Not being able to meet up with friends or to go out to bars and parties has the power to weigh us down, no matter the reason behind it. Maybe your friends are out of town. Maybe you’re just too busy to make the trip. Or maybe you’re quarantined or practicing social distancing, like many of us are right now.
There are still ways to have fun with friends, though, even while stuck in your isolation. One of these ways is to play some online drinking games!
We’re lucky today to be more connected as ever—virtually, that is. With a few simple adjustments to your regular nights out, you can keep playing some of your favorite drinking games with friends without anyone even having to leave their homes.
Here are some of our favorite online drinking games that you can play with friends:
Online Truth or Drink
Whether you’re sitting around a table with friends or sitting in front of your phone or laptop, this is a classic drinking game that everyone can enjoy.
The rules are pretty straightforward. In fact, they’re pretty much explained by the name of the game. Everyone playing will take turns asking other players questions—usually, the more embarrassing the question, the better. The player or players asked then have to decide whether they want to answer the question truthfully or take a drink.
If only two people are playing, each person takes a turn asking the other player questions.
If playing with a group, questions can be directed at specific players or to the group as a whole. This is a great game to learn crazy things about your friends, or even to embarrass them by asking questions you already know lead to a good story. It’s all in good fun, and it’s a fun way to let some hilarious secrets out of the bag.
If dares are a bit more your style, it isn’t difficult to extend this game to a more conventional truth or dare (but with drinks). Literally, you can just ask “truth or dare” before every turn. If playing with a group, this might be a bit more complicated. We recommend rotating between asking truths and giving dares. While online dares might be a bit different than in person, that doesn’t mean they can’t be done. Dare your friend to post something embarrassing on social media, for instance, or to “like” someone’s post from a few months ago. A little creativity can go a long way.
Taking this game to an online setting is pretty simple, too. All you need is your drink of choice, a phone, tablet, or computer, and an internet connection. Using your favorite video chat service (like Google Hangouts, Houseparty, or Zoom), start a video chat with all of your friends and start playing!
Online Multiplayer Games
One thing that a lot of people have been doing during quarantine right now is turning to their computers and consoles for company. Many are already playing online games with the friends that they can’t go to visit in person. It’s pretty simple to turn these games into drinking games, too.
Ideally, a multiplayer game in which there’s a clear winner and loser works best. If you’re into shooter games, Call of Duty and similar work very well. If building worlds is more your style, Minecraft mini-games are a great choice, also. You can even try competitive Tetris, online chess—whatever works for you! The idea is to have a clear point to mark a drink as a punishment. In a shooter game, for instance, you can take a drink every time you die the game. In something like online chess, you can take a drink every time you lose a piece.
Most of these games already have in-game voice chats. A lot of people use the Discord service to have more private group voice chats. You can also use a video chat service to actually be able to see each other while you hang out.
Beer Pong
One might not think this game would be all that adaptable for an online game, but it actually isn’t that difficult!
Usually, the setup is 6 or 10 red solo cups in a triangular formation on either side of a long table, whether a regulation beer pong table or whatever other table you have in the kitchen. Two 12-ounce beers are poured bit-by-bit into all 10 cups (no one cup to the top). While there are all sorts of rules and variations you can read up on, the fundamental gameplay is between 2 or 4 players (either 1 versus 1 or teams of 2 on either side of the table).
Once everything is set up, teams take turns throwing ping pong or beer pong balls across the table, trying to make it into their opponents’ cups. If a ball lands in one of your cups, you have to drink the cup. There are a few other basic rules to take into account:
- Deciding who goes first often goes by “eyes,” the name for 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.
Adapting this into an online game is surprisingly simple. You can set up both side if you’d like, but you only really need to set up a single triangle of cups. Set up your camera to be able to see your setup and, again, take turns tossing the ball into the cups. The cups you set up will represent your opponents’ cups. If your opponent makes a shot, they remove the cup from their setup and only have to take a drink from whatever cup you’ve designated your drinking cup, no need to set up your own triangle.
Drinking Game for One
Hopefully it won’t be the case, but it might happen that your internet goes out during your quarantine. If for any reason you can’t get on a video chat with your friends, but you still feel the need to play a drinking game, there are still many other games that you can play.
One of the easiest drinking games to play on your own is a movie or TV show drinking game. Simply turn on your favorite movie or show and take a drink every time “X” character says “Y” thing—a catchphrase or similar that you elect before sitting down to watch. For example, you can watch Shrek and take a drink every time Donkey sings, or watch a sitcom and take a drink every time a laugh track plays, etc.
This is certainly absolutely a game you can play with friends, too, if the internet comes back on. Set up your camera and make sure everyone hits “play” at the same time so your drinks and experience are all synchronized, and voila!
