To help get the party started, I’ve rounded up 10 of the best drinking card games. While you’re likely familiar with some of these, a quick refresher never hurts.
Ring of Fire
Everyone sits in a circle to play Ring of Fire with their drink. Select a "dealer of death," and players must call them by that title—if they don’t, they drink for five seconds. The dealer deals cards face-up, clockwise. If a card matches one adjacent in suit or number, it’s “active.”
Players with active cards drink for the value in seconds. The dealer counts the seconds, even tapping the table if drinking. The game ends when all cards are drawn. In another version, a full beer is placed in the centre, and breaking the circle means drinking the entire beer.
Higher or lower / Screw the dealer
Sit in a circle with a deck of cards, all facedown. One person acts as the dealer, holding the deck. The dealer flips over a card and announces it (e.g., Seven of Hearts). The player to the dealer's left must guess if the next card will be higher or lower than the current card.
If they guess correctly, the dealer drinks, and the turn passes to the next player. The game continues, with the dealer drinking after each correct guess, until someone guesses wrong. The player who made the mistake becomes the new dealer, and the game restarts.
Screw your neighbour
In Screw Your Neighbour, the goal is to avoid having the lowest card (Ace being the lowest, King the highest). The dealer deals one card to each player. The player to the dealer’s left starts by deciding whether to keep their card or swap it with the next player.
The next player then has the same choice, and this continues around the circle until it reaches the dealer. The dealer can either swap their card with the top card of the deck or pass. After everyone flips their cards, the player with the lowest card drinks.
Around the world
This game has many names, like 'Irish Poker', 'Chico High Low', or 'Death Valley'. In the first round, the dealer lays four cards face down. The player guesses: if the first card is red or black, if the second is higher or lower than the first, if the third is in between the first two, and the suit of the fourth.
For each correct guess, they give out drinks; for wrong guesses, they drink. In the second round, eight cards are placed in two columns. Cards are revealed alternately, and players take or give drinks based on card matches from the first round. The number of drinks is up to you!