What are the best drinking games?

The evergreens are Ride the Bus and King’s Cup with cards, beer pong and Flunkyball outdoors, Mäxle with dice and Never Have I Ever with no kit at all. To break the ice in a new group, go for games with few rules such as Never Have I Ever or Most Likely To.

Which drinking games can you play with two people?

Higher or Lower with a deck of cards, Quarters with a coin, Mäxle with two dice, and Truth or Dare. For Never Have I Ever with two people, start with five fingers instead of three.

Which drinking games need no equipment at all?

Most Likely To, Buzz, Categories and Never Have I Ever. A phone is all you need for Truth or Dare, King’s Cup, Drinking Roulette and Spin the Bottle, which you can play free online on our site.

How do you play Ride the Bus?

In the first round, each player answers four questions about their cards: red or black, higher or lower, inside or outside, which suit. Get it wrong and you drink. Then a pyramid is turned over, and whoever ends up with the most cards in their hand has to ride the bus.

Are there drinking games without alcohol?

Every game here also works with water, soft drinks or alcohol-free beer. In games such as Truth or Dare and Drinking Roulette, swap sips for dares or points.

Drinking Games: 20 Fun Ideas with Rules ▷ Party & Stag Do

Drinking games turn a nice evening into one you’ll still be talking about at the wedding. Here are the 20 best, sorted by what you happen to have with you: just a phone, a deck of cards, two dice or a garden. Each comes with the rules in a few sentences, so you don’t spend ten minutes arguing first.

Which drinking game fits?

Situation	Our tip
All you have is a phone	Truth or Dare, Drinking Roulette
A new group that doesn’t know each other yet	Never Have I Ever, Most Likely To
There’s a deck of cards lying around	Ride the Bus, King’s Cup
A pub, a table, two dice	Mäxle
Garden or park	Beer pong, Flunkyball
There are only two of you	Higher or Lower, Quarters

Online drinking games, straight on your phone

No kit, no download: these five games run free in your browser. Phone in the middle, done.

1. Truth or Dare

Players: 3 or more · You need: a phone

The player whose turn it is taps truth or dare and gets a question or a dare. Chicken out and you drink two sips. Four levels from harmless to dirty, so the group decides for itself how far it goes.

Play Truth or Dare online →

2. Never Have I Ever

Players: 3 or more · You need: a phone or good ideas

One person reads out “Never have I ever …” plus a statement. Anyone who has done it drinks. The classic for warming up, because the best stories come out straight away.

Play Never Have I Ever online →

3. King’s Cup

Players: 4 to 10 · You need: an empty cup; the phone draws the cards

Each player takes turns drawing a card, and every value has a rule: with a 2 you pick who drinks, with a 6 everyone throws their arm in the air, with a queen you become question master. Every king tops up the cup in the middle. Whoever draws the fourth one drinks it all.

Play King’s Cup online →

4. Drinking Roulette

Players: 2 or more · You need: a phone

The Great Boozini spins his wheel and decides: a shot, everyone drinks, hand out sips, or something completely different such as a tongue twister, five press-ups or a story from back in the day. Good for the bar, because it only takes seconds.

Play Drinking Roulette online →

5. Spin the Bottle

Players: 3 or more · You need: a phone

The bottle points at a player, who gets a dare. Online, everyone stands in a circle as a ridiculous made-up character with a name like “Uwe Mighty Wood”. It works with a real bottle too, of course.

Play Spin the Bottle online →

Drinking games with no kit

For the train journey, the queue outside the club or the moment your phone dies.

6. Most Likely To

Players: 4 or more · You need: nothing

One person asks a question: “Who’s most likely to …?” On three, everyone points at someone. Whoever gets the most fingers pointed at them drinks. A few questions to start: Who’s most likely to jump naked into a lake? Who’s most likely to cry while saying “I do”? Who’s most likely to sing with the band at the wedding?

7. Buzz

Players: 3 or more · You need: nothing

Take turns counting upwards. Instead of any number that contains a 7 or is divisible by 7, you shout “Buzz”. Slip up and you drink, and you start again at 1. Sounds easy; from the second beer onwards it isn’t.

8. Categories

Players: 3 or more · You need: nothing

One person names a category, such as types of beer, celebrities’ exes or things you shouldn’t say at a wedding. Everyone takes turns naming something that fits. Hesitate or repeat something and you drink.

Drinking games with cards

A deck of cards fits in any jacket pocket. A 32-card deck is enough for Schwimmen; for Ride the Bus and Higher or Lower, use a standard 52-card deck.

9. Ride the Bus

Players: 3 to 8 · You need: 52 cards

The best-known card drinking game, in three rounds:

Questions: Each player is dealt four cards one after another and guesses beforehand: red or black? Higher or lower than the first? Between the first two or outside? Which suit (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs)? Guess wrong and you drink.
Pyramid: Cards are laid face down in a pyramid and turned over row by row. Anyone holding a matching card lays it down and hands out as many sips as the row is worth.
Riding the bus: Whoever has the most cards at the end is the bus driver. A row of five cards is turned over, and for each one you guess “higher or lower”. Wrong means drink and start again.

10. King’s Cup with real cards

Same rules as above, just with 52 real cards in a circle round the cup. If you can’t remember the rules: our King’s Cup page shows them for every card.

11. Schwimmen (31)

Players: 3 to 9 · You need: 32 cards

Each player has three cards, and three lie face up in the middle. Take turns swapping one card or all three with the middle. The aim is 31 points in one suit: aces count 11, face cards 10. When you’re happy, knock, and everyone gets one more turn. The lowest hand drinks.

12. Higher or Lower

Players: 2 or more · You need: 52 cards

One card lies face up. The player whose turn it is says “higher” or “lower” and turns over the next one. Right: they can carry on or pass. Wrong: they drink as many sips as there are cards in the row. It gets brave from the fifth card.

Drinking games with dice

13. Mäxle

Players: 2 or more · You need: two dice, a cup

The higher number is the tens digit: 4 and 2 make 42. The highest is the Mäxle (2 and 1), then the doubles from 66 downwards, then 65 to 31. Roll hidden under the cup and announce a number, which has to be higher than the previous one. Lying is allowed. The next player either believes it and rolls themselves, or lifts the cup: if it was a lie, the liar drinks. If it was true, the doubter drinks.

No dice with you? The Drinking Roulette on your phone takes care of the chance element.

Drinking games for outdoors and the bar

14. Beer pong

Players: 2 against 2 · You need: 20 cups, 2 table-tennis balls, a long table

Each team sets up ten cups in a triangle at its end of the table and fills them a little. The teams take turns throwing two balls. If a ball lands in a cup, the other team drinks it and removes it. Twice per game, each team can ask for the remaining cups to be re-racked. The first team to hit all the opponents’ cups wins.

15. Flunkyball

Players: 6 or more, in two teams · You need: a ball, an empty bottle, a beer for each player

The teams stand facing each other about ten metres apart, with the bottle in the middle. Players take turns throwing at the bottle. If it’s hit, the thrower’s whole team drinks until the other team has brought back the ball and bottle and is back behind the line. The first team to finish all its beers wins.

16. Quarters

Players: 2 or more · You need: a coin, a glass

The coin has to bounce once on the table and then land in the glass. Hit it and you pick who drinks, and go again. Three in a row? Then you get to make a new rule.

Drinking games at home

17. Drunk Jenga

Players: 3 or more · You need: a Jenga tower, a marker pen

Write dares on the blocks beforehand: “Person on your left drinks”, “Ten squats”, “Tell us about your most embarrassing date”. Whoever pulls a block does the dare. Whoever knocks the tower over drinks a shot.

18. The film and TV drinking game

Players: any number · You need: a film or a show

Agree on trigger words beforehand. At Eurovision you drink at every “Thank you, Europe”, on Next Top Model at every tear, during football at every corner. For a stag or hen night in, bachelor party movies full of wedding mishaps are a particularly good fit.

Drinking games for two

From this list, the ones that work best for two are Higher or Lower (no. 12), Quarters (no. 16) and Mäxle (no. 13). In Never Have I Ever, two players start with five fingers instead of three, and whoever runs out first buys the next round. And Truth or Dare for two quickly gets very honest, especially from the Spicy level up.

Drinking games to buy

19. Klattschen

A card game with dares, made famous by one rule: you may only drink with your left hand, and anyone who says “drink” drinks. For 2 to 10 players.

20. Drinkopoly

A board game in which you drink something on almost every square. Not for faint-hearted groups; for three players or more.

Just as popular: Looping Louie, the children’s game with the aeroplane, where the loser drinks, and LOL, where whoever laughs drinks.

Making the night last

Eat first. On a full stomach, alcohol reaches your blood more slowly. Snacks on the table help too.
Water on the table. A glass in between doesn’t speed up how fast you sober up, but it keeps you fresher for longer and makes the hangover smaller.
Spirits later. Start with beer or a spritzer and save the shots for the second half.
Sitting out is allowed. Anyone who’s had enough takes water or does a dare instead of drinking. That works in every game here.
Nobody drives after drinking. Plan a taxi, night bus or an overnight stay in advance; there are tips under getting there and back.

Planning the whole evening? The itinerary generator builds you a schedule with games, bars and activities in two minutes. You’ll find all the online games under party games, and more ideas beyond drinking in our bachelor and bachelorette party games guide.

Drinking Games: The 20 Best for Parties, Stag & Hen Dos and Nights Out