Drinking Game Help

Submitted by drink on Wed, 2006-11-15 10:18

This page exists to help you make the most out of drink's drinking games. Here, I will explain what some of the categories mean (those which are not immediately obvious) and in general explain things relating to drinking games and this site.

What is a "boot factor"?

Boot factor is a measurement of how drunk the game will get you. I'm not really sure precisely where these games came from in the first place - as I've mentioned elsewhere, I found an archive on nic.funet.fi (one of the original "important" hosts on the internet) and the collection sort of grew since. According to wiktionary, boot can be used as slang for "vomit" which would make sense here. Erowid says "booted" is slang for being "under the influence", which works equally well. Pick your own meaning.

Please do not take the listed boot factor as gospel. It may or may not be at all accurate, as for most games, I have to rely on what others have told me (or what the description of the game itself says) as I have not actually played them. It would take damned near all year if you played one game every night. If you disagree as to the boot factor of a game, by all means leave a comment beneath it and I will take it under advisement.

What do the game types mean?

Following is a list of currently-supported game types and a clarification of what they mean.

Term Description
Board A board game is a game in which counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a premarked surface usually specific to that game). Most board games become drinking games with minimal manipulation.
Bounce Games in which an object (usually a ping-pong ball or a coin) is bounced onto, into, over, or through an obstacle. These games may utilize an existing surface or might require the purchase or construction of equipment.
Card A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary things with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Many card games involve traditional games, with drinks awarded with hands, points, or games; others are entirely crafted for the purpose of assigning drinks to players.
Chug Games whose goal is to consume alcohol rapidly.
Coin Games involving a coin, whether bounced, thrown, spun, or otherwise handled.
Computer The relationship between computers and alcohol is often insufficiently accounted for.
Coordination Games whose purpose is to test ability to function while inebriated.
Darts Games involving the throwing of darts.
Dice Games based on the rolling of dice.
Endurance Games which test one's endurance to consume alcohol. These games have a greater tendency towards danger than some others.
Humiliation Games whose intent is humiliation, usually of the uninitiated.
Joke Games whose primary purpose is to amuse.
Luck Games whose main component is luck-based.
Movie Games based on watching movies, usually involving drinking during certain occurrences.
Music Games played while listening to music.
Newbie-Killer Games whose sole purpose is to get new players drunk faster than experienced ones.
Party Games intended to be played at parties, usually as an ice-breaker.
Pool Games related to pool/billiards.
Random Games which involve performing random actions, usually made up of other games.
School Games to be played at school, usually while in class.
Somatic Games involving hand motions.
TV Games to be played along with the watching of television shows.
USENET USENET is an infrastructure for passing messages back and forth between users which has used for untold purposes; discussing alcohol and the ways to best consume it has only required thousands and thousands of those messages so far.
Verbal Games whose play involves speech, usually the successful completion of tongue twisters, or successfully remembering and repeating word associations.
Video Game Games involving the consumption of alcohol while playing video games, often utilized as team-building exercises in group households.
WWW Web-related drinking games (besides trying out new games from this archive...)

How Much is One Drink?

One drink is as much as the group decides it is. Some groups are interested in measuring drinking performance (especially around colleges and such) and they mandate drinks of a fixed quantity. Others are just out to have fun, and it's not so critical to be down to the milliliter. In general, when I play drinking games, my friends and I are willing to let you be the judge of the size of your drinks. Vomiting is not the goal.

Which games should I play?

While that is totally up to you, some of the games listed above in the section on game types are listed there because they are considered classics. One way to decide would be to search for games with a given boot factor.

What's the story with drinking game copyright?

Some games on this site have indeterminate copyright. While that sort of precludes ever publishing a paper book from these games, I do not believe it is a serious issue. If the original copyright holders request that the content be removed from the site, then I am more than happy to do so provided that they can show some evidence that they developed the content, and that they're not just some yahoo.

Other games have quite explicit copyright. In general these are presented here by permission of their owners. In only one case has anyone requested that I remove a game from this collection; I have done significant websearching and I have been unable to locate it again. Yet again, my web content outlasts objections about it. In general people are happy to see their content copied so long as they get credit and a link back. Please, don't be an idiot. I am not trying to harm you by mirroring content that you will almost certainly lose. In the future I will be replacing removed games with notices, names, and links so that it is clear just who the bozo is.

However, I do try not to copy content here when it's not necessary. Eventually, the index will also contain links to external drinking games (which you will be able to filter out while searching.) In general, however, I would prefer to mirror any drinking game here, because while other sites have come and gone - and so has mine, of course - mine continually returns. :)

How do I submit additions to the site?

If you think of any games I might have missed, you can email them to drink@hyperlogos.org, or simply add it yourself. Please Search for the game you are submitting before you mail it in - I have traditionally gotten a lot of duplicates. Please don't just copy a game from another site and submit it to me, either.

When you add a game, you are asked to put in a game type and a boot factor. Please answer these as correctly and completely as possible. When emailing a game, please send only one game per email, as it makes them substantially easier to manage. Still, it makes much more sense to just add the game to the list yourself. Games added in this fashion will not show up immediately; they must be approved before they will appear in the list.

Aren't you causing irreparable harm to society?

Short answer: I sure hope so!

Long answer: Every once in a while (but very rarely) I get some angry messages from some people who can't handle their alcohol. They complain that drinking games are self-destructive and harmful in general. These people are absolutely correct, but they're missing some very important points, points which protect their interests as well as mine. The first point is that I am not responsible for you, nor you for me. I am the master of my own behavior and only I control my own actions. The same is true for everyone else.

Ultimately, there seem to be two reasons for alcoholism. One is stupidity and the other is heredity. If you find that you are genetically predisposed to being an idiot, then perhaps you should take measures to mitigate the effects of your stupidity. I can not and will not be held responsible for death, injury, pregnancy, or any other negative results of overconsumption of alcohol. The federal government has decided in their wisdom that alcohol which kills 85,000 people a year directly, not even considering secondary effects, is to be made legal over a certain recreational substance which has never been shown to have killed anyone, anywhere, ever that could change the name of this section to "toking games". But even animals get drunk — on purpose — so at the very least you have to admit that it's a natural activity.

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Very Technical Explanation

Submitted by Matt (not verified) on Wed, 2009-12-09 12:05.
I like the professional approach you took to put these questions together. That is a whole lot of different categories. I have also compiled a list of college drinking games. I merged several drinking game categories into my general game types. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Seems like a nice, simple list

Submitted by drink on Wed, 2010-03-10 05:30.
When you're already potted, it can be difficult to choose from a list as large as this one. You could print yours on 3x5 cards :)

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