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Beer games

These are the games you stand up for. Cups on a table, a ping-pong ball or a coin, two teams, and a reason to care about the score. Beer Pong is the one everyone knows; Flip Cup is the one that gets the whole room involved.

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Beer Pong illustration

Beer Pong

2 to 4 players 20 min

Ten cups, a ball, and two teams. Competitive enough to practice for.

Flip Cup illustration

Flip Cup

4+ players 10 min

A relay race with cups. Loud, fast, and it gets everyone standing.

Rage Cage

4 to 12 players 20 min

Two balls, a ring of cups, no turns. Bounce faster than your neighbour or drink.

All 7 games newest updates first

  1. Beer Pong illustration Beer Pong Two teams throw ping-pong balls at a triangle of 10 beer-filled cups at the far end of a table, and every cup hit is drunk and removed by the defending team. The first team to clear the other side's cups wins, once the losers have missed their redemption shots. 2 to 4 · 20 min
  2. Flip Cup illustration Flip Cup Two teams line up on opposite sides of a table, and one at a time each player drinks their cup and flips it upside down off the table edge. The next player cannot start until the flip lands, and the first team to flip every cup wins. 4+ · 10 min
  3. Rage Cage Cups sit in the middle of the table, two players bounce a ball into an empty cup and pass it on, and anyone who makes it before the next player stacks their cup on them. The stacked player drinks a fresh cup from the middle, and whoever gets stacked when the middle is empty drinks the full center cup. 4 to 12 · 20 min
  4. Bite the Bag illustration Bite the Bag Players take turns bending down to pick a paper bag off the floor with their teeth, and only their feet may touch the ground. Anyone who falls, kneels, or uses a hand drinks, and the bag gets an inch shorter after every round. 2+ · 20 min
  5. Civil War illustration Civil War Two teams of 3 stand at opposite ends of a table, each player defending their own 6-cup rack, with 3 balls in play and no turns. A hit cup is drunk by its owner, a player with no cups left is out, and the last team with someone standing wins. 4 to 8 · 15 min
  6. Quarters illustration Quarters Players take turns bouncing a quarter off the table into a glass; make it and you choose someone to drink and shoot again, miss and the quarter passes on. Three makes in a row lets you invent a rule, and breaking a rule costs a drink. 2 to 10 · 20 min
  7. Slap Cup Two players bounce a ball into an empty cup and pass it left, and if you make yours before the player ahead of you makes theirs, you slap their cup off the table. The slapped player takes a fresh cup from the middle, drinks it, and keeps going until only the center cup is left. 4 to 12 · 20 min

The table is the game

Every game on this page is really the same idea: a target, a projectile, and a cup that gets drunk when the target is hit. Beer Pong is the slow, tactical version. Civil War is Beer Pong with the turns removed. Rage Cage keeps the bouncing and drops the teams, so everyone plays at once and the slowest bouncer drinks. Flip Cup replaces the throw with a flick of the wrist and makes it a relay, which is why it works with twenty people and Beer Pong does not.

Setup matters more here than anywhere else on the site. A short table, a wobbly surface, or cups filled too high changes the game, so each page starts with the exact layout before a single rule.

Beer games, answered

What do you need for beer games?

Plastic cups (16 oz party cups are the standard), ping-pong balls for the pong games, a quarter for Quarters, and a long table. Beer is traditional but anything pourable works; the cups are the game, not the drink.

How do you set up Beer Pong cups?

Ten cups in a triangle at each end of the table, four rows (4, 3, 2, 1), with the point facing the other team. Fill each cup a third of the way. The full setup, distances, and re-rack rules are on the Beer Pong page.

Which beer game works for a big party?

Flip Cup. Two teams of any size line up on either side of a table and race down the line. There is no skill ceiling and no waiting around, which is why it beats Beer Pong for a crowd.

Can you play beer games without a table?

Quarters works on any flat surface and Bite the Bag needs only a floor. Beer Pong, Flip Cup, and Civil War need a table long enough for two ends; a door on two chairs has hosted more games than most tables.

Are beer games heavier than card games?

It depends on the cups. Beer Pong with a third of a beer per cup is moderate; Civil War with a full team drinking every hit is not. Each page gives a buzz rating so you can pick before you pour.

Please drink responsibly. Pace yourself, drink water between rounds, look after each other, and never drive after playing.