Drinking Card Games – Find the most fun for 2, 3, 4 or more players/person

PLAY TO DRINK AND DRINK TO PLAY

Drinking card games have been popular since early civilization. It makes sense; humans love two things, games and alcohol and it should surprise no one that they love them together. Though, it can be hard to find good drinking card games, as sometimes there’s too much drinking to game ratio or vice versa. The best drinking games are the ones where there’s just enough game to keep you entertained while not being so complicated that drunk you can’t keep up.

One of the best things about card games for drinking is that they usually do follow along with similar guidelines and rules so after learning a few many will build off similar ideas. Playing these games, again can be a hassle the first few times and you may realize halfway through you’ve been playing all wrong, but cut yourself a break, you are actively trying to get drunk after all. 

For the drinking games, I’m listing below you’ll need alcohol, at least one friend (or more), and no plans for tomorrow. 

DRINKING CARD GAMES

TOEPEN

Toepen is a 3-person drinking card game that can be played with up to 8 people. It is a trick-taking card game. Each player is dealt a hand of cards and the person left of the dealer starts the first trick. All following players must follow suit if possible and the person who plays the highest-ranking card wins the trick. All players who didn’t win, lose a life. The game is played till a player loses 10 lives. This person buys a round for all everyone and a new game starts.

This 3-player drinking card game is also be played with gambling, but instead of money, you gamble lives. During a trick, a player may knock and increase the bid by one life. Other players may then fold, continue playing or increase the bid.

KING’S CUP

King’s Cup is a two-person drinking card game. It can be played with more players. It is the only two-player drinking game on this list and one of the only card drinking games for 2 I’ve ever played.

King’s cup is unusual from other 2 player drinking card games because each card has a different rule associated with it. Some examples being: Ace typically means waterfall. This means each player starts drinking and doesn’t stop till the person who drew the card does, then the person to their left may stop and so on. Another example is Jack which involves the players playing a quick round of Never Have I Ever. All the cards offer a different mini game to compete in

RIDE THE BUS

Ride the Bus is one of the drinking card games for 4 on my list and can be played with up to eight players. It is also a pyramid card drinking game, but that describes better the second half of the game.

In Ride the Bus, players play a series of four rounds to get dealt a hand of four cards. Players guess certain parameters their card may fall under and if they are wrong the drink. Parameters may include things like: red or black, higher or lower, and so on and so forth. 

The second half of the game is building a pyramid. The pyramid is built face down and while being flipped players may place cards matching flipped values to give other players drinks. Once the pyramid is built the player with the most cards in hand is the loser and must ride the bus, meaning answering the questions used in the first half of the game until they get all questions correct. If they get one wrong, they must drink and start over.

HORSERACE

Horserace is a drinking card game with no limitations on players. A standard deck of cards is used to set up a horse race. The Aces are the horses in this drinking card game and the remaining cards are used to determine the winner of the race. The players bet on which ace they think will win using the number of drinks they want to give out. Winners give out double that number while losers drink half their wager plus any additional drinks were given to them by the winner.

UP AND DOWN THE RIVER

Up and Down the River is one of my favorite fun drinking card games. This drinking card game is playable with 6 or more players, and even the dealer gets to participate in this game. Each player is dealt 4 cards face up and then cards are flipped this is called going up the river. You drink an increasing number of drinks for each flip. For example, on the first flip players will drink one drink if they have a card that matches rank with the revealed one. 

KEMPS

Kemps is a game for 2, 4, or 6 players. It is a team-based game. Each team will compete to have one player acquire 4 of a kind. They must then signal to their partner, without altering the other teams, so that their partner can declare “Kemps!”. If the other team catches your signal they may call “counter Kemps” in order to try and steal your win. It’s a fun tricky game full of funky signals and good laughs.

BLIND SQUIRREL

Blind Squirrel is a drinking game that uses both cards and dice. Drinks are distributed based upon a player’s ability to guess what card will be drawn and how the dice will roll. To play Blind Squirrel one needs beer, hard liquor, 54 card deck (52 cards + jokers), dice, and the ability to hold your liquor as well as shotgun a beer alone without shame. Have all active players gather around a table with the cards and dice. The alcohol should be within arm’s length.

HAPPY NINJA STAR

Happy Ninja Star is a drinking card game for any number of players. The game ends once the whole deck has been played through. The goal is to throw the cards in a way that they land faceup on the table, doing so starts a challenge with the next player in line, who must also land their card face up, or drink up.

FE FI FO FUM (DRINKING GAME)

Fe Fi Fo Fum is typically a children’s game that has been modified into a drinking game. The goal is to empty your hand the quickest. The last player to do so must buy the next round of drinks. Players take turns playing cards and chatting, as you can imagine, it can get pretty rowdy quickly.

SOTALLY TOBER

Sotally Tober is a crazy card game for 2 or more players. The goal is to have the least amount of drinks, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Players will take turns drawing wacky fun cards that can have players doing everything from showing off hidden talents to telling dirty little secrets.

POWER STRUGGLE

Power Struggle is a card game where the rules are constantly changing. This game offers a wide variety of card packs for you to mix and match. The game is suitable for groups as small as 2 players and as large for 10 players. It’s a great game for parties, but beware it is not for the faint of heart.

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

Friends and Enemies is a great game to get the night started, but you should be sure to drink responsibly. The game is playable with 3 or more players. The game is super simple, someone plays a card and the person they choose must drink accordingly, but beware players may deflect cards or even ask others for help deflecting.

TRUTH OR DRINK

Truth or Drink is exactly what you think. It supports 3 to 8 players and has a ton of interesting, thought-provoking, and downright embarrassing questions as your friend. The rules are simple, answer truthfully, or drink.

DOIN’ THE MOST

Doin’ The Most is a fantastic party game for 4 or more players. Each player takes a turn being the shot caller and the other players must follow the prompt in order to impress them. Prompts are drawn from one of the deck of cards. The winner gets a card, and all the other players drink.

ARROGANCE

Arrogance is a game for 2 or more players. Each turn consists of a player wagering an amount of their drink by pouring it into a communal glass. Then the player chooses red or black and flips the top from deck of cards. If they guess correctly the next player is up, if they got it wrong, then they must drink all of the contents of the communal glass. Good Luck.

RING OF FIRE

Ring of Fire is a drinking game for 3 or more players. A deck of cards is spread facedown around a cup or bottle and then the game begins. Players take turns pulling a card at random. The card determines who drinks, and the next player pulls a card. The main goal is to avoid pulling a king.

GIVE AND TAKE

Give and Take is a card game for 3 to 8 players. There will be two rows of cards laid out. The top row is for takes or truths. The bottom row is for dares or takes. Each card represents a number of seconds to drink in order from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and full beer. The player will flip either a take or a given card and will need to either do a dare or tell a truth based on an activity or question determined by the group. If they choose not to they must drink. After that player drinks the next person will go.

OTHER TYPES OF DRINKING GAMES

Caps is a drinking game for 4 players. Players split into two teams of two and try to toss caps into the other team’s cup. if they are successful the other team gets to try and cancel the shot with a successful toss of their own. If they don’t make the shot then the two players must split a beer.

Flip Cup is a drinking game for 4 or more players. The game uses teams of two players each. Teams line up at a table and relay-style one teammate at a time will chug their drink and flip their cup. Once the first person finished the last person on the team does the same. The first team to finish wins.

Liar’s Dice is a betting game where you bid drinks instead of money. It’s playable by any number of players. The game consists of rolling your dice in secret and guessing how many of a certain number of dice there are amongst all players. if someone calls you out and your wrong, you’ve lost. Last one remaining wins.

A Yard of Ale is a drinking game where the goal is to just drink your beer as fast as possible. It uses special glasses that hold more beer and make it a bit of a challenge to drink. Last person to finish usually buys the next round.

Beer Pong is a classic drinking game for 2 or 4 players, where you’ll need tons of plastic cups and ping pong balls. The cups are set up in a pyramid on both ends of a table then teams take turns tossing a ping pong ball into one cup. The other team must drink it. The first team to clear their cups wins.

Buffalo is less people playing a game, and more a way of life. Players must always drink with their non-dominant hand if they ever are caught or catch themselves drinking with their dominant hand that person drinks.

Biscuit is a game for 3 or more players. They roll dice to determine which player will be the biscuit then all players will drink based on what the biscuit rolls.

Three-Man Drinking Game is a game for 3 to 8 players. the first person to roll a 3 on a die becomes the three-man then the next person rolls two dice. Players will drink based on the numbers rolled.

Divaball is a drinking game for any number of players. The objective of the game is to have fun and get drunk, but not too drunk. Everyone gets 2 cups. The first cup is filled with beer, the second cup remains empty. We will refer to something called “The Dance” in this description. This dance starts off as a simple spin, however as you add rules to the game, you can make the dance more complex.

Baseball is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to score more runs than the other team.

Judge Judy is a drinking game for any number of players. The game ends once the marathon is over.

Boat Race is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to beat the other team.

Quarters is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to drink the least.

Battleship is a drinking card game for any number of players. The object of the game is to beat the other team.

7/11 Doubles is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to take turns chugging beer while another player tries to roll a 7, 11 or double before they finish.

Anchor Man is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to beat the other team.

Pyramid is a drinking game for any number of players. The object of the game is to complete the pyramid first.

Never Have I Ever is a fun social drinking game for 4 or more players. Players sit in a circle and declare “Never have I ever…” and fill in the blank. If another player has done this they put down one of their 10 fingers and must drink.

SUMMARY OF DRINKING GAMES

Drinking games are some of the best games to play with a group of friends. They’re easy-going and lighthearted and can lead to some seriously fun or really embarrassing memories. A drinking card game can take a boring night of drinks to an exciting new level and usually ends with everyone having a good time. We hope you enjoyed our list of the best drinking games. As with any fun activity though, please partake in it with responsibility. Know your limits, and if you find yourself needing to cool down for an hour or two try out some of our other great games on our website our perfectly optimized content goes here!

if you would like to see even more drinking games check out our blog post about the Drinking Olympics!

Frequently Asked Questions

Which are the best drinking card games for four players?

Ring of Fire, Doin’ The Most, and Blind Squirrel are the best 4 player drinking games.

Which are the best drinking card games for three players?

The best drinking game for 3-players is Arrogance or You Laugh, You Drink.

Which are the best drinking card games for two players?

The best two player games are King’s Cup and Sotally Tober.

Which are the easiest drinking card games to play?

Doin’ the Most and Truth or Drink are the easiest to play.