone who guesses wrong drinks.
Cup and table games
6- Beer Pong: two teams, ten cups each in a triangle. Land a ball in a cup and the other team drinks it.
- Flip Cup: teams in two lines. Drink, then flip your empty cup from the edge of the table until it lands upside down, then the next teammate goes.
- Rage Cage: two players bounce a ball into their cups and pass to the left when they land it. If you land yours before the player behind you, stack your cup in theirs and they drink a cup from the middle.
- Quarters: bounce a coin off the table into a glass. Land it and you choose who drinks.
- Beer Olympics: teams compete across a series of events, like beer pong and flip cup, for points and a trophy.
- Power Hour: one small sip every minute for an hour, with the song changing each minute.
Games you play on one phone
5- Imposter: everyone gets the secret word except the imposter. One clue each, then vote out whoever is faking it.
- The Bomb: the phone shows a category, you say an answer and pass it on before the hidden fuse runs out.
- Roulette: spin the wheel and take the dare or the penalty it lands on.
- Truth or Dare: pick truth or dare and the phone draws the card, so nobody has to think one up.
- The Quiz: a live trivia quiz where everyone answers on their own phone with a pin code, and the scoreboard shows who is last.
Which drinking game should you play?
The right game depends less on the rules than on the room. Use this as a starting point.
| Your situation | Start with | Then try |
|---|---|---|
| Just the two of you | Higher or Lower | Never Have I Ever, Truth or Drink |
| Small table, people still arriving | Imposter | Most Likely To, Would You Rather |
| Big group of 10 or more | Kings Cup | Flip Cup, The Quiz |
| Nobody brought cards | Never Have I Ever | Categories, Buzz, The Bomb |
| You have a long table and cups | Beer Pong | Rage Cage, Flip Cup |
| People who don't know each other | Two Truths and a Lie | Imposter, Would You Rather |
| Late, the room is getting quiet | Truth or Drink | Paranoia |
16 party games on one phone
Dronk runs the game for you, so nobody has to remember rules or think up questions. Imposter, The Bomb, Roulette, Most Likely To, a live quiz with a pin code and 11 more, in English, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.
Get Dronk free on iPhone
How to keep it fun for everyone
The best drinking games are the ones people remember for the stories, not the hangover. A few house rules make that much more likely.
- A sip is a sip. Agree that a penalty is a small sip, not a whole drink, and that water or a soft drink counts just as much.
- Anyone can pass. Nobody has to drink, answer or do a dare they don't want to. Make that rule out loud before the first round.
- Water on the table. Put a jug of water in the middle, and fill it up between games.
- Know when to switch. When the table gets loud and sloppy, switch to something slower, like a quiz or Would You Rather.
Questions people ask
What is the best drinking game?
For a big group, Kings Cup is the classic because the rules are on the cards and everyone plays at once. For a small table, Never Have I Ever or Most Likely To get people talking fastest.
What drinking games can you play without cards?
Never Have I Ever, Most Likely To, Truth or Drink, Would You Rather, Paranoia, Categories, Buzz, Fuzzy Duck, Cheers to the Governor and Two Truths and a Lie all need nothing but the people at the table.
What is a good drinking game for two people?
Higher or Lower works well with a deck of cards. Without cards, Never Have I Ever and Truth or Drink turn into a good conversation with two players.
Can you play drinking games without alcohol?
Yes. Every game on this page works with water, a soft drink or a forfeit instead of a sip. The game is in the rules, not the drink.
How many people do you need for a drinking game?
Two is enough for Higher or Lower or Truth or Drink. Most circle games are best with four to eight players, and team games like Flip Cup and Beer Pong work for ten or more.
Keep the night going
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