Ride the Bus

A multi-phase card game of luck and memory. Guess wrong and you drink — lose the final round and you're riding the bus.

Category: drinking · Players: 3-8 · Duration: 20-45 min · Difficulty: medium

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Rules

1. Phase 1: each player answers four questions (red or black, higher or lower, in between or outside, guess the suit), drinking for wrong guesses.
2. Phase 2: build a pyramid of cards; matching cards let you assign drinks.
3. Phase 3: the player with the most cards left rides the bus — flipping through a gauntlet of cards and drinking on every face card.

Set up before the first turn

Bring Deck of cards, Drinks. Gather 3-8 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: “Phase 1: each player answers four questions (red or black, higher or lower, in between or outside, guess the suit), drinking for wrong guesses.” Once that is complete, continue with: “Phase 2: build a pyramid of cards; matching cards let you assign drinks.” 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 20-45 min, but finish at the end of a good round if the group's attention starts to drop.

You'll need

• Deck of cards
• Drinks

Keep it sober

Swap sips for silly penalties — accents, push-ups, or truth questions.

Inclusive play

Swap sips for silly penalties — accents, push-ups, or truth questions. 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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