House parties are the best. No coat check, no long lines, and no cover fee. At the same time, it can be hard to think of things to do at a party when everyone is drinking and some people don’t know each other well. If you’re at a party that’s a little boring, grab a deck of cards, drinks, and good company. Here are five drinking card games to help break the ice. Just make sure to drink safely and responsibly—these games are just as fun when paired with mocktails.
#SpoonTip: Spoon University doesn’t support binge drinking or underage drinking. Be responsible!
1. King’s Cup
A party classic. King’s Cup is pretty well known and is the drinking card game most people at parties usually turn to first. To play, everyone sits around a table and you put a cup in the middle. Everybody adds a little splash of their drink to the cup (this is the king’s cup). Then, fan out a deck of cards face down around the cup.
Each card has a different meaning. For example, if you pick up a 2, that means you pick someone to drink. If you pick up a 3, that means me, so you would drink. For a full rundown of the game, check out these King’s Cups rules. Oh, and whoever gets the final king has to drink the King’s cup!
2. Ride the Bus
Here’s a way to get wasted quickly if you have poor luck and/or logic. Players sit around a table and one person has the deck of cards. This person is the ‘dealer,’ but they can play too. They’ll ask the first person, “red or black?” in reference to the color of the card. Then, they flip the card over and show the player. If the player guesses correctly, the dealer moves on to the next player. If the player is incorrect, they have to drink.
There are four rounds with different questions. In the end, whoever has the most cards, or incorrect guesses, has to ‘ride the bus.’ This means they have to play again, by themselves, and if they answer a question wrong, they have to drink and start all over. Read through these detailed instructions before you play.
3. F*ck You
This is a fun way to get revenge on your pals. Set up 13 cards, face down, in the shape of a pyramid on a flat surface. Then, split up all the other cards amongst the players. Begin by flipping over the top card in the pyramid. If you have the same card, you can put it down and say “F*ck you [insert friend’s name]” and that person has to have one drink.
As the rows go on, more drinks can be distributed. For example, if you’re in row three of the pyramid, you can distribute two drinks to one person and one drink to another. Here are more details on how to play f*ck you.
4. Boozy Truth or Dare
This is a great way to get to know everyone at the party. Set up two rows of 12 cards, one row being “truth” and one row being “dare.” Each player gets four cards. Then, the first player in the circle flips over a card in either the truth or dare row. Whoever has a card that matches the number of the card drawn, (so if the card flipped is a 3 and you have a 3, that would be matching), has to participate in the truth or dare, determined by the player who flipped the card.
If someone fails to complete a dare or tell the truth, they have to drink for the number of seconds that the card is in the row (so if the card flipped is the tenth in the row, they have to drink for 10 seconds).
#SpoonTip: Play this game with a weaker drink like beer or cider.
5. Bullsh*t
Adding alcohol makes this classic card game a lot more fun. Deal out the entire pack of cards so each player has an equal amount, then put one face up in the middle. The player will choose a card from their hand and announce it out loud, placing it face-down on the table. It must be one higher, one lower, or the same that is placed face-up. If the player has no qualifying card, they pretend that they do. If someone calls bullsh*t on them and they’re correct, the person who played the card drinks. If they’re wrong, the person who called bullsh*t drinks!
#SpoonTip: Here are the full rules for Bullsh*t to read before you play.
With these drinking card games, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy at your next party. Remember to drink responsibly—these games may involve drinking, but they aren’t supposed to encourage unhealthy consumption of alcohol.