Top 10 Drinking Game Rankings

Through my many years on Earth I’ve played quite a few drinking games. Some I like and some I hate but one thing is clear, I know why I like or dislike them. I’ve decided to rank 10 games from top to bottom by a criteria that consists of fun factor, skill and drunk level. I’ll be using a 5 star system with 5 being the best.

The Drinking Games

10. Kings – Kings gets the lowest rating because I only have 10 on this list. I would have this much lower if I could. I hate this game. When I hear people suggest this game, mostly females, I cringe. No skill to it and the fun involved is hard to find with a microscope. I’m not into busting rhymes, picking mates, naming categories or playing with ridiculous rules like little men. Plus no one can monitor how much you drink so you essentially are casually drinking playing a stupid card game. The saving grace is the king’s cup but it happens once every half hour so who the fuck really cares.
Fun Factor: ★
Skill:★
Drunk Level:★

The King cup rules the middle

9. Fuck The Dealer – This game is exactly one notch above kings and a notch is about 1/64th of an inch. You start with a full deck and one person is a dealer. The goal of the player is to guess what card the dealer is looking at. A normal person guesses a 7 to start the game and the dealer will say higher or lower. If the player doesn’t get it on the second guess, the player drinks and the dealer moves on to the next player in same fashion. Cards are laid down after they are looked at to give the player an advantage as more cards are played. If the dealer gets through 3 people without them guessing the card, they switch dealers. Another game with ambiguous drinking and virtually no fun factor. I’m not sure this game would keep a mosquito amused.
Fun Factor:★
Skill:★
Drunk Level:★

A picture of the set up for the drinking game Fuck the Dealer

8. Thumper – You keep hitting the table throughout the game is where the name comes from. A circular table is used and people sit around. When it’s your turn, you make a symbol like moose ears or the middle finger. The person next to you makes your symbol and adds one of their own. This continues until someone screws up. There’s some shifting of seats but honestly the game’s not that much fun to really play by the rules. The goal of drinking games is to get drunk and this one tries to be more of the fun type. Having a good memory helps in games like this but if you are trying to get drunk, the two don’t go hand in hand.
Fun Factor:★
Skill:★★
Drunk Level:★

I couldn’t find a good pic so here was an oddball black dude surrounded by whites playing thumper.

7. Asshole – A reasonably fun game that has a President and an Asshole each round. This is a card game where you play a card and next player has to play a higher card. Each game starts with the Pres giving his worst card to the Asshole and the Ahole gives his best back. The special cards are 2 and 3 where 2 clears and 3 is wild. I also have played versions of there being a card which brings socials. The President is allowed to make anyone drink at anytime and gets to make a rule after each game. It’s relatively fun but not exactly a high octane game.
Fun Factor:★
Skill:★★
Drunk Level:★★

The game being played is Asshole and Barry is it.

6. Edward 40 Hands – A game where you try to drinking 80ozs of malt liquor is considered fun by me. 40 hands played without malt liquor doesn’t count. Simplicity is the key to the effectiveness of this game. You tape 2 40’s to your hands and your goal is to finish them as fast as possible. The winner gets to remove the tape. The losers can’t remove until they finish. Pussies tend to quit. I remember one time in college I finished my two while sitting down in a chair and as I tried to stand up I completely fell over. It hits you harder than you think. Being able to chug certainly helps but 40’s still require some endurance so the best chugger usually isn’t the winner.
Fun Factor:★★
Skill:★★★
Drunk Level:★★★

Watch out for Edward40Hands

5. Power Hour – Another simple game that I find fun that non-alcoholics won’t. You play by having a shot of beer every 60 seconds. This averages out to 5 beers in an hour which is a pretty good pace. It doesn’t feel that bad though because one shot of beer is fairly simple. Many people use a song that changes every minute to notify when to drink again. I’ve gone 90 minutes before and the fun is when you notice that you’re starting to catch a buzz. Plus your stomach will start to get filled up and bathroom breaks are generally frowned upon. If you substitute something other than light beer, this becomes a challenge.
Fun Factor:★★
Skill:★★
Drunk Level:★★★★

60 shots in 1 hour

4. Mario Kart Drunk Driving – I just saw this game today on a website and decided to include it because it’s a throwback and probably a lot of fun. The goal is to get 1st place with the rule being that your beer has to be finished before you finish. The caveat is that you can’t drink beer while you’re driving. This means you have to pull over your kart completely to drink. I plan on playing this weekend and will edit this post after some real life experience. My stars are hypothetical stars in this situation. One time drinking and driving is actually legal. The video below is bit different. I’m not sure which I like better.
Fun Factor:★★★
Skill:★★★★
Drunk Level:★★★

3. Quarters – A game where you bounce a quarter into a shot glass. This is mostly a skill task as the right technique is necessary for being an efficient quarter player. The problem with quarters is that even though the task of making the quarter is a good premise, the games generally are lacking. The set up is usually make the shot glass on the first attempt and you can pass left or right, make it on any time after and you pass left. 2 shot glasses are going around the table and if you leap frog a person who is struggling to make their shot, they drink. They then get tag teamed in a world of hurt and this can result in tapping out which is a fun game. We used to play a combo game of quarters and flip cup called 21. You would have 5 people on a team and play a shoot til you miss game of quarters. The team would accumulate 21 points in quarters and then shoot for a taller glass which when made would lead to a game of flip cup. A great mixture of fun.
Fun Factor:★★★
Skill:★★★★
Drunk Level:★★★

A good mix of skill and drinking

2. Flip Cup – The perfect party game. This is a game where females can be as good as guys which is virtually unheard of in today’s world. A simple concept of taking a red solo cup and flipping it 180 degrees so it lands on its opening. The amount of skill to accomplish this is ideal for a drinking game because it’s not that hard and it’s not too easy. Anyone can play which is the best part. The more people you have the more fun it’ll be. PLUS, you actually get drunk playing because there is no where else for the beer to go. You are forced to drink and many people don’t like being forced to get drunk. Competition and shit talking run rampant in this game because it’s fast paced and can turn on a dime once someone starts getting drunk. Being a savvy veteran I’ll share a tip that I see many noobs are unaware of. When it’s your turn to start the down up down, lift your cup a millimeter off the ground when your tapping. Not only is it less up but it’s less down too. Chugging is really simple too because all you have to do is get it into your mouth and pouch your cheeks if need be. Survivor flip cup is also an innovative concept where the worst person gets voted off. This separates the men from the boys and leaves for a triumphant feeling if you are the ultimate survivor. This is wonderful game that probably gets a lot of play but should get much more.
Fun Factor:★★★★★
Skill:★★★★
Drunk Level:★★★★

The one and done

Beer Pong – The quintessential drinking game. Simply put, you throw a ping pong ball into the other team’s cups. It’s most usually played 2v2 and when 2 players on the same team both make a shot, they get the balls returned to them. There are some odd rules like bouncing, getting on fire, or throwing a ball behind your back if it comes on your side but that’s mostly pussy shit. We used to play a straight up 6 cup, 1 re-rack. An off tangent thought, the power-I is bullshit and it’s quite logical. When you rack on 3, you don’t deserve to be able to make the front or back cup and get back to a typical 2 cup rack. Racking at 3 is punishment and deserves the triangle. If you are an advocate of the power I, you are an advocate of being a pussy. Anyway, this game is played everywhere and is the most common drinking game you will find. I believe many colleges play beirut which is 10 cup. It’s a whole lot of fun and the skill level is apparent as the best players usually don’t leave the table. I also like that if you drink your beer when the opposing team makes a cup, you won’t be thirsty and will get might drunk. An odd game where you seem to improve over the course of the night. It’s actually a bell curve where you hit your peak at a certain level of drunkness and fall once you can’t see where the cups are anymore.
Fun Factor:★★★★
Skill:★★★★★
Drunk Level:★★★★

A standard beer pong shot