December is the season for finals, last-minute gift shopping, stress, stress, and more stress. This season gets overwhelming quickly, but it’s still advisable to make some room for fun. Putting together a little holiday gathering/party can be just what you need to offset some of the pressure you may be feeling!
In classic college fashion, no party is truly a party without a silly drinking game that one of your friends sorta knows. (Did you really retain anything when that one guy showed you how to play Rage Cage? No, probably not.)
If you need a refresher on drinking games, or just want to be the most knowledgeable at your next function, here’s 5 games to add to your personal arsenal.
#SpoonTip: Drinking can be fun, but be responsible. Spoon does not promote binge or underage drinking. Stay safe!
King’s Cup
What you’ll need: drink of choice, deck of cards, one large cup, and one or more friends
King’s Cup is one of the easiest drinking games to learn, but still one of the most entertaining. To play King’s Cup, begin by placing the large cup in the center of the group. Then, evenly scatter your deck of cards around it, face down. Each player will take turns selecting a card, and each card will have a corresponding action. For example, if the player were to draw a four, everyone has to point to the floor as fast as possible, and whoever points last has to take a drink. You can also make up your own rules for each card!
Drawing a king means you have to pour some of your drink into the King’s Cup. Since there are four kings in a deck, the first three that are drawn just have to pour, but the fourth and final king has to drink the contents of the King’s Cup.
Keep playing until you’re out of cards.
Cheers to the Governor
What you’ll need: 3+ friends, drinks of choice, and a creative mindset
The goal of this game is to count to 21. When you reach 21, everyone drinks and says ‘cheers to the governor!’
Sounds simple, right?
Not exactly. Cheers to the Governor must begin by establishing a ‘base rule’ that everyone must follow. For example, a base rule could be ‘whoever says 7 has to drink’ or ‘on number 15, name a country, no repeats.’ Then, everyone goes around in a circle counting to 21. Whoever messes up and doesn’t observe the rule has to drink, and everyone has to start back at 1. If you make it to 21, the person who says 21 gets to add a new rule.
This game has no official end, since you can keep adding rules, and it will gradually get more and more difficult. The game can go on from anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on when you want to stop the game.
True American (shoutout New Girl)
What you’ll need: a handle of hard liquor of choice, canned drinks of choice, a table, pillows or chairs (something you can stand on), 4+ friends
This game is for all the New Girl fans out there. It requires quite a bit of setup — but if you have the time and the interest, it’s a pretty exciting game.
Start by putting your handle in the center of the table. This is your king. Then, set up your pawns (your canned drinks) stretching outward from the king as four lines. Between each line is a ‘zone.’ There are four zones, and each zone has 5 objects (pillows or chairs) that players can stand on to escape the ‘lava.’ One of the objects in each zone must be closest to the king — this is the only object players can stand on to take a pawn, or a drink.
To start the game, all players will shotgun a drink. The first player to finish will yell “1, 2, 3, 4, JFK!” and the rest of the players will yell “FDR!” Each player will then run to grab a pawn and must be standing on the nearest object to do so. Everyone will then move clockwise from zone to zone. Players must always have a drink in hand and may not carry more than 3 at a time. To win, all the pawns must be taken, and a player must make it to the nearest object and take a sip of the king. There are also some ways to earn a move in the game as you rotate around the king.
The Cardboard Game
What you’ll need: an unfolded pizza box or cardboard surface, pens, drinks of choice (preferably ones with bottle caps), 3+ friends
This is another drinking game where the rules are really up to you. Everyone starts by drawing a circle on the cardboard and writing their name in it. Choose your circle size wisely! Then, take turns throwing a bottle cap (or flipping a coin) on the game board. If it lands on a circle with someone’s name, that person drinks. If it lands on a blank spot, the player that threw draws a circle around the cap and writes a new rule in the circle. Rules can be anything from ‘everyone drinks’ to ‘no phones’ (first person who looks at their phone has to drink).
Rage Cage
What you’ll need: solo cups, 2 ping pong balls, a table, liquor of your choice, 4+ friends
Rage Cage is like beer pong with more stacking. Start by putting all the cups together in the center of the table. Fill all the cups about a third of the way full, but the “bitch” cup — the cup in the middle — will be filled up all the way. All players will stand around the table, and divide up into two teams (about half and half).
Two players standing across from each other from opposing teams will compete. The entire group will count down from three, and then, as quickly as possible, the players will drink the cup in front of them and try to bounce their ball into the cup. Once they do, they pass the ball to the next player on their team, and they do the same thing.
The player who made their shot will stack their cup on top of the person who is still bouncing. The losing player will pass their stack, pick a new cup, drink it, and continue to try to bounce the ball in. The cup stacks will gradually get higher and higher, making it harder for the player to make the ball in.
If at any time a player accidentally bounces their ball into the bitch cup, they must drink it.
The game ends when all the cups are empty. There is no official, overall winner to this game — probably where the name ‘rage’ comes from.