Drinking Games
We at X FLASKS fully advocate drinking responsibly; but if you are going to have a few drinks and you’re with some friends, then why not have some fun and play some games along with it? Here are some of our suggestions.
1. War
To start, here’s a very simple, quick fire game. 2 of you face each other, each with a deck of cards stacked face down on the table. On the count of 3, you both take the top card from your decks and place them face up on the table at the same time - the person with the highest value card wins that round. After a person loses 3 times, they must drink. This game can be played with more people together, it just depends on how many decks of cards you have available.
2. Red or Black
This is another very simple, straightforward drinking game (don’t worry, they get more interesting as we go on!). You can probably guess what this game is just from the name - you just have to guess whether the next card will be red or black. Start by placing the deck face down, make your guess, turn over the top card, and see whether you guessed correctly or not! After 3 wrong guesses, you drink. This game can be played by as many people you can fit in the room.
3. Pen in bottle
This is an odd little game, apparently popular in Sweden. It’s not forfeit based like most drinking games, it’s just silly and funny when you’re ‘in the party spirit’. You’ll need some string, some pens, and to be drinking from bottles. First, you finish your bottle of beer (at the same time as at least one other person), then you both need to attach a pen to the end of a piece of string and tie the string around your waist. You’ll want to end up with a string belt that has some string dangling between your legs - this is where the pen should be. Next, place your empty beer bottle on the floor and try to lower the pen into the bottle without using your hands. The first to do so wins (what they win exactly, we’re not sure). Like we said, this is an odd little game but it can be really funny.
There is a way to make this more competitive and interesting. You could initiate this at any point during the night - agree on a buzz word beforehand and whenever someone shouts that word, everyone needs to race to finish their beer and dangle their pen into the bottle. You can do this as many times as you like throughout the night - just keep shouting the buzz word!
4. Beer pong
Everyone knows this game, but no list of drinking games would be complete without this classic. For those of you who don’t know how to play (have you never seen an American college movie?!), here are the rules. Buy a pack of plastic cups (the best ones are those big red ones from the movies) and arrange them in a triangle at two ends of a table. Then fill these cups (only about a third of the way - you’ll see why) with beer. You could make it more interesting and Russian Roulette-esque by filling each cup with a different type of drink - some could be beer, some cider, some spirits, and some even water. Players stand at each end of the table and take it in turns to bounce a table tennis ball (or ‘ping pong ball’ for those outside the UK) off the table and into a cup on the other end of the table (hence why we recommend having them only a third full - you don’t want to turn the room into a splash zone). If you get the ball in a cup, the opponent must drink the contents of said cup.
This is a really fun game that gets everyone involved and throws in a bit of friendly competition too. Just remember to clean the ball regularly - especially if it goes on the floor!
5. Flip cup
Another classic straight out of American college movies. You’ll need some more of those red plastic cups we mentioned earlier. Make a row of 5 (or more, up to you) cups along 2 opposite sides of a table. Fill each cup about a third of the way. Have one person stand on each side of the table. Now you’re ready to play. The two players have to start at one end of their line of cups and work their way down the to end by drinking the contents of each cup and flipping it over with one hand (by placing it on the edge of the table so it overhangs a little and flipping it with your fingers) so that it lands face down (you cannot just turn it over with your hands - it must be flipped! (hence ‘Flip cup’ and not ‘Turn over cup’)). You cannot move onto the next cup until you’ve successfully flipped the one you’re on. First to flip all their cups wins!
You could make this into a team game by having 5 people on each side and they take it in turns drinking and flipping one cup. Again, the next person cannot start until the previous cup has been successfully flipped. You could play for a prize/to avoid a forfeit, or just battle it out for glory!
This is another fun game that gets everyone involved in the competition - it’s a classic for a reason.
6. Drink-jack
Yes, that is a clever little play on the game Blackjack (we think so at least!). This is an awesome game that mixes the fun of the casino (if you like that sort of thing) with the fun of drinking (if you like that sort of thing, which, we’ll assume you do if you’re reading this). It’s basically the card game Blackjack (or ‘21’ as some of you may know it), except when you lose, you drink. Simple!
For those of you who don’t know how to play Blackjack, here’s a quick summary. The aim of the game is to get the value of your hand to add up to 21, or as close as possible without exceeding 21 (going ‘bust’). Each player is first dealt 2 cards; and based on the value of those cards, players decide whether to ‘twist’ (have another card dealt to them) or ‘stick’ (keep their hand as it is). The player whose hand total is closest to 21 is the winner. In normal Blackjack they would win the money, but Drink-jack they just avoid drinking.
Good luck!
These next few games are traditional party games that we’ve added a drinking element to (we’re not claiming to have been the first to do this by the way, please don’t sue).
7. 5 second summaries
You may have seen this on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - it’s a really fun game if you’re into movies (let’s face it - who isn’t?). As a drinking game, it works best in teams. A member of each team has 5 seconds to describe a movie WITHOUT using its title, main characters’ names, or lead actors’ names (basically the plot only). The rest of the team must then guess (they have more than 5 seconds, but you’ll probably want to limit their guessing time to something like 30 seconds). If they guess it correctly, the other team(s) must drink; if they can’t guess correctly within the 30-second time limit, they must drink, and the opposing team(s) have a single chance to guess the movie. If they do so, then the losing team must drink again.
If you’re stuck for movie ideas, you could just do a quick google search for a movie generator - there are tonnes out there!
This is a really fun team game, especially for movie buffs, and it’s the kind of game that you can end up accidentally playing for several hours without realising where the time has gone!
8. Charades
We’re sure you’ve not only heard of this game but played it at some point too. Similar to 5 second summaries, this works best as a drinking game if you’re in teams. A member from each team takes it in turns to perform and their team must guess (within a time limit that you can set). If they guess correctly, the other team(s) drink; if they fail to, then they must drink and the other teams have a single chance to guess, and if they guess correctly then the losing team must drink again.
If you’re a fan of charades then this could be the perfect drinking game for you. Everyone already knows how to play so you can jump right in, and it requires no equipment or setup time like some of the other games we’ve mentioned.
9. Who am I?
We’re sure you’ve heard of this one too - famously featured in the German bar scene of the Tarantino movie ‘Inglourious Basterds’. Gather in a circle of some sort or sit around a table. On a post-it note, each person writes the name of a famous person/character (fictional, non-fictional, living, dead - anything goes, as long as they’re famous and you know enough about them to be able to answer questions about them). Keeping it covered, everyone passes their post-it to the person to their right, who then sticks it to their forehead. Take it in turns asking ‘yes or no’ questions in order to find out the name on your forehead. If you make a guess and it’s wrong, then you finish your drink. If you make a guess and it’s right, then everyone else finishes their drink.
This isn’t a fast-paced, drink-focused game like some of the others on this list, but it could well be the most fun - you’ll be surprised and entertained by what your friends come up with, and the game could easily go on for ages.
10. Just chat
Maybe you don’t need ice-breaker activities or maybe games like this just aren’t for you. Just cut to the chase and talk with your friends over some good drinks. We doubt you’ll be disappointed with your evening. Unless your friends suck.
So there you have it; our 10 drinking game suggestions. Just remember to drink responsibly, and note that these games are often more fun in a safe, comfortable environment. Thanks for reading, and do let us know whether our list has been helpful or whether we should add something to it @xflasks on Twitter. Thanks for reading!
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