Rage Cage

Rage Cage is the beer game for the half of the party that gets bored waiting for a turn at Beer Pong. Every cup on the table gets drunk, two balls are in play at once, and the only way to stop drinking is to bounce faster than the person next to you. You will hear it called Stack Cup or Boom Cup depending on who taught you; the rules below are the same game.

What you need

• 20 to 30 plastic cups (more cups, longer game)
• 2 ping-pong balls, plus a spare for the one that goes under the fridge
• Enough beer to fill every cup about a third of the way, plus one cup filled to the top
• A sturdy table with room to stand all the way around it

Setup

1. Fill every cup about a third full and cluster them in the middle of the table. Pack them tightly so there is no gap for a ball to drop through.
2. Fill one cup full and set it in the exact center of the cluster. This is the king cup. It is the last cup standing and somebody is going to drink all of it.
3. Everyone stands around the table. Play moves clockwise, so nobody sits down and nobody stands behind someone else.
4. Give a ball to two players standing directly opposite each other. These two start. The further apart they are, the longer it takes for the first stack to happen.

How to play Rage Cage

1. Count down from three. On “go”, both starting players take the nearest cup from the middle, drink it, and put the empty cup on the table in front of them.
2. Bounce your ball off the table and into your empty cup. One hand, at least one bounce. Dropping it straight in does not count.
3. When you make it, pass the cup and the ball to the player on your left. They now bounce into that same cup. You are done until a cup comes round to you again.
4. A first-bounce make lets you pass to any player. Any player who is not already bouncing, that is. This is how you aim the cup at the person who keeps stacking you.
5. Catch the player ahead of you and stack on them. If you sink your ball while the player you would pass to is still going, drop your cup inside theirs. They pass the whole stack to their left, take a fresh cup from the middle, drink it, and start bouncing into it.
6. Bounce into a middle cup by accident and that cup is yours. Drink it, stack it on the cup you were using, and carry on.
7. Play until the middle is empty except for the king cup. The next player to get stacked takes the king cup, drinks it, and the game is over.

Who drinks and when

Situation	Who drinks	How much
You get stacked	You	One fresh cup from the middle
You bounce into a middle cup	You	That cup, then stack it
You get stacked and the middle is empty	You	The king cup, all of it
You make it on the first bounce	Nobody	You pick who gets the cup next
You make it on a later bounce	Nobody	The cup goes left

Two players on the same stack is a normal round. Three or four cups deep is a sign that one player cannot bounce, and the table usually notices before they do.

Variations and house rules

• Slap Cup. Same cups, same balls, same passing. Instead of stacking on the player ahead of you, you slap their cup off the table. It is louder, wetter, and different enough to have its own page: Slap Cup.
• Boom Cup. Mostly the same game under another name. On some tables the stacker yells “boom” as the cup lands, which is probably where the name comes from and is a useful warning for whoever is next.
• Three balls. With ten or more players, start three balls spaced evenly around the table instead of two. Stacks happen sooner and the middle empties faster.
• Weak hand only. Everyone bounces with their non-dominant hand. It slows the game down and takes the advantage away from whoever plays Beer Pong every weekend.
• Teams. Alternate players from two teams around the table. The team whose player ends up with the king cup loses, and the king cup can be split between them.
• Half king (our house rule). Fill the center cup half way rather than to the top. The ending is the same; the morning is different.
• Mixed middle. Fill the middle cups with whatever people brought, beer and soft drinks side by side. Nobody knows what they are getting until they have it.

Tips

• Fill low. Twenty cups at a third each is still a lot for one unlucky player, and the king cup on top of five stacks is too much. If someone has already been stacked repeatedly, share the king cup around the table.
• Bounce soft. A high, gentle bounce drops into the cup; a hard bounce bounces straight back out.
• Keep your empty cup close to the edge in front of you and the ball in your hand. Fumbling for the ball is how most stacks happen.
• Wipe the table between games. Ping-pong balls do not bounce on spilled beer, and the second game is always slower than the first if nobody does.