We’ve all played King’s Cup and Beer Pong. Some love the occasional Power Hour. But have you ever thought about what it’s like to take your average family board game and convert it into something, well, college weekend-friendly? A lot of board games are available for a few dollars at garage sales and second-hand stores such as Goodwill and Value Village, but make sure all the pieces are included! Pick your poison if you’re 21 (or um, energy drink), and try one of these for your next pregame experience.
Drinking Scrabble
I somehow always lose this game, but it’s one of my favorites for a one-on-one game. The rules are just like average Scrabble, except after each player spells a word, the loser of that round drinks the difference in points. For example, if I play “cake,” worth 10 points, and my roommate plays “elephant,” worth 13 points, I would have to drink three times, because 13-10=3. The better at spelling your teammate and you are, the more dangerous this game will become…
Drinking Jenga
I learned this one last time I went to Seattle, and it makes a fantastic get-to-know-you game for a group. It’s also got a little Truth or Dare in it. So many childhood throwbacks! A little preparation is required first though. Take a Jenga set and on each piece, write down a dare/drinking command. You can get creative with this one! Some examples: Sit on your neighbor’s lap for a whole turn, reveal a secret or drink three times, kiss the person on your left or drink twice, drink for every letter of your name, no one talks for a minute or if silence if broken, drink… You can look for more of these online. Resume regular Jenga game play. And of course, if you topple the tower, finish your drink!
Game of Drinking Life
Same as regular Game of Life, with a few brutal exceptions: drink every time you have to pay money, tell someone else to drink whenever you get a payday, and if you earn a life tablet, everyone drinks. Last place has to finish their drink. This is a long game, so make sure you’re prepared!
Drinking Pictionary
This one is simple! You must have teams though, or get extra creative. Regular Pictionary rules, but if you fail to guess the drawing correctly by the time the timer/hourglass runs out, your whole team has to drink. If you win the round and guess the drawing correctly, all opposing teams must take a sip. If you are using the secondary dice (some games have it, others don’t) with different symbols on it to make the round more challenging (such as eyes closed, two fingers only, opposite hand, don’t lift your utensil off the paper), then the stakes are risen; if you lose the round, drink three times. If you win, all other teams drink three times.
Drinking UNO
I guess UNO isn’t really a board game, but still, it’s a classic. Again, same rules apply, but for draw two you must also drink twice, for draw four you must also drink four times, and for a wild card, everyone has to drink. A great fast-paced game with as many players as you want!
Basically, you can make any beloved board game into a drinking game with a little imagination. Feel like a real challenge? Check out the notorious Jumaji of drinking board games, Give Up The Game, but take care! Every space in this game has a drinking consequence, making it basically impossible to finish…
Party responsibly and safely, collegiettes™!