Top 17 Drinking Games For Large Groups: Let’s Get Drunk & Happy! 

In the matter of drinking games, the first thing that comes to our mind is parties, music, and drinking, undeniably. We can all agree that the most lavish parties are made of large groups in most usual circumstances. Yes, sometimes finding adequate games, trying to suit every guest’s preferences, may seem like an extreme sport. It’s not gonna be that extreme after a while, let me spoil it! 

We mixed people’s recommendations (party hosters, party games addicts’), our research & also our personal experiences with games, and drummed up a list of the most preferred party games for large groups. We’ll also tell you how to play each one of them, along with some meticulous bits of information. All of these combined will help you make the difference and inevitably come to a conclusion. Hooray! 

• Reminders before playing;
• The games:

1. Fuzzy Duck;
2. I’m Going To The Bar;
3. Heads Up;
4. Cup Swap;
5. Drinktionary;
6. Think!;
7. Paranoia;
8. The Alphabet Game;
9. Pass Out;
10. Am I lyin’?;
11. Task Master;
12. Flip, Sip, or Strip;
13. Drunk UNO;
14. Thumper;
15. Mr. And Mrs.;
16. Attached;
17. Go Fish;

• Additional options you may consider;

Reminders Before Playing These Games

Have self-control when playing drinking games, don’t overdrink. Do not think that these games are always harmless. Everything that gets exaggerated can lead to risky behavior. Listen to your limits and know when to stop. 

Make sure everyone in the room is okay with the game rules. If you’ve already picked one game, tell everyone about it before you start playing. To be honest, we’d recommend you have 2-3 options, and let everyone vote for the game they prefer most. 

If someone doesn’t drink, don’t make them. People sometimes tend to let teetotalers (or simply people who don’t want to drink at a certain time) out of games, because these are drinking games and they refuse to drink. Whoever doesn’t want to drink alcohol can drink any other beverage instead. It’s all up to the players & their personalities. 

When playing, everyone is allowed to stop drinking. We know rules are rules, but at any point, even if someone has to drink for the sake of the game, but they don’t feel like it, they may just take a sip or skip the drinking part. The main goal of these games is to bring the fun. People don’t have fun if they’re forced to do things.

Analyze the party ‘theme’ and then choose the game. Well, not literally the theme. We mean take a look at who you’re inviting, their preferences, the age range, the amount of alcohol they can drink, and all that. There are different types of games. Some of them are only fun & laughs, and some others also make you use your creativity, get competitive, and show some skills. 

Make a comfortable place to play. This matters especially if you’re the one hosting the game night. The designated place to sit, drinks, snacks, music, the game space & even the lighting have an incredible impact on the game energy.

1. Fuzzy Duck

Required: Drinks only.

The idea of the game: Keeping you concentrated and making you memorize 3 sentences (or not-so) you’ll need if you want to remain sober.

Setting up ‘Fuzzy Duck’ & the gameplay: This duck is hella cute, but no, you won’t need one to play. Start by sitting around the table or on the floor. One of you (randomly chosen) starts first by saying ‘Fuzzy Duck’. The game continues to the left. Everyone continues saying the same 2-words until one of you decides to say does he? Now the game goes in the opposite direction, and the player on the right may now say ‘Ducky Fuzz’ or ‘Fuzzy Duck’. 

It continues in that direction until someone asks the same question once again, and the direction changes. This goes on and on until someone misspells the Duzzy Fuzz and says something inappropriate for that cute duck :(( The first player to mess up (which surprisingly happens pretty quick), takes a sip. 

2. I’m Going To The Bar

Required: Alcohol/ Other beverages;

The idea of the game: Making you listen carefully to what your friends say & keeping your mind only on the game. 

Setting up ‘I’m Going To The Bar’ & the gameplay: Classics have my heart. This is undoubtedly the grown-up version of ‘I’m Going To A Picnic’… One of you starts the game by saying the game name, or saying an actual bar name, or any other place, and adding what drink you’ll get in that bar. It may sound something like this: ‘I’m going to the bar and I’m ordering an Appletini’. 

Now, continuing clockwise, the other player repeats what you said, and adds another drink ‘… an Appletini and a beer’. The next player says the same (in the right order) and adds one more item. It continues all the same until any of you messes up the drink order, takes too long to add another drink, or forgets to mention one at all. When that happens, that player drinks. Cheers! 

3. Heads Up

Required: Drinks & Heads Up App (Available on Google Play and App Store, for free).

The idea of the game: Show your best skills in team working, and also how creative you get when explaining stuff.

Setting up ‘Heads Up’ & the gameplay: Charades, specifically Heads Up, no matter what age, always gets us! The game works best when played in teams. Firstly, make sure to get the app on whatever phone you use. This drinking game works best if played in teams. Next, sit in front of your team, choose one category in the app, and place the phone on your forehead, so your teammates can see what’s written on it. What they should do is explain what’s on the screen. 

Every time you guess correctly, move up and down the phone so it continues to the next word. You can also skip if you have no clue what they’re saying. Both teams do the same, and whoever has guessed the most words in a specific time ( 2 minutes would be fine), wins the game. The losers have to drink… 

4. Cup Swap

Required: Two cups & one spoon for each player, and beverages. 

The idea of the game: Testing how fast your hands work, especially when you know that the faster you are, the less you’ll drink. 

Setting up ‘Cup Swap’ & the gameplay: I assume you’re familiar with the equipment already. I bet you thought of the Spoons card game when we mentioned spoons, but nah, that’s not it. Sit somewhere comfortably, near a flat surface, so you can place the cup. Each one of you has 2 cups in front of them (one full of alcohol and the other one empty) and a spoon. 

Set the timer for one minute. During that minute, each player has to pour as much of their drink as they can, only using their spoon. After the timer is done, everyone has to drink the remaining drink on the first cup. Make sure the spoons’ size is the same for everyone, and also try to measure the distance between the two cups, so the game becomes fair. 

5. Drinktionary

Required: Paper, pen & drinks.

The idea of the game: Revealing how far you can go with your artistic & drawing skills, especially when you’re not quite sober. 

Setting up ‘Drinktionary’ & the gameplay: It is not exactly Pictionary. There’s this little twist called drinking! Taking turns, one player is the artist, the other is the whisperer (as we like to call them), and all the other players sit in front of them. The whisperer starts the stopwatch and whispers any random word in the artist’s ear, making sure no one else hears it. 

Now, the artist should draw that specific word, as simple and clear as possible, so the other players can guess. Once the players guess the word, the artist takes a sip for every 20 seconds passed. For example, if it took y’all 1 minute to guess, the artist takes 3 sips of their drink. Well, your friends can get a little evil and continue to torment you, but, we’re begging them for mercy, mercy! 

6. Think!

Required: Beverages. That’s all.

The idea of the game: Makes you think fast and come up with names. Real ones.  The drinking amount depends on how fast your brain works. 

Setting up ‘Think!’ & the gameplay: Often found as ‘Drink While You Think’, this party game brings endless fun. All you have to do is sit in a circle, wherever you want, but make sure you all can hear each other. Now, one player starts by saying a celebrity’s name. A random example would be David Schwimmer. Now, going clockwise, the other player says another celebrity’s name, starting with the first letter of the previous celebrity’s surname. 

As an example, now you could say Selena Gomez. You should do all this thinking while you drink. So, if it takes you 30 seconds to think of the name, you should drink continuously for 30 seconds. And to be honest, thinking gets a bit overwhelming once you get drunk… If you want to make the game a bit more complicated, make a rule that no name is mentioned more than once. 

7. Paranoia 

Required: People to play with (a reminder) & alcohol. 

The idea of the game: Testing how much you can suffer without asking questions, even if you’re dying out of curiosity. 

Setting up ‘Paranoia’ & the gameplay: Who is this paranoia and why is it coming between couples? About the game, start by sitting around the table, or in a circle on the floor. One of you volunteers to go first. He/she starts by whispering a question to the player on their right. The question should be something about the people playing, such as: who has the worse taste in men/women? 

The player you’re whispering to has to point to whoever they think relates to the question, without saying a word. Now, if the pointed player is curious and can’t help but ask a question about the question, they have to drink. Otherwise, the game continues to the right and goes on the same flow. Well, the good thing is that besides getting drunk, if someone asks questions, it also helps on getting to know each other better. 

8. The Alphabet Game

Required: Alcohol or other beverages. 

The idea of the game: Check how rich your vocabulary is & how fast you’ll find specific words. 

Setting up ‘The Alphabet Game’ & the gameplay: What’s the 10th letter of the alphabet? You had to start from A and use your fingers to keep count, didn’t you? Understandable. Everyone sits near each other. Taking each player’s ideas, choose one category you want to use (for example food). Now, the first player starts with A. They have to say a food starting with A, which could be avocado. This proceeds with B, C, till Z.

Once a player messes up, takes way too long to answer, or wants to skip their turn, they should drink. The idea is to say a word as fast as possible, so you don’t leave time for the next player to think too much. Say the first word that comes to your mind. You can also play the game in all categories, so you’re not limited & the game goes simpler and faster. 

9. Pass Out

Required: the game (available on Amazon) & drinks.

The idea of the game: Getting you on that competitive spirit, concentrated & all in the game. 

Setting up ‘Pass Out’ & the gameplay: You thought we will leave board games aside? Huh, shame on you. We could never! Actually, there are only 4 markers in the game, for 4 players. But, there may play 4 players, and the others drink when required. Or, take turns playing with the markers. There are many options available. Straight to the point, the red marker starts first. Each player in turn throws the dice and moves the playing marker to whatever number the dice showed.

 If the blue marker had to move for 3, they would stop on ‘green take a drink’, meaning that the player who has the green marker, drinks. While playing, it may occur by stopping on the pass-out card squares, which means drawing a card, and doing what it says. Also, once you make a complete revolution around the board, you may draw a cute pink elephant card. Laughs & alcohol. No better combo. 

10. Am I Lyin’?

Required: Small papers, a pen, dice & drinks. 

The idea of the game: Showing how good you are at making others believe what you say, mixing all your expressions, the reality of the story & your imagination as well. 

Setting up ‘Am I Lyin’? & the gameplay:  We teach kids that lying is bad. Okay, it doesn’t hurt doing it once in a while… To start, work together and write whatever nouns on some small paper. It could be anything. Home items, food, animals, people, just random ones. Fold these papers, put them in a bowl, and mix mix. Next, each player takes turns taking one paper & throwing the dice (without letting the others see the number). 

If it’s an even number, you tell a real story which should include the word on the letter you picked. If it’s an odd number, you use your imagination and make up a story. After you finish with your real/made-up story, everyone guesses if you told the truth or an unexisting story. Everyone who guesses wrong drinks. If they guess correctly, you drink.

11. Task Master

Required: Drinks. 

The idea of the game: Testing your limits and making you complete great (or not so) challenges.

Setting up ‘Task Master’ & the gameplay: every time, but every single time I hear this name, I immediately think of Thumb Master. To play Task Master, using the Rock-Paper-Scissors, or any other technique, choose the first task master. This means that they have the privilege of making a challenge (a task) for any member or group playing. You can also include strangers (such as kissing a stranger). 

Everyone who successfully completes their tasks becomes the new task master. If you fail your task you have to drink half your drink (at least you tried), and if you refuse to complete the task (if it’s all out of your shell) you finish your drink. We’d recommend you put all your creativity while making the tasks, so they bring the most fun out of it. 

12. Flip, Sip, Or Strip

Required: A coin & alcohol.

The idea of the game: Checking if you’re lucky enough & how strong your intuition is. 

Setting up ‘Flip, Sip Or Strip’ & the gameplay: Ahh, how much we love flipping money… To start playing, chose one player to start first. All they should do is flip the coin, and while it’s in the air call it heads or tails. If guessed correctly, the coin is passed to the player on the left. If guessed incorrectly, you take a sip of your drink. Optionally, after you drink, you get another chance to flip the coin.

 If you fail two times in a row, you have to strip one item of your clothing. You may also add your house rules, such as if someone guesses correctly two or more times in a row, they can make someone else in the room drink. 

13. Drunk UNO

Required: UNO deck, drinks. 

The idea of the game: Keeping you concentrated in the game, so you don’t forget the rules & don’t let your ‘opponents’ miss their shots (literally, drinking shots).

Setting up ‘Drunk UNO’ & the gameplay: Can we please take one 1 minute to appreciate drinking card games? Thank you! All it takes to play UNO as a drinking game, are some simple rules. Firstly, you should know the cards’ meaning and how to play the standard version of the game. Next, there will be specific amounts of shots that should be drunk for specific actions. 

For example, if you lose your turn because of a skip or reverse card, you take one drink. If a +4 card is applied to you, you take 4 drinks. If you forget to announce ‘UNO!’ when you have only 1 card left, you should take 4 drinks. You’re also free to add any new entertaining rule you want. Drunk UNO till the end! 

14. Thumper

Required: Drinks for each player & your hands. 

The idea of the game: Challenge how sharp your memory is, while trying to remember everyone’s hand signals. 

Setting up ‘Thumper’ & the gameplay: Thumper is basically all about doing stuff with your hands. Everyone thinks of one sign or anything you can do with your hands (scratch your eye, plug your nose, or even weirder things). All the players walk around the room performing their signs but pay attention to remember everyone’s signs, along with yours. After picking someone as your leader, everyone thumps on the table. The leader asks ‘What’s the name of the game?’ You reply ‘Thumper!’. The leader also asks ‘Why do we play?’, and you say ‘To get ducked up!’. 

Now, the leader starts by throwing their hand sign (or whatever), continuing with a sign of any other player. Now, whoever that sign belongs to, continues the game. Throws his sign first, that someone else’s, and this goes on repeatedly. If someone messes up, takes too long to do something, or forgets it’s their turn, they drink. Also, whoever loses, besides drinking, becomes the new leader. The leader does all the same things over again, including the questions. 

15. Mr. And Mrs.

Required: Drinks only. 

The idea of the game: Make y’all see how good you know each other, or even give you new bits of information about the other players. 

Setting up ‘Mr. And Mrs.’ & the gameplay: Mr. and Mrs., or Mr. and Mr., or Mrs. and Mrs., it honestly doesn’t matter. It’s just a name, you human. All that matters is that we’d recommend this game is always played by 2 people at once. No matter how many players you are. 2 of you (most likely 2 who know each other best) sit back to back in the middle, and all the other players sit around them, making questions. 

Questions should be related to both of them, for example: ‘Who’s the most optimist one?’. The back-to-back players should not say a word but only drink. If they think the question applies to them, they drink. This is one amazing ice-breaker, which helps all the people get to know more about one another. 

16. Attached

Required: Drinks, small papers, and your body parts 🙂

The idea of the game: Make you get close to each other (yes, literally) & seeing how long you can survive. 

Setting up ‘Attached’ & the gameplay: Oh man, don’t we all have attachment issues? Now look, start by writing body parts on small paper, nose, ear, butts, elbows, anything that comes to your mind. Fold these papers and put them all in a box. Break the team into pairs. Every duo picks one slip of paper, and that is the body part they have to attach.

Ex. if it’s written butts, you two have to attach your butts and stay like that for as long as you can. Now, once a duo isn’t attached anymore (they get separated), they have to drink. Both of them. Optionally, only the player who started the ‘detachment’ drinks, and the other one remains sober. Let’s be closer & attached til the end!!! 

17. Go Fish 

Required: a deck of cards, alcohol. 

The idea of the game: Trusting your intuition and knowing who you should ask for a card. 

Setting up ‘Go Fish’ & the gameplay: How could we forget about our sweet, lovely ‘Go Fish’? The game is simple af! All you gotta do is deal the deck of cards equally to all the players. Now, every player takes turns asking the other players for a card, whatever card you want. Now, if they have it, they give it to you. If they don’t, they say go fish, which means you have to drink. Now, it’s their turn to ask. *You may also use several decks for more fun. 

There’s also another way to play this drinking game. That’s right. We’re full of surprises! So, you deal 5 cards to each player and spread out the remaining cards in the center of the table. The first player picks a card from the deck and flips it. The other players, taking turns, lay down one card that’s identical to or higher than the previous card. If they don’t have one, they pick another card from the deck. If they can’t still play that card, they’ll hella drink! The first player to get rid of all their cards, wins.

Additional Options You May Consider

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever never fails to amaze us… Either the party game, the card game or all the similar games. All you gotta do is write down a list of questions, or more like statements, and read them out loud so every player can hear. Just to make it clear, you could for example say: ‘Never have I ever forgotten my one-night stand’s name?’. Now, everyone who relates, drinks. No words are needed! 

2 Truths And 1 Lie

Here’s Two Truths And One Lie to help y’all know each other. Here’s the thing: take turns saying 2 truths about yourself and one lie. Of course, you shouldn’t tell which one is the lie. Every other player guesses where you told the truth and which is the lie in that group. Whoever guesses incorrectly has to drink. Also, if they all guess correctly, dude, you should finish your drink! 

Truth Or Drink 

What is up with us and these getting-to-know-each-other games? Who knows! Start the game by making up your Truth Or Drink questions. You may even use a bottle (just like Spin The Bottle), or just take turns asking questions. Everyone who refuses to answer has to take a sip of their drink. Just as simple as that sounds! 

Ride The Bus

We couldn’t help but mention ‘Ride The Bus’! This one’s a drinking card game played in a total of four rounds. Each round asks for different actions. The first one consists of guessing the red/black card. The second one is all about higher/lower. The third one is about ‘in-between or outside’ (the card rank). The fourth or the final round makes the player guess on the card suit. At the end of all these rounds, you’ll also build a pyramid that is all about matching cards & drinking, obviously… 

Moral Of The Story

Sadly, we’ve come to the end. Don’t you worry! We don’t doubt you can’t find at least one game that suits you perfectly in this ‘sea of games’. Analyze the games in detail, and see if it fits your (and your team’s) preferences. 

Pay attention to what game you’re looking for. There are icebreakers available, games to help you know each other better, and some other entertaining ones. It’s all up to the group of people, the time you’ll play, the atmosphere, and many more influencers.

Till next time, bottoms up!