Drinking Card Games are the perfect icebreaker for a party! As much fun as it is sitting around talking business or politics (NOT) sometimes you need a little extra to lighten up the party.
The best drinking card games inspire competition and initiate collaboration between friends and couples. Not only are these games for large groups but also fun for just 2 people or couples.
These drinking games with cards below are written with love from our own personal experience of extended nights and research. A lot of bottles of wine, countless cases of beer, and bottles of shots inspired these. The card games we play while camping, at dinner parties, traveling, or sometimes when we just went to get hammered with good friends. We take our job very seriously.
Grab a deck of cards, we recommend a waterproof deck of cards, some of your favorite alcoholic drinks, and get ready for the best drinking card games for adults! Cheers from the team at Backyard Games!
1. How to Play Kings Cup Drinking Card Game
Kings Cup is one the top drinking card games for people wanting to get senseless drunk! It is not a dinner party or couples game but is one of the most popular drinking games played through colleges across the world.
It goes by many names such as Circle of Death, Ring of Fire, and many more.
Essentially, you place a drink in the center filled with booze and start drawing cards. Each card has a rule such as give 2 drinks, take a drink, storytime. Do not be the one to draw the last king! If so you will be slamming the full cup in the middle or Kings Cup.
Feel free to make up your own actions from Ace through King or make up rules based on the night.
2. High or Low / Black or Red Card Game
The title says it all, choose either (high / low) or (black or red). Ideally, this is a 2 person drinking game.
Start by building a pyramid shaped sequence of cards with 6 rows. The dealer flips the card and the drinker takes a guess. Each person takes turns guessing.
Begin by flipping the first card and then guess what the next card will be on the row. Choosing (high or low) or (black or red). For example, if the first card is a 10 then play the odds and say (low), or if you have a 2 you would say high. If you are wrong you need to have 1 drink for each level you made it through. Or if you lose you will want to lose fast!
This drinking card game ends when you make it all the way through! This can be quite a fun challenge.
3. Speed Drinking Game
Speed is one of those card games that gets more difficult as you go along. Unlike pool where you get better after a 6 pack of beer. If anything, it shows you why you should never drive drunk as you will see how it affects your reflexes.
The point of the game is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. This is a great 2 or 3 player drinking card game (max 4).
Start by passing out the deck. We typically hand out 15 cards for 2 players, 12 for 3 players, and 10 for 4 players. Rearrange all of the cards from smallest to highest so you can drop the cards down fast. Once the cards are all handed out, flip up a card from the middle pile. If the card is a 4 (for example) you can play a 3 or a 5. And if the first person to play a 3 is down, you can play a 2 or a 4.
Essentially you are playing 1 above or 1 below the card played in a race to get rid of your cards. If nobody can play on the card left, draw another one from the pile. You are not allowed to drop more than 1 card at once (if you have a run) and not block out other players. Take a drink if you don’t win the round!
4. Mushroom Drinking Card Game
The Mushroom Game is a fun way to get the party started, like a drinking card game version of Jenga. There are many variations of this but it is very simple.
Just place a glass in the middle of the table and start placing cards on it.
- The first player places a card on the glass and goes clockwise between all players.
- 2 Corners of your card must be facing off the “mushroom”
- Don’t knock more than 6 cards off you must drink the “mushroom” cup
- If you do, knock off any other cards (less than 6) you must take + 3 drinks
- In the case, 2 edges of your card are not off the mushroom take + 2 drinks
- If you touch another players card take an addition + 1 drink
5. Bluff Pyramid Drinking Card Game
Pyramid (also known as Beeramid) is a classic drinking card game!
Players sit around a table and cards are dealt face down to resemble a pyramid. This means 1-2-3-4-5-6 for 21 cards in total. Then the dealer passes out each player 4 cards (all face down).
Having a good memory comes in handy, especially after a dozen or so of your favorite alcoholic beverages. Some people who play the Pyramid Drinking Game allow everyone to look at each others’ cards for a very quick peek. After that, you keep them to yourself.
Now that the cards and drinking pyramid are set up we will get into the drinking game rules!
- Take another good look at all your cards in order. Do your best to not only remember what you have but exact order. You will NOT be allowed to look at your cards again for the entire game.
- One at a time each card from the pyramid is then flipped over. Players then assign or bet drinks based on if they have the card or bluffing.
- Do your best to remember now because If someone assigns you a drink then it’s decision time. Either drink or call their bluff.
- Be careful when calling a bluff because if you’re wrong, then you have to drink double what was initially assigned.
- If you call their bluff and you are right then they have to drink double what they initially tried to stick you with.
- The number of drinks given out depends on what level of the pyramid you are on.
6. Big 2 – The BEST 2 Player Card Game
There are a lot of different names and versions of this, but after playing it we have come up with our version of the best way to play. Big 2 involves dealing out cards (minimum 12) to each player.
The person who starts the round gets to choose which card combination will be played for that round. It can be singles, doubles, triples, quadruples, or runs (with 3 or more).
The goal is to be the first to get rid of all the cards in your hand so need to strategize this. The order of cards from lowest to highest is (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2). The suits are important, the order of suites lowest to highest is Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts.
We created the full Big 2 card game rules here.
7. Go Fish Drinking Card Game
As a kid, I thought that Go Fish was a simple game. With the drinking game, there is quite a bit of skill and memory involved. Especially when alcohol is involved.
The goal Go Fish is to be the player that gets the most “books” of cards (4 of a kind) down on the table. The game ends when all thirteen sets of cards (books) have been played.
Each player is dealt 7 cards (5 cards when playing with 4 players) all face down. The player to the left of the dealer starts first and asks an opponent if they have a specific card. If they do have that card they must give it to you and you get to keep asking other players. If you ask for a card and they do not have one, they say “go fish” and you have to pick up a card from the middle.
Here is when you should take a drink:
- If you ask somebody for a card and they do not have it take 1 drink and “Go Fish”
- But if you “go fish” and when picking up you catch your card requested, then the player who told you to go fish has to have 4 drinks.
- If you ask somebody for a card and they do have it, they drink 2 (3 drinks for Aces or kings).
Keep reading the full Go Fish Drinking Rules here.
8. Presidents
The goal of the President’s Card Game is to finish the round first so that you can remain in power. We don’t know any power-hungry presidents *cough cough*.
To remain in power, you must be the first player to get rid of your cards. Each player takes turns laying down a card(s) that is higher than the last one played.
The interesting part of the game is if a player does not have one of the required cards they still must play anyways. They must “bluff” and announce it as a card that can be played. If a player does not believe you they yell “cheat” and then the player gets to check what was played.
For doubles, when playing a higher card doubles beat singles, triples beat doubles, and quads beat triples. The other main rules are that 2’s are wild and red 3’s are the highest. The lowest cards are black 3’s and the wild cards (2’s) can not be played as Black 3’s.
Once you play this awesome game it is a lot easier than it sounds! We put together full instructions and presidents drinking game rules here.
9. Top Card Drinking Game
The Top Card game is a very simple drinking game with cards that should not need to be explained twice. It’s even a great sober game.
To set up the game, everyone is dealt 8 cards. For larger groups, you can play with additional decks. Put the rest of the cards in the center of the table and start by flipping the first card.
The goal of the game is to get rid of all your cards first. Here are the top card rules:
- The first player must use as many cards as they need to match the numerical value of the card that is flipped. This means if the flipped card is a 7 they could play (7), (6+Ace), (5+2), (4+3). They then place their cards on top of the deck, therefore deciding what they want the next top card to be for the next player.
- If you can not match the value of the top card then you must have 1 drink. Then pick up 2 cards from the turned over cards on top of the deck.
- Then the next player must match the new top card (taken from the pile). If they can match the new top card in fewer cards used than the player before they will have to take another drink and pick up +2 cards.
- The first player to get rid of all their cards wins! As a bonus, they get to hand out 5 drinks to the players. You can be a jerk and have one person drink it all or split them up in any combination.
10. Bullshit Drinking Card Game
There are numerous drinking card games for Bullshit, all similar with variations. My favorite version is similar to Bluff Pyramid above but even simpler. This Bullshit Drinking Card Game goal is to get rid of your cards the fastest without getting called out on a lie.
Hand out the entire deck of cards (so each player has an even amount) and the player to the left of the dealer goes first.
The first player must play an ace or more face down, then the next player must play 2’s, then 3’s until kings are played. At this point, it starts over again.
The drinking rules for Bullshit are as follows:
- Even if you do not have the card to be played you must play at least one card anyway. You put down a different number and lie (or bluff) about what number is put down.
- If any other player does not believe you they will yell “bullshit” and you have to flip over your cards.
- If the player who yelled “Bullshit” is right you must drink the same amount of the number of cards that were put down in the stack and pick up all the cards that were already played. We like to play a variation where you drink the same number as the card that you were supposed to bluff on.
- But if someone called “bullshit” on you and indeed you did have the card they will have to drink the same amount listed above and pick up all the cards that have been played.
- Cheating is encouraged in this game! Slipping more cards in the pile than declared, for example, is great but if caught you will be punished. This involves picking up all the played cards and taking 3 drinks or shots.
- The game is played until someone runs out of cards. At this point, the losers must slam the rest of their drinks. A variation is to play down to the last 2 players so feel free to make up your own variations.
The Poop Drinking Card Game will defiantly make a splash at your next party! This game is hilarious and it is a little wrong how much fun it is. Just to make this perfectly clear if you are the type of person searching for hilarious drinking games you most likely will love it!
The goal of the game is to take turns pooping and to avoid clogging the toilet, figuratively of course. This game is a lot like Uno when the goal is to get rid of all your cards.
Be careful though as a wrong move will get you more cards. Each toilet has a clog number that is shown on the lid. If this number is reached then it is clogged. Players take turns laying down a poop at a time. With all kinds of combinations (such as skip, reverse, and wild cards) do not add to the total toilet bowls.
This is a silly game about poop for silly people and that is why we included this in our drinking card list. Get the price.
Monopoly has always been a fun family-friendly game until now! Well, it still is but make sure that your kids playing are 21+. Luckily instead of setting up and playing the traditional board game for hours, the creators came up with a monopoly card game! These games are short and are typically just 15-30 minutes long.
The goal of the game Monopoly Card Game is to collect 3 property sets and win. There are debt collectors and deal breakers in this version who will try to flip your fortunes in a play of a card! This is a 2-6 player game and one that is a fun drinking game for 2 people. The rules are a little more complicated and a bit tricky at first so you will need to pay attention. However, this is the best version of a board game that was turned into a drinking card game that I have ever played.
Click here for all the Monopoly drinking card game rules or Buy Online to get an awesome version of this game for your next party.
13. Indian Poker Drinking Game
This is the game where you put your card on your forehead and try to save face.
All players get one card and hold it facing out from their forehead. You are NOT Allowed to see what this card is, only everyone else can. Once you have seen everyone else’s cards you can decide whether or not you will want to stay or fold your hand.
You may not know what your card is but you will base your bets on the strengths of your opponent’s cards. You make a bet and hope you have the best hand, or at least bluff and give the impression that your competitor’s cards are so low.
The highest card is an Ace and suits rank spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, then clubs.
This is a game of instinct and the Indian Poker Drinking Rules take it to an entirely new level.
- The player with the highest card and did not fold wins and does not drink.
- But if a player folded but their card was lower than the winner, they have 2 drinks.
- If a player folded but the card is higher than the winner’s card, they drink the value of their card. (1-13)
- If a player stayed until the end but lost they just drink the difference between their card and the winners.
14. Screw the Dealer
The game is called Screw the Dealer because you try to mess with them in a big way! The goal is to guess the value of the card from the top of the deck. You have 2 tries at this to guess what it is.
Starting from the dealer you move left around the circle clockwise. This player tries to guess the value of the top card. The dealer then tells them if it was higher / lower. Then on their second guess if they still do not get it right they must drink the difference between the top card and their final guess. So if you guessed a 4 and it was a 3 then you would have 1 drink.
Full Screw The Dealer Drinking Rules:
- The dealer needs to be 3 people in a row before the deck moves on to the next player.
- If one of the people guesses the card direct then the dealer is screwed! They will have to take 4 drinks if you guess it on the first try and 2 on the second.
- If the player does not guess the dealer’s card after 2 tries they will have to drink the difference between the top card and their own.
- Cards are laid out on the table after played so the players can see what is left. Meaning the further it goes the more chances you have of the dealer getting screwed!
- If a player (dipshit) guesses a card that already has 4 on the table they have to take 5 drinks just because.
Crap happens, but it takes a jerk to make it happen! That is the point of this hilarious drinking card game where players rank cards based on shittiness.
What was worse? Being fisted by Mike Tyson or dropping your phone in the toilet?
This is not the game you would play with your family. One of the card games includes writing the shittiness of your Mom discussing her sex life. But if you rank your card and the misery index agrees with you then you keep it.
When you correctly rank 10 cards then you can win. One thing to point out is the game creators may judge shittiness more or less than you so that one part is up for interpretation.
For an approx $10 drinking card game Crap Happens provides a lot of laughs.
Who is the filthiest Old Maid of the group to come up with the best responses to crazy topics?
This drinking card game is recommended for 2 to 6 people and is packed with 100+ hilariously twisted topics and drinking challenges that will have you and your friends laughing all night.
Players make pairs until someone is stuck with the Filthy Old Maid card. The player with the Filthy Old Maid card at the end has a special drinking punishment. The more you drink, the funnier this game will get.
This is a hilarious party card game that has everyone using their hands! Using their hands that is to perform funny challenges. It may sound dirty, and yes it is, but it’s a hilarious play on words to keep you giggling through the whole game.
It is a fast paced game filled with 54 different cards including monkey spanking, tossing salads, and even choking chickens. This is an adults game (21+ years) and will make the perfect games night with your friends!
18. Kings Cup Risk Edition Drinking Game
We went over all the rules for the Classic Kings Cup but now we get to tell you about the Risk Edition! It is a newer version of King’s cup and is riskier and more challenging, and each card has a fun mini-game.
There are 60 hilarious cards, some of which you may even be brave enough to do. Some of the cards and challenges range from giving a friend a drink to even eating a raw egg. Luckily the penalties are up to you, no matter how conservative or drunk you want to get.
Drunko is a drink or dare card game that definitely takes it to the next level. In fact, when you see the far themed categories they are Lame, Dare Devil, Nympho, and No Feat!
Each of these gets more challenging and provocative as you go along. A few of the things include lip syncing a song, talking dirty to another player, and even running half naked.
With the Drink Or Dare if you do not complete the task this means that you have to finish your drink.
This is the type of game associated planning at Bachelor or Bachelorette parties with stories that never need to be repeated.
Uno is one of those classic card games that also doubles as an awesome drinking game. Only the classic card game of Uno is required. It starts by handing out 7 cards to each player.
The goal is to get rid of all your cards and you can do so by playing a card that matches one from the discard pile. You can match my number, color, and symbol. If you don’t have a card that matches you must pick up another card and take a drink.
Keep reading the full Uno Drinking Game Rules here.
We hope that this list of card drinking games will make a hit at your next gathering of friends, and family, depending on the game. If you are looking for games that are a bit more active, check out our Outdoor Drinking Games Lists or the 8 Awesome Frisbee Drinking Games.
