A-Z of drinking games you’ve got to play (but probably shouldn’t)

Drinking games are an incredible way to break the ice during pres. From first year to third year, these games will test your friendships, create liabilities, and offer a small window of opportunity for flatcest.

Here’s an A-Z of drinking games you’re likely to play before the end of the year, and rules and tips for them.

The ID game

Do you ever doubt what your friends really think of you?  The impression you gave off from the last night out? Is your hangxiety real? What are their opinions on the guys you have hooked up with?

Look no further, because once your ID is out and lined up in the chosen order, and the ID list is AirDropped to everyone, you’ll find out where you are on the “Most likely to be into BDSM” scale.

Jai Ho

After the ID game, to drown your sorrows, play Jai Ho.

The rules are simple: Click play on Jai Ho, and go around in the circle chugging every time “Jai Ho” is said.

With the luck of the night, it’ll land on you every time for the longest syllable.

Three vodka Red Bulls later, you’re ready for the night out, having saved yourself the money and hassle of buying a drink at the club. Of course, that saving will mean very little when you enter your overdraft after buying three TREB cans at Pumphreys.

Paranoia

While I wouldn’t recommend doing this with your potential or current housemates, Paranoia is an unavoidable, nerve-wracking game, which will most definitely test your insecurities, loyalties, and 100 per cent reform your friendships.

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You whisper a “most likely to…” question to the person on your left, then they silently point to whoever they believe is the right fit. It’s then down to a game of odds on whether they find out or not.

Do your friends actually like you? Who would they least trust with a secret? Who is most likely to get with someone in the flat? Paranoia will answer all your questions, whether you wanted the answers or not.

My advice? Avoid playing this with anyone you’ll have to share a kitchen with for the next nine months. The house curse is real, and no amount of passive-aggressive group chat messages will undo what’s been said.

Ring of fire

Ring of fire is not to be taken lightly.

To play, arrange a deck of cards face down in a circle around a central cup. Players take turns drawing a card, with each number corresponding to a different rule. The rules vary between flats and houses (RIP if your housemates are ruggers or hockey boys), but the classic version goes something like this:

• Ace: Waterfall. Everyone starts drinking in sequence, and players can only stop once the person before them has stopped.
• Two: You. Choose someone to drink.
• Three: Me. Take a drink yourself.
• Four: Thumb master. Place your thumb on the table at any point during the game; the last person to copy you drinks.
• Five: Guys drink.
• Six: Girls drink.
• Seven: Heaven. Raise your hand; the last person to do so drinks.
• Eight: Mate. Choose a drinking partner who drinks whenever you do.
• Nine: Rhyme. Say a word, and go around the circle finding words that rhyme with it until someone slips up.
• Ten: Categories. Pick a category, and everyone takes turns naming something that fits until somebody runs out of answers.
• Jack: Make a rule that everyone must follow for the rest of the game.
• Queen: Question master. Anyone who answers a question asked by the question master drinks.
• King: Add a drink to the central cup, known as the “King’s cup.” The person who draws the final king traditionally has to drink the mixture.

The amount to remember will always remain the downfall of each player. With the over competitive friend, and the lightweight who has finished all their wine, this game will always end in a disaster. 

Ultimately, pres drinking games are less about the rules and more about the lore-building. Just remember you can always skip a round, or call it a night. Your bank account and dignity will thank you, I promise.

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