The Pub Beer/Pub Reviews Top 10 Drinking Games
| 31 March 2009
NOTICE: Don't drink if you are under 21.
The AC crew is made almost fully of degenerates and reformed degenerates, thus we have spent some time playing and creating some juvenile drinking games in our days. I've compiled a list for you dear readers to liven up your weekends, week nights and mornings, if that's your thing.
10. Quarters
I love the idea of quarters but rarely ever see it played anymore. If you are a skilled player than you have a lost talent. The problem with this game as I see it is that it is difficult to find a proper surface to play upon, and it is frowned upon in most of the bars I have been to due to flying metal, damage to glasses and the constant slamming sound that bouncers seem to hate.
If you talk to anyone who went to college in the 1980's, they will spin you yarns about their quarter days, but it's not too common these days. Anyone care to rebut this?
Drawbacks: Finding the proper surface without ruining it, chance of drinking a quarter.
Positives: A true skill game, a lost art if you will.
Rating: 4/10 home brews
10 a. Lincoln
They say necessity is the mother of creation. That saying was certainly in effect during the summer of 1999 when our fraternity house did not have cable. Out of a sheer boredom to create a reason to imbibe again, the assembled members in the residence searched for items to create an easy and fun drinking game. Our answer was found in the couch in the metallic forms of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. We found five pennies and four nickels, and "Lincoln" was born.
The game is simple, take the coins in your hand, shake them like dice, and roll them on the ground. Prior to releasing them from your hands, the roller will call "heads" or "tails." When the coins hit the ground there will be either five heads or five tails. Whoever has lost will drink a "five count" and the game will continue. It's quite simple and effective and can be played one-on-one or in teams.
Drawbacks: Some people may cite this as not "2009-enough" for its low "wow" factor.
Positives: All you need is five pennies and four nickels. That's 25 cents people.
Rating: 4/10 home brews
9. Flip Cup
This is a college favorite for some reason. Take plastic cups, fill with a small amount of beer, set teams, then drink beer, flip cup, land cup upside down on table, next person goes until everyone has gone.
It’s simplistic and people really enjoy it, I find it a touch mundane.
Drawbacks: The game is too quick.
Positives: It’s a crowd pleaser and girls will play.
Rating: 4/10 home brews
8. Face Punch Game
This archaic game was created by two people I went to high school with in a Montreal hotel room before it spilled over to the college scene at Penn State University, then was brought to Buffalo by some Penn State undergraduates.
The premise is simple. Step 1- Get blindingly drunk. Step 2- Punch each other in the face. Step 3- Shake hands.
This game probably wouldn't have picked up so much steam if it weren't for the popularity of Fight Club. But like the film, there are rules.
- Prior to engaging in a face punch contest, the competitors will set a predetermined limit of rounds in which they will punch each other in the face.
- Punchers will use their non-dominant hand to hit whichever side of the face the Punched determines and line their fist about 6 inches from the face.
- Usually the contest will last three rounds, from my experience.
- Aggression will usually rise as the contest goes on.
- It's highly recommended you only play face punch against someone you know. This rule was implemented after part of a tooth was knocked out.
As they say in Fight Club, "how much do you really know about yourself unless you've been in a fight?"
Drawbacks: Blinding hangover and face pain the next morning.
Pluses: Great spectator sport.
Rating: 5/10 home brews only because it's not a "true" drinking game.
7. The Big Lebowski drinking game
Ever watch a movie and think to yourself, "Drinking 6 beers during an hour and a half movie just aren’t enough?" If so, simply play this game. It's simple, fun, and you can sit down the whole time if you have a cooler in front of you. If you want to play, just drink every time they say "dude" in the film. If you want to play advanced rules, you can also drink each time Walter (John Goodman's character) flips out or raises his voice.
That will help you binge drink at a quick rate.
Drawbacks: Missed drinking if you need to hit the bathroom, hard to watch with first time viewers.
Positives: Good way to kill an hour and a half.
Rating: 5/10 home brews
6. Power Hour
Take shot glass; fill with beer, drinking one shot of beer every minute for an hour. This sounds easy, but I'm telling you only the strong will survive. You see, a typical shot glass holds 1.5 ounces, multiply that by 60 and you get 7.5 beers in 60 minutes. It's fun to play with a large group of people, and it immortalized in the limited release film, The Drinking Challenge, filmed in 2005 where a group of competitors did a power hours until there was only one man standing.
Drawbacks: People constantly miss shots of beer so someone needs to keep time as well as count missed shots to ensure a level playing field.
Positives: You can create a mix CD playing one minute of 60 songs which will keep time for you.
Rating: 6/10 home brews
5. Polish Horseshoes, AKA that game with the Frisbee, the beer bottle and the two PVC tubes
This game is starting to pop up at tailgates and afternoon parties around the nation. I have seen it at tailgates from Indiana to Florida, and afternoon brewing sessions in Macon, GA.
The game requires four players, two on each side. The PVC tubes need to be cut on one end so they will dig into the ground and be sturdy. The tube should be wide enough so that a beer bottle will sit securely on top of the tube. The PVC should be placed about 30-40 feet away from each other. The teams then take turns throwing the Frisbee at the PVC tube in an attempt to knock the bottle off its perch. Each player must have a beer in one hand while playing. If the bottle is knocked to the ground it is two points for the throwing team. If the disc is not caught the throwers are awarded one point. If the disc and bottle both hit the ground on a throw, then the throwers are awarded three points. The receiving team can attempt to catch the bottle, which will negate the points.
It is difficult because team work is required. Far too often teams will both go after the bottle, dropping it and the Frisbee. The winning team needs to have 21 points, and must win by two.
Drawbacks: Hard to play unless you have a big opening with no woods or too many people around. Also, if a player can’t throw a disc, don’t let them play.
Positives: Great way to socialize while not getting too blasted, if that is your plan.
Rating: 7/10 home brews.
4. Three Man
This was certainly a college favorite in my days. All you need is two dice and a level playing surface. I’d outline the game for you, but it is better in bullet point form. You need at least 4 people to ensure a good game. Each player rolls a die until someone rolls a three. The person to the left of the three man begins the game. The rolls are outlined below.
1+1 Doubles
1+2 Three man drinks
1+3 Three man drinks
1+4 Turn ends
1+5 Turn ends
1+6 Player to left of roller drinks
2+2 Doubles
2+3 Three man drinks
2+4 Turn ends
2+5 Player to left of roller drinks
2+6 Turn ends
3+3 Doubles - Three man drinks twice
3+4 Three man drinks; player to left of roller drinks
3+5 Three man drinks
3+6 Three man drinks
4+4 Doubles
4+5 Turn ends
4+6 Social
5+5 Doubles
5+6 Player to right of roller drinks
6+6 Doubles
Basically, the three man drinks anytime someone rolls a three or the dice add up to three. If is seven is rolled, the player to the left drinks, if 11, the player to the right drinks.
If doubles are rolled, the roller will pass the dice to either one player, or split them up. Those players will then roll to see what they will drink (number on the die), or if they roll doubles, they will give them back to the original roller who will need to roll doubles again to avoid the drinking. Each time doubles are rolled, we used a multiplier (x2) for the drinks if doubles were rolled twice for example.
The three man gets out of his post by rolling a three during his turn. No one wins, but then again, everyone wins.
Drawbacks: No clear cut winner.
Positives: Easy game to learn, good way to kill time, only need two dice.
Rating: 6/10 home brews
3. Sink the Bismarck
I’m surprised this game isn’t played all the time everywhere, but then again you need some materials to run an effective contest. The game is best played in Bloomington, Indiana right by the campus of Indiana University at a bar called Nick’s English Hut. At Nicks, for a small fee they give you the “official” bucket with plastic liner to ensure cleanliness, the perfect floating glass, and beer.
Nick’s is the only bar I have ever seen the game played, and it’s a casual way for students, alumni and staff to share pitchers together. It’s a really low key affair usually, but tons of fun.
To play, place the floating glass in bucket of beer, and then each player will pour from their personal cup into the glass that is floating. The trick is to pour enough beer into the glass without “sinking the biz.” The cycle goes to the left or the right, and each player attempts not to sink and drink the floating glass. If the integrity of the glass is compromised, the player who just poured gets a three count, if the glass sinks, they drink, if not the next in line does.
The game has some strategy and it’s also a ton of fun to try to gang up on one person. I say this because I am childish. My strategy is always to pour as much as I can right away so the glass never gets back to me. Some people frown on such a strategy, and then again some people are losers.
*Note- the competitors are allowed only one stream of beer, there is no stopping and starting.
*Note 2- Use only clear plastic cups that bend well for optimum pouring.
Drawbacks: Difficult to re-create the Nick’s experience at home, as well as the floating glass.
Positives: Very casual, underrated drinking game.
Rating: 8/10 home brews.
2. Pound v. Funnel
If you don’t know, yo’ ass betta CALL SOMEBODY!!!!!!
This is the latest creation of the AC crew, and a current party favorite. Since we hate complexity, there is nothing simpler than pound v. funnel. Two people play a heads up game. One person will opt to pound out of a cup; the other will funnel from an approved beer bong. One beer is poured into the cup and one into the funnel. Each participant drinks as fast as they can until there is a winner. This game was created May of 2007 during Indy 500 weekend. Thrillho is the current undisputed champ of pounding and has been beaten less than 5 times.
Drawbacks: None
Positives: The game turns into the focal point of any party. Drunken revelers will use peer pressure to con party goers into match-ups against their will. Additionally, it’s a great game to bet on, you know like cock fighting.
Rating: 8/10 home brews
1. Beer Pong
If I have to explain the rules to you then you have been living under a rock the past decade or so. The rules seem to vary regionally, but the standard the AC crew goes with is the following.
Six cups, two beers total shaped in your basic triangle.
Teams get the chance to each throw once and if both succeed in landing the ball in a cup they get the balls back and continue.
One re-rack is allowed at the beginning of one turn.
The team that is on the verge of defeat gets the chance to make a rebuttal, one make and the frame is replayed, two makes and they win the game.
Bouncing equals two cups if the bounce is made.
There should be a preferred "elbow line" where ye elbow should not pass when throwing.
Six cup is the best method because it speeds up game play. I've seen other madness in my travels, such as 10 cups, mystery cups (which are either filled to the brink of the cup, or sometimes with liquor/mixed drinks). I've seen places where the cup is not removed, and if the opposing team hits and empty cup they must remove one of their own. I've come across places where they double stack the cups and all other bullshit. It gets too long and drawn out.
Drawbacks: My constant and prevailing fear is that I will catch a communicable disease from playing this game, hence I am a stickler for certain precautions taken at the beginning of each round.
If the cups are stacked inside one another after sitting on a dirty, grimy, wet table then I'm pretty sure I am getting AIDS from the cups. Additionally, if you hang out with questionable characters like I do, then you will want to either get new cups each round or clean them out with hot water and soap prior to your team using said cups. Sure it slows things down, but this is the only time in my life when I get squeamish about shit like this.
Positives: It's a good party game, and the flow is usually fast meaning that tournaments are popular and prevalent. Also, anyone can play because the rules are so simple. In fact, I saw Thrillho's in laws win a tournament while bragging the whole time, "We didn't need GAMES to drink when we were young."
Also, the game can be played anywhere you have a table, or sometimes you can simply use the ground and play "lawn pong" created by Thrillho himself.
Rating: 9.5/10 home brews
Missed the cut:
All card games including: asshole, circle of death, kings. Additionally All three are too played out and "circle" forces you to drink upwards of 20 counts and just gets stupid.
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