Power Hour

Power Hour is one rule and a clock: a shot of beer every minute for an hour. There is no turn order, no winner, and nothing to learn, which makes it the simplest of the party drinking games and also the one that needs the most thought before you start. Sixty small shots do not feel like much one at a time. Added up, they are five beers in sixty minutes, and the feeling arrives all at once around minute forty. Read the math section before the playlist section.

What you need

• A shot glass for every player, ideally a one-ounce glass rather than a 1.5-ounce one
• Beer, about five 12-ounce cans or bottles per person, light and low in alcohol
• A timer, or a Power Hour playlist with a song change every minute
• A table, a bin for empties, and water within reach
• Food beforehand, which is not optional

Setup

1. Eat first. Power Hour on an empty stomach is the version that goes wrong. A proper meal an hour before is part of the setup, not a suggestion.
2. Pick a light beer and measure the glasses. A 4 percent lager in a one-ounce glass is the standard. Check the glass, because a lot of “shot glasses” hold 1.5 or 2 ounces, and the difference over sixty shots is two and a half extra beers.
3. Set up the timer or the playlist. Put it on a speaker everyone can hear. If you are using a playlist, check that the songs actually switch on the minute and that it runs to sixty.
4. Pour the first shot and open a can per person. Keep the open can next to the glass so refilling takes five seconds, not thirty.

How to play Power Hour

1. Start the clock or the playlist. Everyone takes the first shot together.
2. Every time the minute turns or the song changes, drink one shot. Refill straight away and wait for the next change.
3. Keep going for 60 shots. That is the hour. There is no scoring and no way to win other than being the person who is still standing at the end and pleasantly surprised by it.
4. Missed a minute, drink on the next one. Do not double up. A missed shot is a gift, not a debt.
5. Anyone can stop at any time. Say so, put the glass down, and switch to water. Nobody is allowed to argue.
6. The last shot is the end of the game. Put the glasses away. A second Power Hour is not a thing.

The math

One ounce of beer does not sound like much, so here is what sixty of them actually come to. The table assumes a 4.5 percent beer.

Glass size	Total over 60 shots	In 12-ounce beers	Over 100 shots (Century Club)
1 oz	60 oz	5 beers	100 oz, 8.3 beers
1.25 oz	75 oz	6.25 beers	125 oz, 10.4 beers
1.5 oz	90 oz	7.5 beers	150 oz, 12.5 beers
2 oz	120 oz	10 beers	200 oz, 16.7 beers

Five beers in an hour is the smallest version of this game, and it is already fast. Most people do not drink five beers in an hour on a normal night. Use the smallest glass you own.

Power Hour playlist rules

The playlist is the referee. It keeps the minutes honest, it stops anyone watching the clock, and it gives the hour a shape that a timer does not. The conventions below are the ones most mixes follow.

• Sixty songs, one minute each. Cut each track to its best sixty seconds, usually the chorus, and the change of song is the signal. Pre-made Power Hour mixes on streaming apps and YouTube already do this.
• A sound effect on the change. A lot of mixes add a horn, a bell, or a voice saying “drink” between songs so nobody misses the switch while talking.
• Build the energy in blocks. Ten-minute blocks by decade or genre (80s, 90s, 2000s, pop, hip-hop, rock) are the usual structure. The loud block goes in the middle; the last ten minutes should be songs people can sing.
• The last song is a full song. Let the sixtieth track run its full length. It marks the end, and it stops anyone starting a sixty-first.
• Water songs. Our house rule: every tenth song, the shot is a shot of water. It costs six beer shots over the hour and it is the difference between finishing and not.

Variations and house rules

• Century Club (Centurion). 100 shots in 100 minutes. Over eight beers in an hour and forty minutes, and the last part happens after the first hour has landed. It has its own countdown timers and its own reputation. If you play it, play it with a one-ounce glass, a low-alcohol beer, and nowhere to be afterwards.
• Half Power Hour. Thirty shots in thirty minutes. Half the beer, all of the ritual, and the version that fits into a pregame without ending the night.
• Power Hour with rules. Add a single Kings Cup-style rule that lasts the hour, such as drinking with your left hand or no first names. Keep it to one. The game is already busy.
• Mixer shots. Every fifth shot is a mixer or a soft drink. Close to our water-songs rule, and older than it.
• Wine Power Hour. Sixty half-ounce shots of wine, or thirty one-ounce shots over an hour. The pour has to come down to match the alcohol, and most groups find that beer is easier to measure.
• Team Power Hour. For a big party, split into pairs and alternate shots, so each person drinks thirty in the hour. The playlist and the ritual are the same; the total is halved.
• Themed mix. One artist, one decade, one film soundtrack. The playlist is half the fun of the game, and a themed one gives the hour something to talk about.

Tips

• This is a beer game and only a beer game. Do not do it with spirits, do not do it with strong craft beer, and do not do it with a two-ounce glass. Five beers in an hour is the minimum, and five is plenty; the numbers in the table above are the reason the game has a reputation.
• Pace for minute forty, not minute ten. The first twenty shots feel like nothing, which is when people speed up, switch to a bigger glass, or add rules. The effect of the first half arrives in the second half, all at once. Stay on the small glass and stay on the schedule.
• Stop is a full sentence. Anyone can put the glass down at any minute, and the right response from the table is nothing. A Power Hour where someone feels they cannot stop is not a game.
• Water and food within reach, and nobody drives. Put a jug on the table before the first song, eat before you start, and have the rest of the night planned so the hour ends and everyone stays where they are.