Quarters

Quarters needs a coin, a glass, and a hard table, which makes it the beer game you can play at a bar top, a picnic table, or a kitchen counter with nothing bought for the purpose. You bounce a quarter off the table into the glass. Make it and you pick someone to drink and shoot again. Miss and the coin moves on. The rule that three makes in a row lets you invent a rule is what turns it from a skill test into a game, because by the fourth rule nobody can say “drink”, point, or use first names, and every sentence costs somebody a sip.

What you need

• A quarter, or any coin about that size: a 10p, a euro, a loonie, a one-rand
• A short glass with a wide mouth: a rocks glass or juice glass for the normal game, a shot glass for the hard one
• A hard, smooth table. Wood, laminate, or glass. A tablecloth kills the bounce
• A drink for everyone
• 2 to 10 players around one table

Setup

1. Put the empty glass in the middle of the table. Empty is the modern version; the glass is a target, not a drink.
2. Sit or stand around it within easy bouncing distance. Everyone shoots from their own seat. Leaning in is allowed, moving your chair is not.
3. Agree what one drink means. A sip, a count of three, or a finger of the glass. Keep it small, because a hot shooter hands out a lot of them.
4. Pick the first shooter. The quarter moves clockwise from them. Our house rule: whoever found the quarter shoots first.

How to play Quarters

1. Bounce the quarter off the table and into the glass. One bounce. The coin has to hit the table before it hits the glass, so no throws and no slides.
2. Make it and choose any other player to drink. They take the agreed drink. You keep the quarter and shoot again from the same seat.
3. Miss and pass the quarter to your left. A miss costs nothing in the standard game. The chance rule below is the exception.
4. Three makes in a row and you invent a rule. Anything the table can follow: no saying “drink”, no pointing, no first names, drink before every shot, left hand only. The rule lasts the rest of the game. Most tables stack rules; some let each new rule replace the last.
5. Anyone who breaks a rule drinks. Anyone can call it. If the table disagrees, the current shooter decides.
6. After a miss you may call “chance” for one more shot. Make it and your turn carries on as if you had never missed. Miss and you drink double, then pass the quarter. Chance is optional and usually regretted.
7. Play until the rules become unmanageable. Quarters has no natural end. Most games finish when nobody can complete a sentence without drinking, which takes about 20 minutes with a decent shooter at the table.

Variations and house rules

• Speed Quarters. Two glasses, two quarters, and two players sitting opposite each other start at the same time. Make your shot and pass the glass and quarter to your left immediately. Miss and keep shooting until you make it. When a glass arrives at a player who still has the other one, they have one shot to escape. Miss, and the player opposite spins a quarter while they drink; the drinking stops when the coin does. The two players who had the glasses restart.
• Kill. After a failed chance, you may call “kill” for a third shot. Make it and the turn continues as normal. Miss and you finish your drink. This is the old rule from the early version of this page, and it is still played, but the table should agree before anyone invokes it.
• Rim shot. Hit the rim of the glass without going in and you get a free retry with no penalty. Makes the shot glass version playable.
• Drink the glass. The original way: the glass holds beer, the quarter goes in, and the player you choose drinks the beer without swallowing the coin. Played less now for obvious reasons. If you do it, use a glass shallow enough to see the coin.
• Miss and sip. A miss costs the shooter a sip. Speeds the game up and evens things out when one player is much better than the rest.
• Rule replacement. Each new three-in-a-row rule cancels the previous one. Use it when the table is big and the stacked rules stop being fun at around number five.
• Table rule for two. In a 2-player game, three in a row lets you swap seats, which changes the bounce for both of you. Our house rule, for when the other rules do not bite with two.
• Quarter keeps moving. The quarter passes every shot, make or miss, and a make still lets you choose who drinks. It removes the shoot-again rule and is kinder to groups with a ringer.

Tips

• Use a dedicated shooter coin and never let it into anyone’s drink. Coins are filthy and a quarter is a choking hazard, which is why the glass stays empty in the modern game.
• Find the table’s good spot early. Every table has a patch where the bounce is truest, usually away from the joins. Bounce a few times before the game and you will be the ringer.
• Drop the coin rather than flicking it. A flat coin dropped edge-first from about 6 inches with a slight forward push comes up in a predictable arc; a hard flick goes anywhere.
• Keep the drink unit small. A confident shooter makes five in a row, and five sips is fine where five gulps is not.