10 Drinking Games to Play This Weekend

Drinking games are the games of choice for those of us who are more inclined to alcohol than athletics. A drinking game can be made out of just about any scenario, and as such there are endless variations and different games to choose from. Here are 10 of the best to bust out at your next keg party, with accompanying skill level and drunkenness required to play.

Beer Pong

Status: The Classic

Skill Level: 4

Drunk Level: 5

Gameplay: You know how to play beer pong, don’t be like that.

Ah yes, the ultimate test of frat boy skill. It couldn’t be simpler, and it couldn’t be more popular. Show off your hand-eye coordination (or lack thereof) with the one drinking game that even your grandmother knows. She could probably beat you at it, too.

Cup Stack

Status: Enemy Maker

Skill Level: 6

Drunk Level: 2 for most, 7 for the losers

Gampley: Put 10 or more Solo cups in the middle of a table, filling all but one with only a shot of beer. Fill the center cup (also known as the “bitch cup”) all the way up with a stomach churning mixture of beer, liquor, and any other alcohol. Two players from opposite ends of the table each start trying to bounce a ping pong ball into an empty cup. If you make it on the first try, you can give the cup to anyone. If it takes more than one bounce, you have to pass it to your left. If the cup stack catches up to you, you must take a drink from the center, down it, and keep trying to get the ball in. If you bounce the ball into a center cup, you must drink from that cup. If you’re the last player to get stacked, you have to drink from the bitch cup as punishment.

A little bit more skill, and a little heftier punishment, than beer pong is where Cup Stack *ahem* stacks against the competition. The best part about this game is that you can pick on one person all you want. If you’re on a roll, keep giving them the cup and they’ll keep getting stacked. Before you know it, you’ve made a drinking enemy for life.

Flip Cup

Status: Big in Philadelphia

Skill Level: 5

Drunk Level: 3

Gameplay: Two teams of the equal strength line up across from each other at a table. In front of each player is a Solo cup filled with beer. Each player must chug their beer and flip their empty cup onto its top side. When one teammate is done, the next player goes until all members have finished. The team to flip all their cups first is the winner.

Another classic that is well known even outside of frat houses, flip cup is primarily a team game. You’re only as good as your weakest flipper or weakest drinker. So choose wisely: you’ll fly or die together. 

Never Have I Ever

Status: Dirt Spiller

Skill Level: 1

Drunk Level: 4 at first, but it keeps going higher the longer you go

Gameplay: Everybody in the group has a drink. One person claims “never have I ever ____” (for example: “Never have I ever gotten an STD”). If you have done the mentioned act, you drink.

This classic middle school barnburner is updated to let the juicy secrets fly. With more alcohol comes less inhibitions, and before you know it people are letting some of the craziest nuggets of knowledge fly. “Winning” the game really depends on how you play: if the winner is the first one to finish their drink, there’s probably a correlation to be found between their drinking and decision making. If the “winner” is the person with the least amount of drinks, well then you’re just a sober prude. Call that winning if you like.

Drunk Jenga

Status: Choose Your Own Adventure

Skill Level: 5

Drunk Level: Depends on how evil you are

Gameplay: Write various actions on Jenga blocks. Whenever you pull that action, you must do that action (for example: “Take a shot”, “Kiss someone at the table”, “Tell an embarrassing story”, etc.). If you cause the tower to fall over, you have to finish your drink.

The trick here is knowing your audience and writing down the phrases that best fit with them. You don’t want to be among any upstanding moralists when the “Take off an article of clothing” block comes out. If in doubt, just stack the tower with a bunch of drinking actions. But the fun is in the variety, so don’t be afraid to get creative. 

Quarters

Status: Cheap and Easy

Skill Level: 7

Drunk Level: 4

Gameplay: Gameplay here varies upon the skill of the shooters and how drunk you want to get. The most basic version to play is you set up around a table with a bowl in the middle. Going clockwise, everyone tries to bounce a quarter on the table and into the bowl. If you get one in, you get to choose someone to drink. You can add rules or elements of other games like Cup Stack to add difficulty.

Something about this game always made it feel like an old person’s game to me. Who still has coins on hand anymore? But every time I’ve played quarters, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. So maybe that makes me old. 

Drunk Kids Games

Status: Childhood Ruiner

Skill Level: 2 and up

Drunk Level: 6

Gameplay: Take the rules of your favorite basic kids game and make people drink whenever specific things happen. For example, if you’re playing Drunk Sorry, you have to drink if you get passed on the board, and you have to take a shot if you get sent back to your home. 

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And now I feel young again! The great thing is that any game can be spiced up with a few intoxicating extra rules. It doesn’t matter if it’s Candyland or Trouble: the world is your drunk oyster. You’ll probably never want to play Monopoly the boring old way again.

Detonator

Status: Frat-Tastic

Skill Level: -3

Drunk Level: 2 for the game, 7 for brain damage

Gameplay: Take a beer can. Smash it against your head. If it doesn’t burst open, pass it to a friend. They do the same. Rinse and repeat until the can breaks and someone gets covered in beer. If you’re the lucky soul, mazel tov! If weren’t the one to bust open the can with your cranium, chug a beer in solidarity.

For the meatheads among us. If you’ve got a strong skull, by all means participate. If you’re a little more protective of your brain, this is a fascinating game to watch others play. Just don’t get too close.

Icing

Status: Sneaky Snake

Skill Level: 0

Drunk Level: Depends on how many you hide

Gameplay: Get a pack of Smirnoff Ices, preferably in some rank flavor. Hide these Ices around the house/apartment/area. If someone ends up stumbling upon one, they have to chug the entire thing.

A tried and true tradition in frat houses and apartments all over college campuses, Icing your friends is the easiest way to get them to hate you. But it’s all in good fun anyway, and is particularly hilarious when you get to see their reactions when they accidentally discover one. Comedy gold.

Power Hour

Status: Black Out

Skill Level: 10

Drunk Level: 10

Gameplay: Every minute, have a shot/drink of beer ready. Take a shot/drink for every minute that passes by. Complete at the end of an hour with 60 shots, probably face down on the floor. 

And now the ultimate game for those truly looking to make it a memorable night. Well, memorable for some. Chances are if you play this game, you won’t remember much afterwards. Maybe you’re a seasoned alcoholic? Try doing a shot every 10 minutes to put you in your plastered place. Or maybe try Blitzkrieg Power Hour, where the round length is decreased by one second for each subsequent round. Whatever you end up doing, you’ll probably wind up completely hammered, so good luck.

Comment below and share your favorite drinking games (and remember to drink responsibly)!