A while back, AC took a deep dive into the many different ways you can modify Kings Cup to serve your drinking game needs. And while that is still an awesome compendium, it got me thinking: what if you don’t like Kings Cup? What if you prefer games like Among Us, Killer Queen, or hell even Captain’s Gambit? Is there a way to transform your favourite game into a drinking game?
Today, I’m going to walk you through my 4-step process to turn any game into a drinking game. Once we’ve gone over how to do it, I’ll also give some examples to help you out. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Pick a Game
Choose literally any game you want. Though any game can be turned into a drinking game, some games are definitely a lot better suited for it. In general, you should try to pick a game that:
Most of your group has played before (this will make Steps 2-4 a lot easier)
Is easy to learn/play (especially if everyone is planning to drink a lot)
Has a short playtime (try to pick something that takes less than an hour)
Has a clear win/end condition (although you can still choose a more open-ended game like Minecraft or Animal Crossing, they can be trickier to work with)
I also suggest you choose a multiplayer game that can scale up to your social group. However if you pick something with a low player count, you can still get everyone involved by having rules that get spectators to drink (e.g. At the start of each game, each spectator chooses who they think is going to win. If they’re right, they can assign a drink to anyone. If they’re wrong, they have to drink).
Step 2: Choose Who Drinks
For most drinking games, there are four kinds of rules for deciding who drinks:
Winner Drinks - Whenever you do something positive in the game, you have to drink.
Loser Drinks - Whenever you do something negative in the game, you have to drink.
Assigned Drinks - Whenever something special happens in the game, you choose someone else to drink.
Everyone Drinks - Whenever something special happens in the game, everyone drinks. You can also narrow it down so that everyone in a subset of the group drinks (e.g. All men drink).
Feel free to mix-and-match these rules together depending on the type of game you want. As a good starting point, try to have at least one of each type of rule in your game so that everyone ends up drinking at least a bit. You can also combine them together if you think it will be more fun (e.g. Whenever you win, you and someone else have to drink).
Step 3: Decide How Much You Want to Drink
How much do you want people to drink? If you want people to drink a lot, you can either have a lot of rules that make people drink or have rules based around common actions in the game (e.g. Whenever you roll a 7 in Settlers of Catan). If you only want people to drink a bit, you can have less drinking rules or base them on uncommon/infrequent actions (e.g. Whenever someone lands on Free Parking in Monopoly).
Step 4: Add a Twist!
This step is entirely optional, but it can be fun to add in some silly or wild rules to keep the game interesting. One of the best examples I can think of is for Mario Kart DUI, where you aren’t allowed to drink while moving, but you must finish your whole drink before crossing the finish line. Twists usually work best if they are based around the themes of the game, or on inside jokes from your social group.
And that’s it! Seems pretty easy, right? Now let’s go through a few examples.
Example #1 - Super Smash Bros
Let’s start out with a simple drinking game that will mostly make the losers drink. We still will have a few rules that make the winner drink, as well as make everyone drink, but mostly you’ll be drinking if you aren’t playing well.
Drink whenever you get KO’d. If you KO yourself, drink again.
Drink if you use your Final Smash. Anyone KO’d by a Final Smash takes an extra drink.
Whenever your shield breaks, drink until you are no longer stunned.
At the end of the match, the winner assigns one drink to anyone for each KO they got.
If anyone opens a legendary Pokémon from a Pokéball, everyone drinks.
Example #2 - Settlers of Catan
This time, we’re going to make a game where the winner drinks the most, but also with some rules that will make everyone drink. We’ll also throw in more assigned drinks.
Drink whenever you gain a Victory Point.
Whenever anyone rolls a 7, everyone drinks.
Drink if the Robber blocks you from gaining a resource.
When someone claims the Longest Road or the Largest Army, everyone else drinks.
In addition to trading resources with each other, you can also trade drinks (e.g. “I’ll give you a Sheep if you drink my next two drinks for me”).
Example #3 - Among Us
For Among Us, we’ll have most of the rules either make the Imposters drink, or the Crewmembers drink. This should help enhance the team vs. team feeling of the game.
Everyone drinks whenever an Emergency Meeting is called.
Drink if you get killed. Drink twice if you get voted out.
If you’re playing with 2+ Imposters, all Crewmembers drink if all Imposters are still alive at the end of the game.
If the Crewmembers win by finishing all their tasks, all Imposters must finish their drinks.
You must drink the whole time you are being scanned in MedBay.
Finish your drink if you get caught venting as an Imposter.
Example #4 - Monopoly
Finally, let’s make a game where everyone is going to be drinking a lot.
Drink whenever you pass GO. If you land on GO, everyone else must also drink.
Drink whenever you roll doubles.
If anyone land on Free Parking, everyone drinks.
Drink whenever you finish a property set.
Drink each time you mortgage a property.
Drink if you go to Jail. If someone visits you while you’re in jail, both of you must drink.
Drink whenever you land on Chance or Community Chest. Drink twice if you get 2nd place in a beauty contest.
Closing Thoughts
Even in a game where people drink a lot, know your limits and don’t drink too much.
Don’t force anyone to drink unless they want to. It’s totally fine to have some people playing with drinking and others just playing normally. Or, instead of drinking alcohol, you can drink juice, soda, or water.
One drink can be as much or as little as you want it to be. It could be a sip, it could be a shot, or it could be a whole glass. When you’re making your rules, keep in mind what a drink means to you. If it’s a whole glass, you don’t want to have a rule that makes people drink every 30 secs.
If you don’t like a drinking rule, change it! The goal is to have fun. You don’t have to stick with any rules you don’t like, or that are making people drink too much/too little. Feel free to change rules on the fly if you think it will make the game better.