Margaret Bauer
The Game: Chandelier (also called “Quarters”)
What You Need to Play: one quarter and one cup per person, one large cup
# of Players: 3 to 6
Sit everyone around a table. Place the large cup in the table’s center, and each person’s cup around it. Make sure everyone sits with their cup in front of them. Then pick someone to start: they will hold a quarter between their thumb and index finger, with G.W. facing up. Their task is to try and bounce the quarter off the table and into a cup. If the quarter lands in a cup, that player must drink their cup. If the quarter lands in the big cup in the center, everyone has to drink. Each player will get one chance per turn, and the last person to down their cup has to pound the center cup at the end of the game.
The Game: Circle of Death
What You Need to Play: A deck of cards, a watch with a second hand
# of Players: 4+
Sit everyone around a table, and place the deck of cards in the middle. Choose someone to go first. They will draw a card from the deck, and lay it face down next to the deck. The next person draws a card and lays it on top of the first card. If the two chosen cards are the same suit or number, the two players must drink for the number of seconds shown on their cards (J=11, Q=12, K=13). If the third player’s card matches one of the other two, all three players must drink. Continue going around the circle through the entire deck; if you’re looking to do some serious damage, you can use more than one deck of cards.
The Game: Beirut
What You Need to Play: ping pong table, ping pong balls, 12 or 20 cups (depending on how much you want to drink)
# of Players: 2-4
Organize equal numbers of cups on each end of the ping pong table, generally in a triangle, but it’s up to you. Split into two teams, and choose who goes first. The objective is to throw a ping pong ball into one of your opponents’ cups. Each time you do, they have to drink the contents of that cup. If you’re playing with two teams of two, each player gets one throw per turn. If you and your partner get both ping pong balls in the same cup, everyone has to drink. Once you drink a cup, remove it from the table and rearrange the remaining cups. The first team to have all their cups eliminated loses.
The Game: Flip the Cup
What You Need to Play: a long table, cups
# of People: 6+
Split into two even teams, and have each team line up at opposite ends of the table. Both teams will begin at the same time, by having the first person in each line drink the contents of their cup, and then “flip” the cup onto the table. Once they’ve done this, the next person in line goes, and so on. “Flipping” is done by placing your cup on the edge of the table (right side up), with half of it off the table. Put your fingers under the part hanging off the table, and flip the cup so that it is upside down on the table. This gets harder the more you drink as the game goes on. The first team to have each player drink and flip their cup wins.