Drinking games are how I rescue a party that is standing around staring at its phones. These are the ten I reach for as a host: easy to explain, quick to start, fun with beer or soda. One rule before we begin, and I mean it: drink responsibly and pace yourself.
The 10 Best Drinking Games for a Party
Ice-breakers with zero equipment
- Straight Face. Everyone writes a line meant to make the table laugh, then the lines get read aloud. Anyone who smiles or giggles drinks. Sad thoughts help, and they help less every round.
- Most Likely. Ask the group who is most likely to do something, yearbook style. On three, everyone points at a person. Whoever collects the most fingers drinks, and yes, they will protest.
- Never Have I Ever. Take turns naming something you have never done. Anyone who has done it drinks. Go simple or go weird; the conversations afterward are the real game.
- Movie Drinking Games. Pick a film everyone loves, agree on rules for catchphrases and signature moments, and sip when they land. For quote-heavy classics, trim the rule list or the first act will finish you.
Cards and coins
- Bullshit. Deal the whole deck. Players lay cards face down in numerical order, truthfully or not. Call bullshit to challenge: a caught liar drinks, a wrong accuser drinks. First to empty their hand wins.
- Quarters. Bounce a quarter off the table into a center glass. Make it and you pick who drinks, up to three shots in a row before play passes. Easy to learn, genuinely hard to master.
- Kings Cup. Fan cards around a center cup and draw in turns. Every card carries a rule, most involve giving or splitting drinks, and whoever pulls a king invents a brand new rule.
Cup games for a crowd
- Slap Cup. Cluster cups in the middle of the table with the fullest one at the center. Bounce a ball into a cup and its owner drinks it. Play races inward until only the center cup remains; reach it last and you are guzzling.
- Flip Cup. Two teams line up. Each player finishes their cup, sets it on the table edge, and flips it upside down before the next teammate can start. Fastest line wins. Not a game for the uncoordinated.
- Beer Pong. The granddaddy. Six to ten cups on each end of the table, teams take turns tossing ping pong balls, and every made cup gets drunk by its defender. Watch out for the pros.
My House Rules
These keep the night fun instead of messy. I set them out loud before the first game:
- Pour small. Game drinks are sips, not shots. The CDC counts four or more drinks for women, five or more for men in one occasion as binge drinking. Stay under it.
- Water between rounds. A glass per game keeps everyone in it longer.
- Eat first. I feed my guests before the cups come out.
- Drinking is optional. Soda plays every game just as well, and non-alcoholic bitters make the zero-proof cups feel special.
- Rides sorted first. Nobody drives after game night. Settle it before the first round, not the last.
My full kit for all ten games fits in one drawer:
- A deck of cards
- A few quarters
- Solo cups and ping pong balls
- Pen and paper
Which Game Should You Start With?
I open with Most Likely because it needs nothing and warms up any group, then move to Kings Cup once everyone is loose. Save Beer Pong and Flip Cup for the loud hour. Ten games is plenty; you only need the right three in the right order.
