Beer pong, quarters, circle of death, these are all fun drinking party games for adults to play if your goal is to get wasted. If you're looking for a more sophisticated time with your friends, with games that help set the mood, we've got the perfect list for you.

Not every drinking game has to be about getting drunk. Some games can help you make conversation, others might rely on thinking and strategy skills. You don't often see acting games on a list of drinking party games for adults, but you will do with us.

Let's get you started.

Drown The Clown

The first game on our list is a fun card game for a group of even numbered players. Deal each player a card face down, that's turned over with everyone else's card on the count of 3.

If your card is the same number as another player's, point to that person as quickly as possible and shout 'clown'. The last player to say it has to drink the value of the card. If a player points to another but there is no match, they drink 2 drinks.

Word Drinking Game

Pick a word no one in the group is allowed to say and whoever says it has to take a drink. You don't have to choose complicated words, you can pick common ones such as today, you or work, or whatever normal words you know your friends are likely to spit out.

Alternatively, just ban the words no or yes. By doing that, you can start tripping up your friends by asking yes/no questions.

Fast Questions

This drinking game is a fun bonding game, with everyone taking turns to quiz one another.

The first questioner calls out another player by name and asks them a yes/no question, which must be answered immediately. This answerer then asks another player a different question without taking a pause.

The game is played fast and snappy. If there's any hesitation, laughing before answering, or too long a pause, drinking a shot is the punishment.

Sixes

Line up 6 empty cups in a row, making sure they're of different sizes (e.g. A tankard, a shot glass, a tea cup). Each cup is designated a number, 1 through 6.

Someone begins the game by rolling a single dice. The number they throw will correspond with a cup. Fill this cup to the top with beer for the player to chug down fast. When they're done, another person takes the dice.

Once this drinking game is underway, you may find players hoping they'll get the smallest cup.

Drinking Jenga

Unlike the other drinking party games for adults here, you need to buy some equipment aka a Jenga set and a temporary marker pen. Set aside some time before the party to write down a different task on each Jenga block then set up your Jenga tower as you would in a normal game. Each player takes it in turn to pull out a block while making sure the tower doesn't topple over.

Whatever instruction is written in the block, our friends must do as it instructs, e.g. Everyone drink; do a dance then drink; tell a secret; do 5 pushups. Bear in mind not every task needs to be drink-related, just to keep things a bit unpredictable. Make sure everyone also pours a bit of their drink into a communal pint glass. Whoever topples the tower over has to drink down all of the communal glass.

Opposites

Get everyone on their feet and have them take a sip of drink before starting. The aim of this game is for players to do the opposite of the instruction called out into the room.

If you shout out "kick out left leg," for example, everyone needs to kick out their right leg; if you say "jump," everybody stands still. The person who doesn't do the opposite of the command takes a drink.

I Never

This is another fun way to get to know everyone. Each person takes turns to create a real-life statement that starts with 'I've never'.

For example, if you've never traveled by sea, you simply say 'I've never been on a boat'. Anyone around the table who has been on a boat has to drink. The goal of the game is to think of a statement where the group will drink all at the same time.

Beer Snap

Take a deck of cards and deal them evenly between players, making sure the cards are face down. Each person takes turns flipping over a card and adding it to a pile.

If the next card flipped is the same number as the previous card, players need to say 'snap' before everyone else does. The last person to say 'snap' takes a drink.

How they take that drink must follow this order: Drink one shot, if the card number is 2 to 6; 2, if 7 to 10; 3, if it's a Jack, Queen, King or Ace. Continue the game, until all cards are flipped.

Enemies

This is one of most serious drinking games so be warned! You need a pack of cards and deal one to each player sat around a circle. Players must keep the card they're given. The starting player places their card face down at the centre of the table, saying the name of a person in the group as they do. They then flip it over and the chosen person must drink for as many seconds as the number on the card, e.g. 6 of spades is 6 seconds. The card suits and colours don't count here and Jack, Queen and King counts as 10, an Ace as 1.

The game gets harder when, if the person called out has the same number of the card being placed in the table, they can forfeit their go and pass their round onto someone else – which makes them an enemy. If the card flipped over is a Joker, everyone takes a drink for 5 seconds.

Beer Connection

This drinking game is similar to Beer Snap. This time, whenever the next card flipped matches the previous cards number (known in this game as a Connection), both players drink the value of the cards.

For example, if 2 7's are thrown, that's 7 drinks. Jacks, Queens and Kings here count as 10, an Ace as 11. If a connection is made twice, everyone in the group drinks the value of the card.

Taking Names

This is one of those drinking party games for adults that requires some creative thinking. Someone begins the game by saying the full name of a celebrity. The next player now has 30 seconds to pick another celebrity name, using the letter of the previous person's surname.

If you started with Justin Timberlake, for example, the next player could say Tom Hanks.

If a player picks a person where the first and last name start with the same letter (e.g. Tina Turner), the game direction reverses. The drinking starts, when a player can't think of a name immediately, and must keep drinking until they do.

Keep playing, until the game has gone round 3 times. The pressure is on, for players to get the most names they can to win.

Flip Cup

Create 2 even teams. Place half a cup of beer on the table next to each player.

On Go!, the first player of each team has to chug down their beer, and then flip the cup from the edge of the table so it lands upside down (as seen in the photo at the top of this page). Once it does, only then can their next teammate take their turn. First team to flip all their cups is the winner.

Rock, Scissors, Drink

Rock, Scissors, Paper is a classic game where you use your hands to represent each item – rock is a closed fist, scissors is open and closing your first finger and middle finger, and paper is just your flat hand.

Split your group into 2 even teams. Have the first player of each team hold out their hand in either rock, scissors, player towards a player in their team who needs to respond quickly; if they produce a match, e.g. both do rock, then fine, the 2nd player is swapped for the next player. If they both don't do a match, e.g. rock and paper, both take a drink. This is a fast moving game, you can play it to a timer as well.

Draw To Score

This drinking game is about spontaneity. You will need sheets of paper, pens and a large space. Write out a list of topics for people to draw like food, travel, sport. Then make a list of items within each topic. Split everyone into 2 even teams with their own referee and corner of the room.

On Go!, the first player of each team is given the same word from the list and must draw it for their team to guess. The team who guesses the slowest all has to take a drink.

High Or Low

Shuffle a deck of cards, dealing a face down card to your first player. This person has to guess if it's high or low. If they guess correctly, deal them another card. If they guess three right, they can continue guessing or pass.

But if they guess a card wrong, they drink to the value of that card. For Jacks, Queens and Kings, the value is 10; Aces are 11. Keep going, until the whole pack's spent.

Beer Blow

This game has nothing to do with strategy or skill. Take a deck of playing cards and place them on top of an empty bottle. Players take it in turns to blow cards from the deck. The person who blows the last card off drinks one beer.

As a bonus: anyone who blows off an Ace also drinks a whole beer. Two Aces blown? That's 2 beers.

Drinking Snap

Get everyone sat around a table and deal everyone cards until the pack runs out. Make sure everyone's pile is facing downwards. The game begins when someone places down a card, so it faces upwards, then the next person does the same. As soon as 2 cards are dealt what are identical, someone shouts snap!

The last person to do it must take a drink.

Freeze or Drink

Unlike the previous drinking party games for adults here, you play this one continuously during your party. Pick someone to be your Mister Freeze.

At any given moment in the party, this person will freeze, like a statue. Anyone who notices does the same. The last person to notice must drink one beer. Then a new Mister Freeze is chosen.

Loosen Words

This game uses cards again and gets funnier as people get drunker. Get 2 players, count down to 3 and show them a card. As quickly as they can, they need to think of a word that starts with the same letter as the playing card. For example, if the card was the 3 of clubs, you could say Clutter, Cat, Cabbage. The person who can't think of a word has to take a drink.

To make the game harder, you can set parameters in each round so people have to think of certain words. Some examples: the animal kingdom; capital cities; French words only; words with 3 syllables.

All In A Name

The aim of this drinking game is to come up with famous people's names (living or dead) that use the first letter of the surname of the previous name. So if that name was Diana Ross, with the surname starting with R, the next name could be Robert Redford. Players play against the clock. Anyone who can't think of a name quickly needs to take a drink.

Across The Bridge

Deal out 10 cards, face down, in a straight line on a table top. This line is called the Bridge.

The first player flips over the first card. If the number is 2 to 10, they're safe – and can flip the next card. But if they flip a Jack, Queen, King or Ace, the player must drink its value (Jack = one sip, Queen is 2, King is 3, Ace is 4). Their next go passes to another player.

Keep the game going, by adding 10 new cards when you're down to the last 2 of the first Bridge. The game ends with the whole pack done.

Flip, Sip or Strip

drink-wheel-300x294.jpg

You can play this game with a coin or a spin-that-wheel type of dial, where each section of the dial lands on an action to take (like in this picture).

Each player takes turns flipping, calling heads or tails. If they guess correctly, the coin is passed to their left. If they guess wrong, the coin is passed to their right and they drink or take off an item of clothing. If you're thinking you can just drink all the time, and not strip, you'd be wrong. Doing the same option twice is not allowed, by the way.

Are You A Match?

This party game is good for small groups of friends who know each other well (or vaguely well).

Take a pair of friends and have them sit back to back with a drink. You as the referee asks them a series of personal questions such as "Which of you goes to bed earliest?" or "Which of you is the messiest?" If the person thinks they're this, they raise their glass in the air; if a person thinks the other person is this, they place their glass on the floor.

If their answers match – they win. But, if the answers don't, both people in the pair need to take a drink. Make sure your questions are not too personal or heavy, you want everyone to have fun and leave your party still as friends.

The Sculptor

Here is another of our creative drinking games. Have everyone takes a bit of their drink before standing up on their feet and keeping still. One person is chosen as your Sculptor who moves between players, changing their positions by moving their arms, legs or head.

The trick is to have the person pose in something they will have difficulty holding. Anyone who breaks their pose, moves or laughs is out of the game and takes a drink as well. Last person standing (literally) wins. However, when that person wins, they get to give the group a group punishment such as 10 press ups. Once done, the next round begins.

Buzz

This drinking game is one where everyone needs to pay attention. Slipping up equals punishment.

Each person takes turns counting, with the first saying '1', the next '2', and so forth. Whenever a player hits a number divisible by seven, they must say 'buzz'. If the player doesn't say 'buzz', they drink. If a player says 'buzz' by mistake, they also drink.

The goal of the game is to see how high a number the group can reach with as few buzzes as possible. This game also works, if you pit 2 teams against each other. If you play this way, make sure each one has a referee, then stay out of their way. Game play can be pretty fierce – so watch out!

Drinking party games for adults are a great excuse to get everyone bonding over a few beers. They're memorable and don't cost anything to set up. This list is a great starting point for anyone looking to shake up their socialising.

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