Drinking is fun, but drinking games take the fun to the next level! Break out these drinking card games at your next party.
Drinking card games can be lots of fun. They’re great at house parties, in a bar, or just at home with a few of your friends. Drinking card games can also be a good way to socialize. Try using them as an ice-breaker, or just to get to know one another better.
This feature will show you the most hilarious drinking card games you can play at your next party. Whether you and your friends are hard-drinkers or absolute lightweights, these games will leave you laughing – and very, very drunk!
The best drinking card games
So, what are the best drinking card games to play to get you in the party mood? Here are 22 fantastic games that are sure to get everyone laughing and joking before you know it.
1. Give and Take
This game is kind of like the classic truth or dare, but instead of taking turns, you let the cards decide whose turn it is.
Each person gets 4 cards to start. Then, you lay out two rows of 6 cards – one row for the truths, and one for the dares. Each card in a row signifies how many seconds to drink with increments of 2, so the first card signifies 2 seconds to drink while the sixth card signifies 12 seconds, aka. downing a whole drink.
Starting with either pile, flip the first card. Whichever player has the matching card either has to answer a truth/do a dare or drink. Alternate between rows, and get wasted!
2. Higher or Lower
In this game, players take turns to guess whether the card they turn over will be higher or lower than the one that is already in front of them. If they get it right, they are safe. If they get it wrong, they have to drink!
You can choose to make it so that it stays their turn until they get it right, or include things like wild cards, such as if they turn over an Ace they have to take two gulps instead of one, or do a shot.
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3. Circle of Death
In this lively drinking card game, the cards are all laid out face down in a ring. Players take turns drawing a card from the ring and then have to act depending on what the card is. Each number will have a different action associated with it, such as “do a dare,” or, “down your drink,” etc.
You can get creative with how wild each of these actions are.
4. Indian Poker
This is a great game if you are looking for a drinking card game that is simple and fun. It’s also a good one to play if you’ve already had a few drinks!
To play Indian Poker, the dealer deals a card to each player, but it remains face down on the table. The players pick them up—being careful not to look at their own card—and stick them on their foreheads. This way, all players can see their opponent’s cards, but they can’t see what they have themselves.
Each player can decide whether to bet or fold. If they fold, they must take a sip of their drink. But if they bet, they may keep playing… and everybody else reveals their card. The highest card wins, and that player doesn’t have to drink. The lowest card player has to drink double.
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5. Bullsh*t
This fun and fast-paced game is a great one if you want to interact and have a giggle with your other team players. In this game, you deal all the cards equally. But the aim of the game is to get rid of all your cards.
Players then take turns placing some of their cards face down in the middle of the table. They can only put cards of the same value down, and they have to put more than one card down at a time. They have to tell the other players what they are putting down i.e. “two two’s” or “three fives”—the catch is they don’t always have to be telling the truth!
However, if other players suspect they are lying, and it turns out that they are, the dishonest player must pick up their cards and any beneath them. Plus they have to drink!
6. Spoons
Spoons is an excellent drinking card game that always gets the party started! In this game, players sit in a circle around a table, with a pile of spoons in the center. The number of spoons in a pile always needs to be one less than the number of people.
Cards are passed from person to person until one player has four of a kind. When this happens, they can grab a spoon. The player who doesn’t get a spoon is out and has to drink.
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7. Pyramid Pyramid
This game is great fun and sure to entertain you and your friends for hours! To set up, stack the cards in a pyramid with 5 rows; the top row has one card, the second row has two, and so on. Deal four cards to each player.
Every player can look at their cards once, but when the game is in action, that’s it! Players take turns flipping over a card on the pyramid. If another player has a matching card, they can yell out and the other person must drink.
However, if the other person thinks they are lying, the player must flip over their card to prove them wrong. If they flip over the wrong card or don’t have it at all, the tables are turned, and that player must drink instead!
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8. Hockey
For the sporty souls, hockey is a great drinking card game that will be right up your street. First, form two teams. Each team sits opposite one another, and each team gets 10 cards.
The game always begins with the three of clubs. The team that goes first must play a card that either matches the suit or the number. If they can’t, they must drink and it goes to the other team.
It goes back and forth like this until either no cards are left, or neither team can go… in which case, you deal another card.
9. Horse Races
Horse Races is a game that requires all Aces, Kings, and Queens to be removed from the deck. The Kings and Queens are all laid out in a row, then each person picks a “horse” *which is an ace*. The suit of the Ace that they choose becomes “their suit.”
The remaining cards are then turned over one at a time. Each time a card with their corresponding suit is turned over, the player with that suit gets to move their horse up one spot on the King’s and Queen’s row, and the others must drink. Whoever gets to the end first is the winner, and all other players must down their drinks!
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10. Allies
This super fun drinking card game is best played with lots of friends and lots of beer! This is a one-on-one drinking card game, so players must take turns playing. But it is quick and easy, so don’t worry, no one will get bored waiting their turn!
First, the dealer takes the deck of cards and asks the other player whether they think the next card they turn over will be black or red. If they get it wrong, they drink. But if they get it right, they don’t, and the dealer moves on to the next player. [Read: 32 fun and flirty games to play over text and connect with friends]
If they did get it wrong, the dealer asks them which suit they think the next card they turn over will be—same rules apply. Next, they ask whether the card they turn over will be inside or outside. This is asking whether they think it will fall in between the two previously dealt cards or will be higher/lower than them. If they get that wrong, they take a final drink, and then the dealer moves on!
11. Fuck the Dealer
Fuck the Dealer is a classic drinking card game with an awesome name! However, you might want to play this one at the beginning of the night, as it gets a little complex.
The aim of this game is to guess the value of the top card on the top of the deck. You all get two guesses, moving clockwise from the person sitting to the left of the dealer until somebody guesses wrong.
The first time you guess wrong, the dealer tells you if your guess is too high or too low. If you guess wrong on your second guess, you have to drink the difference between your second guess and the card’s value. For example, if you guessed 6 and the card was a 3, you would take 3 drinks.
Once the dealer beats three people in a row, the deck moves clockwise to the next player. However, if the player guesses the card correctly on their first guess, the dealer has to take four drinks. If the player guesses correctly on their second guess, the dealer takes two drinks.
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12. Killer
Killer is a little like Wink Murder or Murder in the Dark, just with drinks. The point of the game is to catch the “killer” before they kill off every other player. It might even show you a dark side of your friends you never knew was there!
First, the players should all sit in a circle facing each other. Take all the red cards out of the pack—except for one—and shuffle it. You each get one card. Then, the game has two phases: the detective phase, and the killer phase.
In the killer phase, everybody closes their eyes. The killer keeps theirs open and goes around the room choosing a player. When they’ve picked their victim, they tap that player twice. They’re then “dead.”
In the detective phase, you all converse to try and find out who the killer is. Each player can accuse someone. When somebody gets it right, the killer must drink equal to the number of remaining players. But if the accuser is wrong, they must finish their own drink.
13. Screw Your Neighbor
Screw Your Neighbor is a quick and easy game to kick off your party. In this game, Aces are low and Kings are high. The aim is not to be the one left holding the lowest card in the group. Because if that’s you, you drink.
Each player picks a card from a shuffled deck. Whoever has the lowest card takes a drink, and the highest card becomes the dealer for the next round. The person to the left of the dealer has the opportunity to either keep their card or swap it with their neighbor. Repeat until drunk!
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14. Kings
Kings is a classic, also known as Ring of Fire. It’s one of the most popular drinking games in the world, so you might know the rules already. But if you don’t, we’ll tell you. Spread out a deck of cards face-down around a can or cup, and sit around it in a circle.
Then, each player picks up one of the face-down cards, and either drinks or gives out drinks based on the action associated with said card. For example, a 5 means “guys all drink” and a 4 means “touch the floor and the last player to do so drinks.” You can find an extensive list of all the values for every card here.
If any of the alcohol comes out of the can or cup, the player who disturbed it has to down it. The game ends when every card’s been drawn.
15. Ride the Bus
Ride the Bus is a game that involves a lot of luck. If you’re not careful, it’ll get you wasted fast! One player becomes the dealer, and asks a series of questions, while the other players have to guess the answer. First question: red or black? If the answer matches the card the dealer draws, they get to assign a drink. If it doesn’t, they have to drink.
This goes on for two more questions: “higher or lower?”, “inside or outside?”, and “which suit?” By “inside or outside?”, we mean “will the card that’s about to be dealt fall in-between the two previous cards’ values, or outside of the gap?” For example, if your first two cards are four and nine, five would be “inside” while a queen would be “outside.”
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Then, each collects four cards. The dealer builds a pyramid of face-down cards, with five at the base, four in the next row, then three, then two, and one at the top. Cards on the bottom count for one drink, going up to five at the top. If your card matches one of the cards in the pyramid, you have to drink the value of that card.
Once all the pyramid cards have been turned over, players can compare how many cards they have left. The person with the highest number of cards has to ride the bus! For the bus phase, the dealer lays 10 cards face down. One by one, they flip them over. A number means no drinks, faces and aces mean drinks: one for a jack, two for a queen, three for a king, and four for an ace.
16. The Lady Has The Deck
The Lady Has The Deck is an alcoholic version of Old Maid. To play, take three of the four queens out of a pack of cards. Then, shuffle them to hide the remaining queen. Deal the cards equally between three or more players. They then all draw cards in turn until somebody picks the queen.
When a player picks the queen, they have one of three options: take a shot, do a dare, or drink something crazy. This can be anything from an extra strong drink to a gross concoction that’ll really test their stomach! [Read: What to talk about when you’re drunk with your date]
17. Across the Bridge
Across the Bridge begins with the dealer shuffling the cards, and dealing ten of them face-down in a line. This line of cards is known as the “bridge.” The whole point of the game is to “cross” the bridge, by flipping them over one by one. In order to make it over safely *and stay sober*, you’ll need a lot of luck!
If the card is a number, you don’t have to drink at all. But if it’s an ace or a face, you’ll have to drink the number of shots assigned to that card. If it’s a jack, you drink one. You’ll have to drink two if you get a queen, and three if you get a king. However, you’d better hope you don’t get an ace—that’s four!
The game carries on until all the players have crossed the bridge.
18. Up the River, Down the River
First, all the players sit in a circle around a table. Everybody needs their own drink, and a hand of four face-up cards. The dealer starts “Up the River” by turning over the first card in the deck. If a player has a card with a matching number *of any suit*, they take a drink. If they have multiple matching number cards, they have to drink how many cards they have.
The player then continues through four draws, with the players drinking one more drink each round. On the second draw, they drink two drinks for a matching card. In the next draw, the player has to drink three drinks, and the last draw is four drinks.
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After the four rounds are done, the dealer moves “Down the River.” This time you give away drinks if you have a matching card. You can give these drinks away any way you choose; four drinks to one player or one drink to four different players. The number of drinks decreases with each card, just as it increased when you went “Up the River.”
19. Ace of Spades
This isn’t much of a party game, as it only requires one player. But if you ever feel like having a drinking party by yourself *we won’t judge* Ace of Spades is the perfect drinking card game for you! Shuffle the deck, and place it face down. Then, flip the top card. If it’s not the Ace of Spades, drink! It’s that simple.
20. Escalation
Escalation begins with the dealer shuffling the cards and dealing the deck between all the players, including themselves.
Then, the dealer must put the top card face-up in front of themselves. The player to their left then puts their deck’s top card face-up in front of them. If the cards match, they have to drink however many drinks the number on the card dictates.
That’s four drinks for a 4, five drinks for a 5… one for an ace, eleven for a jack, twelve for a queen, and thirteen for a king. Then, go around the circle with the player to the right putting their card face-up first.
If the card doesn’t match the previous player’s, continue around the circle until you find a matching pair. That pair then have to drink the number of shots shown on their cards. [Read: The most effective ways to prevent a crazy hangover]
21. Blind Squirrel
This one’s a little different, as it uses both cards and dice. It’s all about your ability to guess which card will be pulled. The game starts with the dealer having the whole deck in their hands, face-down. Then they flip the first card, and ask the person to their right a question: “higher or lower?” The player must guess the exact card that will be shown.
If they guess the next card will be “lower 7”, they think the card will be lower than the first one, and a 7. Once the next card is drawn, if the guesser is incorrect, they have to drink and guess again.
If they guess correctly on higher or lower, the guesser becomes the dealer. If the guesser incorrectly guesses the number, though, they still must drink the number of sips that is the difference between the previous card in play and the newly shown card.
22. Slapjack
Slapjack is an oldie, but a goodie. One player starts off with the deck of cards and turns them over one by one. When a jack appears, everyone must slap the table and shout “Jack!” at the top of their voice! The last person to do this must drink. It’s a grown-up twist on the easiest kids’ game ever!
If you want to have fun, drinking card games are a really great way to get you and your friends in the party mood. So why not try the games above for a fun-filled evening? Just remember to drink responsibly!