The Best Drinking Games for Parties

Party Planning

best drinking games for parties

While you certainly don’t need to drink to have a great time at a party, there are a million and one reasons that certain drinking games are seen at just about every kind of party. These games are great to stir conversations, get to know other party-goers, and to have a little fun while you’re at it. 

Here are our picks for the best drinking games to play at parties:

Beer Pong

Beer pong is an undisputed classic. From frat extravaganzas to chill house parties to even small get-togethers, beer pong is a game that seems to show up just about anywhere someone might be ready to play a drinking game. 

The rules are both simple and incredibly complicated depending on who you ask.

Beer Pong Game Setup:

  1. Set up 6 or 10 plastic beer cups on either side of a table in a triangular (4 –  3 – 2 – 1) formation.
  2. There are regulation beer pong tables if you happen to have one, otherwise a regular ping pong table or even just a countertop will work fine.
  3. Traditionally, two 12-ounce beers are used to fill all of the 10 cups (not to the top).
  4. Either two or four players can play at a time, taking turns tossing ping pong (or even regulation beer pong) balls across the table, attempting to make it in the other side’s cups.
  5. If a ball thrown by your opponent falls into a cup on your side, you have to drink that cup. This continues until one side has lost all of their cups, in which case that side loses. 

Beer Pong Game Rules:

The full rules and variations list is much longer and more complicated than you might suspect, but a few basic standards and variations are as follows:

  • Deciding who goes first often goes by playing “eyes,” which is a round of shooting where teams take turn shooting the ping pong balls without breaking contact with the other team. If both sides make their shot or both sides miss their shot, the other two team members shoot. This continues until one side makes their shot and the other misses. After the first game, normally the challenging team shoots second. 
  • When playing two players per team, the teams take turn shooting both players at a time. If both team members make their shot on the same turn, the balls are rolled back and the team is allowed to shoot again. 
  • Shooting must be done with elbows (and sometimes wrists) behind the edge of the table. This rule is normally unspoken until it becomes an issue. 
  • Re-racking is asking for your opponents’ cups to be rearranged into a friendlier target. Normally this can be done twice per game when there remain 6, 4, 3, or 2 cups. If there is only one cup left and you still have a re-rack leftover, you can normally ask your opponent to adjust and center the remaining cup. 

There are loads of other rules and variations to this game, so it’s important to talk them over with your opponent(s) pregame to make sure you’re playing with the same expectations! 

Truth or Drink

The inclusion of this game probably won’t surprise anyone—this is a classic. If you’ve ever played truth or dare, you’re already pretty familiar with the rules here. 

Truth or Drink Rules:

In its most basic form, the rules follow exactly what the title of the game says:

  1. Players take turns asking each other often embarrassing questions, and the person asked then has to either respond truthfully or take a drink.
  2. If playing with only two people, the dynamic is straightforward and each player takes a turn posing a question to the other player.
  3. When playing in a group, questions can be made towards specific players, or to the group in general. In any case, this game is great to get to know the people at the party in multiple factions—often with embarrassing or exciting secrets revealed!

Two Truths and a Lie

Just like the previous games, this is another one that’s pretty straightforward from the title. In the group setting, players take turns sharing three quick anecdotes about themselves. Two of these must be true, and one of them must be a lie. The other players must then try to guess which of the three stories is true and which is the lie. 

Since the three stories should be at least relatively feasible and not terribly obvious (so the guessing isn’t too easy), sometimes the best way to play this game is to have the players prepare their stories beforehand. That way, there’s no need to stumble over the details when you tell your anecdotes. That said, stumbling over the details can be part of the fun. 

The drinking part of this game is pretty straightforward—how much you drink, however, might not be.

Two Truths and a Lie Rules:

  • For the players who are guessing, it’s pretty natural that if you guess correctly, you do not drink. If you guess incorrectly, you must drink.
  • For the player telling the stories, you can either end up drinking once if anyone catches onto your lie, or drink for every person to guess correctly. In either case, the game is a super fun way of learning all sorts of new things about your friends. 

Drink Calculator for Parties

Are you planning an upcoming party? If so, you need to know how much liquor you’ll need to buy for it, especially if you’re considering playing drinking games at your party!

Check out our handy drink calculator for parties to find out exactly how much of each type of liquor you’ll need to buy for your party. And, when you’re ready to buy, call us or fill out our online form and provide us with your list of preferred items. We’ll then give you a free, no-obligation price quote. We offer great discounts on bulk liquor, and you can save anywhere from 10-15% on your purchase when you buy through Zipps Liquor. And, if you have any leftover liquor after the party ends, you can return it to Zipps for no charge. Learn more about bulk liquor purchases for parties.

Stay Safe while Playing Drinking Games

While all these games are designed to get you drinking plentifully, always keep in mind that we all have our limits. Zipps Liquor encourages everyone to drink responsibly. If you’re not feeling too well during a game and need to take a break, let somebody know, step away from the game, and get a glass of water.

Get all the liquor you’ll need to throw the party of the year at your local Zipps Liquor store! Call us to get a free quote, or fill out our online form.

Visit your local Zipps Liquor store to stock up on your favorite beer, wine, & spirits!

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