Categories
Drinking Games

Best Drinking Games with Cards (48+ Games & How to Play!)

Introduction

We have compiled the best Drinking Games with Cards below for your viewing pleasure. This list includes sections for Drinking Games with Playing Cards and Out of the Box Drinking Games as well as Card Drinking Games for 2 People or Couples. Scroll down or click the link for detailed instructions on how to play and/or where to find each game.

Drinking Games with Cards

Drinking Games with Playing Cards (Summary)

Here are the best Drinking Games with Playing Cards. All you need to play is a deck of cards and your drink of choice! Further down this post you can find instructions on how to play each game.

  1. Kings
  2. Asshole
  3. Up the River, Down the River
  4. F*ck the Dealer
  5. Ride the Bus
  6. Beeramid
  7. F*ck You Pyramid
  8. Suits
  9. Tsunami
  10. Drug Dealer
  11. Electricity
  12. Bullsh*t
  13. Horse Race
  14. Blow
  15. Give and Take
  16. Loose Tongues
  17. Ace of Spades
  18. Spoons
  19. Sociables
  20. Across the Bridge
  21. Drown the Clown
  22. Screw Your Neighbor
  23. Slapjack
  24. Friends and Enemies
  25. Kemps
  26. Golf aka Cabo
  27. Indian Poker

Out of the Box Drinking Games with Cards

Here are some of the most popular Out of the Box Drinking Games with Cards you can purchase!

  1. These Cards Will Get You Drunk, $15.99 on Amazon
  2. You Laugh, You Drink, $9.99 on Amazon
  3. You Lie, You Drink, $16 on Amazon
  4. Drunk Stoned or Stupid [A Party Game], $30 on Amazon
  5. Under the Influence
  6. Do or Drink, $29.99 on Amazon
  7. Risk It or Drink It, $27.99 on Amazon
  8. Sotally Tober, $19.95 on Amazon
  9. Incohearent, $19.82 on Amazon
  10. Last Call, $9.99 on Amazon
  11. Tipsy Chicken, $20 on Amazon
  12. Drink Drank Drunk, $19.99 on Amazon
  13. Truth or Drink Card Game, $34.99 on Amazon
  14. Never Have I Ever Card Game, $24.99 on Amazon
  15. Booze Clues, $18 on Amazon
  16. Buzzed, $24.74 on Amazon
  17. Stir the Pot, $24.98 on Amazon
  18. Dizzy Date, $24.99 on Amazon
  19. King’s Cup Extreme, $19.99 on Amazon
  20. Let’s Get Drunk, $9.99 on Amazon
  21. Dunzo, $15.99 on Amazon

Drinking Games with Playing Cards (How to Play)

Find instructions to the best 26 drinking games with playing cards below!

1. Kings

  1. Set up a deck of cards face down in a circle surrounding a beer can (or other drink).
  2. Players sit in a circle around the can.
  3. Players take turns picking a card from the circle.
  4. Follow the rules of the card picked (see rules below).
List of playing card values with associated rules for the Kings Drinking Game.

2. Asshole

  1. Person with the 3 of spades goes first (places it in middle of table)
  2. The next player (to the left) then has 4 options:
    • Play a card of a higher value, which is considered a normal turn.
    • Play a card of the same value, which skips the next player.
    • Clear the pile with a clear card (2 or red 3).
    • Pass and drink (if all your cards are lower and you have no clear cards, you drink and hope for a better next turn).
  3. Person to the left goes next (throughout the game)
    • However, if at any point someone has a chance to Complete a Set, they can go out of turn
  4. Once the cards are cleared, a player can lead with doubles – two cards of the same value (e.g. two 5s), or even triples if they so choose.
    • Once doubles are played, the only options for other players are to play doubles of an equal or higher value, clear the pile with a clear card, or pass and drink.
  5. The game continues around the circle until everyone gets rid of all their cards:
    • First player to discard all their cards becomes the President.
    • Last player to discard all their cards becomes the Asshole.
    • Variation: Second player to discard all their cards becomes Vice President / second-to-last player to discard all their cards becomes Vice Asshole.

3. Up the River, Down the River

The dealer asks each player for their guess before dealing each of their four cards face up. The dealer will go around the table asking each player to guess:

  1. Card 1 – Red or Black
  2. Card 2 – Higher or Lower
  3. Card 3 – In Between or Outside
  4. Card 4 – Pick a Suit

Now that every player has their four cards dealt, it’s time to go up the river and down the river, also known as Give and Take. The dealer should lay out 10 cards in the middle of the table as shown below. The dealer flips the cards one by one. If a player has a card of the same value as the card flipped, they give or take drinks depending on the location of the card.

Diagram of two rows of cards with designated actions and number of seconds (e.g., "Take 2 Seconds") and arrows going around indicating the order in which to flip the cards

4. F*ck the Dealer

  1. The dealer turns to the person to their left to be the first guesser
  2. The guesser guesses what the card is on the top of the deck (2 through Ace)
  3. If the guesser is correct, the dealer take two drinks and starts the same process with the next player
  4. If the guesser is incorrect on their first guess, the dealer tells the guesser whether the card is higher or lower than the card guessed
  5. The guesser takes a second guess
  6. If the guesser is correct, the dealer drinks and starts with the next person
  7. If the guesser is incorrect, the guesser drinks (this counts as one win for the dealer)
  8. If the dealer wins 3 times in a row, they pass the dealer role to the left
  9. As cards are played, the cards should be placed in a row from highest to lowest, which gives the players a visual aid for guessing

5. Ride the Bus

Ride the Bus is played in 3 phases:

Phase 1 – Red or Black, Higher or Lower, In Between or Outside, Pick a Suit

The dealer asks each player for their guess before dealing each of their four cards face up. The dealer will go around the table asking each player to guess:

  1. Card 1 – Red or Black
  2. Card 2 – Higher or Lower
  3. Card 3 – In Between or Outside
  4. Card 4 – Pick a Suit
Phase 2 – Pyramid
  1. Lay out 15 cards face down in the shape of a pyramid (5 cards in bottom row, 4 above that, then 3, then 2, then 1 card in the top row)
  2. Dealer flips over the cards one by one, starting with the bottom row and working their way up
  3. If a player has a card that matches the card flipped, they can make someone else drink for the number of seconds corresponding to each row (bottom row – 1 sip, row second from the bottom – 2 sips, row above that – 3 sips, row above that – 4 sips, top row – 5 sips)
  4. A player can choose to hold onto their card in hopes a card of the same value appears in a higher row, but that is a risk because the player with the most cards left once the pyramid cards are all flipped over must ride the bus
Phase 3 – Ride the Bus
  1. The bus rider is the player who had the most cards at the end of the Pyramid phase
  2. If no one had any cards left, the bus rider is the person who ran out of cards last
  3. The bus rider must guess four cards in a row correctly or drink for every card dealt. If they guess incorrectly, they must start over. They continue until they guess all four cards correctly using the following rules (same as Phase 1):
    • Card 1 – Red or Black
    • Card 2 – Higher or Lower
    • Card 3 – In Between or Outside
    • Card 4 – Pick a Suit

6. Beeramid

  1. Lay out 15 cards face down in the shape of a pyramid (5 cards in bottom row, 4 above that, then 3, then 2, then 1 card in the top row)
  2. Deal 5 cards face down to each player
  3. Dealer flips first card in the bottom row
  4. Whoever claims they have the same card in their hand orders another player to take 1 drink (bottom row = 1 drink, row above that = 2 drinks, middle row = 3 drinks, second row from top = 4 drinks, top row = 5 drinks)
  5. The player who was ordered to drink can either drink or call out the other player for bluffing
    • If the player who was ordered to drink calls out the other player for bluffing and is CORRECT, the bluffer must drink DOUBLE
    • If the player who was ordered to drink calls out the other player for bluffing and is INCORRECT, the player who called out the bluffer must drink TRIPLE
  6. If a player has multiple of the same card in their hand, they can make one person drink for both cards or split them up between multiple players
  7. After someone drinks for the first card, the dealer flips over the remaining cards in the bottom row before working their way up through the rest of the rows
  8. Variation: Add rows if more than four people are playing

7. F*ck You Pyramid

  1. Lay out 10 cards face down in the shape of a pyramid (4 cards in bottom row, 3 above that, then 2, then 1 card in the top row)
  2. Deal out the rest of the cards evenly among the players
  3. Flip the bottom left card of the pyramid
  4. Whoever has a card matching the value (e.g., Jack) or suit (e.g., spade) of the card facing up can say “F*ck You [Insert Name Here]” and put their card on top of the card in the pyramid
  5. The player whose name was called has to drink (1 time for cards in the bottom row, 2 times for the row above that, 3 times for the row second from the top, and 4 times for the top row)
  6. Players can continue the round by throwing their cards down on the card previously played. For example, if the 8 of spades was flipped, then the Jack of spades was played on top of that, anyone with a Jack or spade can put their card down next and say “F*ck You [Insert Name Here]”
  7. Once players stop putting their cards down on the first card, the dealer flips the next card in the bottom row and the game continues as it did in the first round
  8. When each round is finished, the dealer continues flipping over cards in the bottom row before working their way up through the rest of the rows
  9. Once all the cards in the pyramid have been flipped and the final round is complete, players must drink 4 times for each card remaining in their hand
  10. It is up to each player to weigh the benefit of saving cards for higher-value rows vs the risk of ending up with more cards in their hand at the end of the game

8. Suits

  1. Someone picks a suit
  2. The dealer deals cards face up
  3. The first person to get a card of the selected suit drinks for the number on the card (e.g., Ace=1, 2-10, Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13)
  4. The kicker is the other people at the table go around the circle counting one by one, so how long the person actually drinks is up to the group
    • The person to the left of the drinker says “1” after the drinker starts drinking, then the next person to the left says “2,” and so on until the count is finished
  5. If the drinker finishes their drink before the counting is finished, whoever’s turn it was in the count must then drink instead of the drinker (starting from the beginning of the count)
  6. If a counter says the wrong number, they must then drink instead of the initial drinker
  7. If the count finishes and the drinker still has some of their drink remaining, the drinker must pick a suit before they put their drink down
  8. If the drinker puts their drink down before picking a suit, they must drink for the same count again
  9. The game ends when you run out of cards

9. Tsunami

  1. The dealer places one card face up on the table.
  2. It is one player’s turn at a time.
  3. The player’s goal is to guess correctly on five cards in a row.
  4. The player may guess any of the following for each card:
    • Higher than the last card dealt
    • Lower than the last card dealt
    • Purple – Dealer flips two cards – one card must be red and one card must be black
    • Tsunami – Dealer flips four cards – two cards must be red and two cards must be black
  5. If the player guesses incorrectly before five cards are flipped (not including the initial card), they drink for one second for every card on the table
  6. It remains that player’s turn until they guess five cards correctly
  7. Once a player guesses five cards correctly, the turn passes to the next person, and the cards remain on the table

10. Drug Dealer

  1. Remove all cards from the deck except the following:
    • Red King – “Drug King”
    • Red Ace – “Cop”
    • Low black cards for the number of remaining people – “Drug Seekers”
  2. The Drug King’s goal is to wink at every Drug Seeker to sell them drugs without being caught by the Cop
  3. The Cop’s goal is to identify and arrest the Drug King
  4. If a Drug Seeker gets winked at, they have received their drugs and place their card face down on the table
  5. The Cop must drink for every person that gets a drug deal (after the round so the Cop doesn’t reveal their identity)
  6. If the Cop catches the Drug King dealing drugs, the Cop reveals their identity and arrests the Drug King, who then has to drink for every Drug Seeker who did not get their drugs
  7. Shuffle up and re-deal to play again

11. Electricity

  1. The dealer deals the cards one at a time face up
  2. If you get dealt a card that is the same value or suit as the card before or after you, you must drink for the number of seconds on your card
  3. You drink any time you are part of a connection that is made or renewed, for example:
    • You have a spade and the person in front of you gets dealt a spade
    • You have a 7 and the person behind you gets dealt a 7
    • You and the person in front of you both have a spade, then they get dealt another spade
    • You and the person behind you both have a heart, then the person behind them (two places behind you) gets dealt a heart
  4. The game ends when you run out of cards

12. Bullsh*t

  1. The dealer deals a full deck of cards to players around the table
  2. The person to the left of the dealer starts by playing a number of 2s (1-4)
    • The person may or may not actually have 2s, so they have to “bullshit” if they have none
  3. The next person to the left then plays a number of 3s
  4. The next person to the left then plays a number of 4s, and so on and so forth
    • Once you get to Ace, the next person loops back around to 2
  5. If you get caught bullshitting, you drink and take the pile of cards into your hand
  6. If you falsely accuse someone of bullshitting, you drink and take the pile of cards into your hand
  7. The first person to get rid of all their cards wins

13. Horse Race

  1. Place four Aces (the horses in this game) from a deck of cards at one end of the table
  2. Place eight playing cards lining the table the long way (becomes sort of an L shape with the Aces)
  3. Everyone picks a suit of the Ace they want to win (horse they’re betting on)
  4. The “Announcer” flips one card at a time from the deck, announcing it like a horse race
  5. The Ace matching the suit flipped by the Announcer moves up one row
  6. Once all four Aces make it to a row, the corresponding card lining the table is flipped. The Ace with the matching suit then has to move BACK one row
  7. The Ace that first makes it past all eight cards lining the table is the winning horsePlayers who pick a losing horse must finish their drinks
  8. Alternative wagers (e.g., $1) placed at the beginning of the game are encouraged
Horse Race Setup: Four aces lined up on one end of the table, each with its own arrow pointing toward the finish line. Eight playing cards line the course.

14. Blow (aka Blow Cards aka Beer Blow aka Bottle Blow)

  1. Put a deck of cards on a beer bottle or can
  2. Take turns blowing cards off
  3. Whoever blows the last card off has to drink the beer

15. Give and Take (Truth or Dare)

  1. Lay out two rows of 6 cards
  2. The top row is the “Truth” row
  3. The bottom row is the “Dare” row
  4. Deal 4 cards to each player
  5. Flip the first “Truth” card. Any player who has a card matching the value of the card flipped (e.g., 7, Jack, Ace) must answer a “Truth” question posed by the group.
    • If they choose to not answer, they must drink based on the position of the card (2 seconds for the first card, then 4, 6, 8, 10 seconds, and finish your drink for the 6th card)
  6. Next Flip the first “Dare” card and follow the same process
  7. Alternate between Truth and Dare until you flip all 12 cards
  8. If a card is flipped and no one has a match, feel free to take another card from the deck until someone has a match

16. Loose Tongues

  1. Two players face off
  2. The dealer flips over a card
  3. The first player to say a word starting with the first letter of the suit flipped wins
  4. Loser drinks
  5. Variations include:
    • Using the second/third/etc. letter of the suit flipped
    • Using the first/second/third letter of the number flipped

17. Ace of Spades

  1. Place a deck of cards in the middle of the table
  2. Say, “Ace of Spades” and flip the top card
  3. If the card you flipped is not the Ace of Spades, drink
  4. Continue until you pick the Ace of Spades
  5. If playing with a group, take turns saying “Ace of Spades” and flipping the top card

18. Spoons

  1. Count the number of people playing
  2. If the number of people playing is 5 (for example), take 5 groups of 4 cards of equal value from the deck (e.g., four 5s, four 7s, four Jacks, four Queens, four Aces)
  3. Shuffle up the cards taken from the deck and distribute them evenly among the players
  4. Get one less spoon than the number of people playing (4 spoons in this example)
  5. Spread out the spoons in the middle of the table (equidistant from all players if possible)
  6. All players should look at their cards
  7. The goal is to get 4 of the same card, at which point the player can grab a spoon
  8. When the dealer yells “Pass,” players pass one card they don’t want to the right
  9. The dealer continues to yell “Pass” until someone gets 4 of the same card and grabs a spoon
  10. When one player grabs a spoon, the rest of the players can grab the other spoons
  11. Whichever player does not get a spoon must drink a pre-established amount (e.g., five seconds, finish their drink, etc.)
  12. If two players grab the same spoon, the player whose hand covers more of the spoon gets the spoon
  13. If the player who first grabs a spoon did not have 4 of a kind, they must finish their drink

19. Sociables

It’s like Kings, but easier. Every card just involves different people drinking. Here are the rules for each card:

  1. Ace – Drink 1 time
  2. Two – Drink 2 times
  3. Three – Drink 3 times
  4. Four – Make someone else drink 1 time
  5. Five – Make someone else drink 2 times
  6. Six – Make someone else drink 3 times
  7. Seven – Give 7 drinks (can split among players)
  8. Eight – Give 8 drinks (can split among players)
  9. Nine – Social (everyone drinks – cheers!)
  10. Ten – Double social (everyone drinks twice – cheers twice!)
  11. Jack – Finish your drink
  12. Queen – Make some else finish their drink
  13. King – Waterfall – Everyone starts drinking at the same time. You keep drinking at least until the person before you stops drinking.

20. Across the Bridge

  1. Place 10 cards face down in a row (the bridge)
  2. Players take turn flipping the cards over one-by-one in order to cross the bridge
  3. If the card flipped is a Number (2-9), the player and bridge are safe and the player flips the next card
  4. If the card flipped is a Face Card or Ace, the player drinks, adds card(s) to the end of the bridge, and passes their turn to the next player:
    • Jack – Player takes 1 drink and adds 1 card to the end of the bridge
    • Queen – Player takes 2 drinks and adds 2 cards to the end of the bridge
    • King – Player takes 3 drinks and adds 3 cards to the end of the bridge
    • Ace – Player takes 4 drinks and adds 4 cards to the end of the bridge
  5. The objective of the game is for someone to make it across the bridge by flipping the final card of the bridge and having it be a Number (2-9)

21. Drown the Clown

  1. The dealer deals every player one card face down
  2. On the count of 3, everyone flips over their card
  3. If any two players have the same card (value, not suit), the first player to point at the other and yell “Clown!” wins
  4. The loser must drink
  5. If anyone incorrectly yells “Clown!” they must finish their drink

22. Screw Your Neighbor

  1. The dealer deals each player one card face down
  2. The person to the dealer’s left looks at their card and decides whether to keep it or swap with the player to their left, with the goal of getting the highest card (or not getting the lowest card)
  3. The next person then does the same- looks at their card and decides whether to keep it or swap with the player to their left
  4. Gameplay continues to the left around the circle until it gets to the dealer
  5. The dealer looks at their card and decides whether to keep it or swap with the top card in the deck
  6. Everyone then reveals their card and the person who ends up with the lowest card drinks
    • Tip: Clarify with the group upfront whether Ace is high or low

23. Slapjack

  1. The dealer deals out a full deck of cards evenly among the players
  2. Each player places their cards face down in a stack in front of them
  3. Players take turns flipping over their top card and placing it in the center of the table
    • Players may NOT peek at their own card before the rest of the group sees it
  4. If the card is a Jack, the first player to slap the Jack wins the middle pile and adds it to their stack
  5. Everyone who does not slap the Jack first drinks
  6. If someone slaps a card that is NOT a Jack, they drink and take a card from their hand and put it in the middle pile as a penalty
  7. The player who ends up with the whole deck in their hand is the winner

24. Friends and Enemies

  1. Deal the cards out evenly to all players.
  2. The dealer plays their first card face up in the middle of the table and picks someone to drink for the number of seconds equal to the number on the card (Ace=1, 2=2, 3=3,…10=10, J=11, Q=12, K=13 seconds)
  3. If the chosen player has a card with the same value as the card played, they can play the matching card and choose someone else to drink (deflect the drinks)
  4. If someone else (not the chosen player) has a card of the same value, they can play it to save the chosen player and deflect the drinks to someone else
  5. The player that has to drink plays the next card
  6. The game ends when no cards are left

25. Kemps

Before the Game:
  1. Each player picks a teammate
  2. Teammates come up with a secret signal to notify their teammate if they get Kemps
The game:
  1. Deal each player 4 cards
  2. Place 4 cards face up in the middle of the table
  3. Once the 4 cards are in the middle of the table, any player can take a card from the middle and replace it with a card from their hand (still face up)
  4. Each player’s goal is to get 4 of a kind in their hand
    • This becomes a fast-paced flurry of swaps between player’s hands and the middle
  5. Once the player’s stop swapping cards between their hand and the middle, the middle 4 cards are swept into a junk pile and 4 new cards from the deck are placed in the middle
  6. The game continues until someone gets 4 of a kind, at which point they must notify their teammate with their secret signal
  7. If the teammate sees the signal and yells “Kemps,” that team wins
  8. If a teammate incorrectly yells “Kemps,” that team is disqualified
  9. If a member of another team notices the secret signal and yells “Counter-Kemps,” the accused player must show their hand
    • If they have 4 of a kind, the team that yelled “Counter-Kemps” wins
    • If they do NOT have 4 of a kind, the team that yelled “Counter-Kemps” is disqualified
  10. If you lose, you drink
  11. These are relatively quick games, so you can play again right after

26. Golf aka Cabo

  1. Deal 4 cards to each player, placing two face up and two face down in a square
  2. Place the deck in the middle with one card facing up
  3. The object of the game is to get the lowest score
  4. Card values: 2-10=2-10, Jack/Queen=10, Ace=11, King=0
  5. Each player takes turns either picking from the deck or picking the middle card facing up
  6. After the player takes a card from the middle, they should then discard one of their cards on top of the middle card facing up
    • As an example, they could pick a 2 from the deck and replace the 9 in their hand facing up (and discard the 9)
    • They could also replace one of their cards facing down, but they won’t know what the card facing down is until they discard it
  7. Players continue taking turns until someone thinks they have the lowest hand, at which point they knock, and everyone else gets one more turn
  8. Players tally up their scores and the player with the LOWEST score wins (Golf!)
  9. If you lose, drink for the difference between your score and the winning score

27. Indian Poker

  1. Deal one card to each player
  2. Each player places the card on their forehead facing outward so each player see everyone else’s cards but not their own
  3. Starting to the left of the dealer, players bet a number of sips based on how confident they are that their card is the highest
  4. Players who fold must drink for the number of sips the last player bet
  5. Losers of the hand must drink for the final number of sips bet

Card Drinking Games for 2 People or Couples

A lot of people ask which drinking games with cards are the best for either 2 people or a couple. Here is the summary list of the best of the best. You can scroll up for the detailed instructions on how to play each game.

  • 9. Tsunami
  • 14. Blow (aka Blow Cards aka Beer Blow aka Bottle Blow)
  • 16. Loose Tongues
  • 20. Across the Bridge
  • 26. Golf aka Cabo
  • 27. Indian Poker
  • The vast majority of the Out of the Box games listed above can also be played with 2 people or couples.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoy these games as much as we do! As always, please drink responsibly, know your limits, and have fun!