Drunk Jenga

Drunk Jenga is the standard block-stacking game with a rule written on every block. It is one of the best drinking games for 2 because the tower does not care how many people are playing, and it scales to a party of ten without changing a single rule. You need a set, a marker, and ten minutes to write the blocks. After that the tower does the hosting.

What you need

• A Jenga set or any 54-block stacking tower. Wooden blocks take a marker better than plastic ones.
• A permanent marker or a fine ballpoint pen
• A drink for every player
• 2 to 10 players. Two is a duel, six is a party, and above ten the turns are too far apart.
• A steady table. A wobbly one decides the game for you.

Setup

1. Write a rule on every block, or as many as you can be bothered with. Use the table below for ideas. Mix drink rules, challenges, and a few lasting rules. Leave a handful blank as free turns if you want the tower to last longer.
2. Build the tower with three blocks per layer, alternating direction. Eighteen layers, the same as normal Jenga. Rules face inward so nobody can read them.
3. Put drinks well away from the tower. One knocked cup takes the tower, the rules, and the table with it.
4. Pick the first player. Whoever built the tower goes last; they know where the loose blocks are.

How to play Drunk Jenga

1. On your turn, pull one block from anywhere below the top complete layer. One hand only. Normal Jenga rules on what you can touch.
2. The first block you touch is the block you take. Tapping around to find a loose one is allowed; switching blocks once you have moved one is not. Switching costs a drink.
3. Read the rule out loud and do it. Drink rules are done before the next turn. Lasting rules stay in force until the tower falls.
4. Stack the block on top, across the row below. Complete a top layer of three before starting a new one.
5. If the tower falls on your turn, finish your drink. You also rebuild it. Touching the tower counts as your turn, so the player who nudges it while reaching for their cup is the one who pays.
6. Play until the tower falls. Then rebuild, shuffle the blocks so the rules move, and go again.

Block rules table

Thirty-six rules to copy. The first column is what to write on the block; the second is what it means at the table. A good set has roughly half plain drink rules, a quarter challenges, and a quarter lasting rules.

Write on the block	What it means
Drink 1	Take one drink.
Drink 2	Take two drinks.
Drink 3	Take three drinks.
Give 2	Hand out two drinks to anyone, split or together.
Give 3	Hand out three drinks.
Finish your drink	Exactly that. One or two per tower is plenty.
Everyone drinks	The whole table takes one.
Neighbours drink	The players to your left and right drink. You do not.
Waterfall	Everyone drinks. You start and stop first, and nobody can stop before the person to their right.
Social	Everyone drinks and clinks glasses.
Skip	Free turn. No drink, no task.
Reverse	Play goes the other way from here.
Youngest drinks	Youngest player drinks. Use oldest, tallest and shortest on other blocks.
Floor	Everyone touches the floor; the slowest drinks.
Hands up	Everyone raises a hand; the slowest drinks.
Two truths and a lie	Tell three things about yourself. Anyone who picks the wrong lie drinks; if everyone gets it, you drink.
Never have I ever	Say one thing you have never done; anyone who has done it drinks.
Categories	Name a category and go around the table until someone stalls. They drink.
Rhyme	Say a word and go around rhyming until someone fails. They drink.
Accent	Speak in an accent until your next turn, or drink every time you forget.
Silent	You cannot speak until your next turn. Every word is a drink.
No names	Nobody uses first names until the tower falls. Slip and drink.
Left hand	You drink with your left hand until the tower falls.
Thumb master	Put your thumb on the table at any time; the last player to copy drinks.
Question master	Anyone who answers your questions drinks, until the tower falls.
Drinking buddy	Pick a partner. When one of you drinks, both drink.
Make a rule	Invent a rule that lasts until the tower falls.
Wrong hand next	The next player pulls with their non-dominant hand.
Eyes closed next	The next player pulls with their eyes shut.
Pull again	Pull a second block right now.
Swap drinks	Trade drinks with the person on your left.
Story time	Tell your most embarrassing story, or drink three.
Truth	Answer any question from the table honestly, or drink three.
Dare	Do a dare the table agrees on, or finish your drink.
Text an ex	Send one message the table writes, or drink three. Our house rule is that this block is skipped after midnight.
Safe	Hand this block to anyone; they pull again immediately.

Variations and house rules

• Two-player Drunk Jenga. Same rules, but “everyone drinks” means both of you and “give 2” means the other player. Lasting rules cut deepest here because there is nobody else to share them. A tower lasts about fifteen minutes, so play best of three.
• Blank tower. Write nothing on the blocks. The only rules are that every successful pull is one sip and the player who topples the tower finishes their drink. Takes zero prep and still works.
• Color-coded blocks. Mark the block ends in three colors instead of writing rules: red is drink, blue is give, green is challenge. Decide what each color means before every game, so the tower never gets stale.
• Dice assist. Roll a die before you pull. Even means you pull from the top half of the tower, odd from the bottom half. Makes the early game harder.
• Team Jenga. Two teams alternating pulls. Whoever topples it, their whole team finishes their drinks. The rules on the blocks apply to the team.
• Giant Jenga. The garden-size sets work the same way, but a forty-pound tower coming down is a hazard before it is a forfeit. Play it on grass and keep the drinks further away.

Tips

• Write on the narrow long face of each block, not the square ends, so the rule is hidden in the tower and the ink does not rub off on your hands.
• Use a ballpoint on wood. Felt tip bleeds when a drink spills on it, and a drink always spills on it.
• Keep drinks and feet well away from the table. A falling tower breaks glasses, and a full tower landing on a bare toe is the one real injury this game produces.
• Keep “finish your drink” to two or three blocks per tower. The falling tower already costs a full drink, and the game is better when most of the blocks are small.