Kings Cup

The legendary card-drawing game where every card has a rule — and the last king pours everything into the dreaded cup.

Category: drinking · Players: 4-10 · Duration: 30-90 min · Difficulty: medium

Rules

Spread a deck of cards face-down around a central cup.
Players take turns drawing a card. Each rank has a rule (Ace = waterfall, 2 = you, 3 = me, 4 = floor, 5 = guys, 6 = chicks, 7 = heaven, 8 = mate, 9 = rhyme, 10 = categories, J = new rule, Q = questions, K = pour into the cup).
The player who draws the fourth king drinks the whole Kings Cup.
Breaking the card circle means finishing your drink.

Set up before the first turn

Bring Deck of cards, Large cup, Drinks. Gather 4-10 and place everything where all players can reach it before the first round.

Example first round

For a sample opening, the host reads the first instruction: “Spread a deck of cards face-down around a central cup.” Once that is complete, continue with: “Players take turns drawing a card. Each rank has a rule (Ace = waterfall, 2 = you, 3 = me, 4 = floor, 5 = guys, 6 = chicks, 7 = heaven, 8 = mate, 9 = rhyme, 10 = categories, J = new rule, Q = questions, K = pour into the cup).” Treat this first pass as practice if anyone is unsure.

Host it well

Decide on alcohol-free forfeits and a no-questions-asked pass rule before the first turn. Nobody should be pressured to drink.
Give the goal first, demonstrate one turn, then introduce edge cases only when they appear.
Plan for about 30-90 min, but finish at the end of a good round if the group's attention starts to drop.

You'll need

Deck of cards
Large cup
Drinks

Keep it sober

Play with soda or juice — mixing flavors into the Kings Cup makes it just as dreadful.

Inclusive play

Play with soda or juice — mixing flavors into the Kings Cup makes it just as dreadful. Passing is always allowed, and a non-alcoholic choice should carry exactly the same status in the game.

Reviewed by MindPlay Hub

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