Get the party started! A roundup of perfect playing card games for drinking parties
A fun drinking party with everyone together!
If we’re going to make the most of it, it’d be great to have games we can all play together, right?
When you think about that, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a deck of cards.
This time, I’m going to introduce lots of card games—from ones that get big groups pumped up to ones that make a two-person drink really exciting!
I’ve put together a wide range, from classics to lesser-known games.
If you bookmark this article, it might come in handy not just for drinking parties, but in all kinds of situations!
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- Punishment games that liven up drinking parties and banquets
- Party Games That Spice Up Your House Drinks Night
- Games for two people to enjoy. A roundup of party games that liven up drinking gatherings.
- Types of playing cards and how to play
- Recommended card game. Easy! Fun! Adults get hooked too!
- Put a penalty on the line! A roundup of party games that get everyone hyped
- Party games that liven up group dating events
- Drinking party crowd-pleasers: party and banquet games
- A fun penalty game recommended for men
- Simple but intense! A quick-and-easy penalty game that hypes everyone up
- Recommended for college students! Punishment game ideas that will make everyone laugh and hype things up
- Ideas for team-based games to enliven a party
Get the party going! A roundup of perfect playing card games for drinking parties (21–30)
Gop
This is a two-player competitive card game where you vie for points.
You use a deck with the Joker and all hearts removed.
Each player holds only spades or clubs, and a draw pile is made from diamonds.
Reveal one card from the diamond pile to the table, then each player plays one card from their hand.
Whoever plays the stronger card than their opponent wins the revealed diamond card as points.
You compete on the final total score.
The fun lies in the mind games of which card to play—keeping track of what your opponent has used and deciding whether the revealed diamond card is worth fighting for.
Old Maid
I bet almost everyone has played Old Maid.
It’s not very well known, but there’s actually a game called Jiji-nuki as well.
The basics are the same as Old Maid, but you don’t use a Joker.
Instead, you remove one random card from the deck beforehand.
In other words, that leftover, unknown card is the “jiji.” This way, you can’t tell who will win until the very end, which makes it exciting.
By the way, there’s also a variant called Jiji-Baba-nuki where the rule is that whoever ends up with the Joker at the end actually wins.
Get the Party Started! A Roundup of Perfect Playing Card Games for Drinking Parties (31–40)
Go Fish
There’s a game similar to Old Maid called Go Fish.
In this one, you ask another player if they have a card of any chosen rank; if they do, you pair it with your own card and discard the pair, and if they don’t, you must draw a card from the deck.
The first player to discard all of their cards wins.
At first glance it may seem like the outcome depends on luck, but memory and strategy are actually important factors.
Also, unlike Old Maid, the conversation it generates is another nice aspect of this game.
Mitch
This is a game where players play cards from their hands so that the counts decrease by suit, aiming to have the most cards played in each suit by the designated end timing.
After dealing hands, you take only three Aces that were set aside and put them back into the deck.
Then, in that state, each player draws from the deck on their turn.
When someone draws an Ace from the deck, they set it aside and draw again from the deck; once all Aces have appeared, you compare how many cards have been played in each suit.
The keys to winning are how many cards you can play before all the Aces appear and how much you can minimize your discard pile when you can’t reduce the counts.
American Page One
Have you ever wanted to play UNO but only had a deck of playing cards? In times like that, it’s handy to remember American Page One.
The name varies by region, so many people might know it simply as Page One.
It’s considered the predecessor of UNO, and the rules are almost the same.
American Page One has many local rules, so be sure to check that you and your friends are on the same page.
Hearts
Hearts is a thrilling card game where you can’t predict the outcome until the very end.
It’s a four-player trick-taking game with a standard deck! The basic flow is that each player, in turn, plays one card that matches the suit led by the first player of the trick.
In each trick, the player who plays the highest card of the led suit takes all the cards from that trick.
You repeat this until everyone runs out of cards, then tally the score.
At scoring, Hearts and the Queen of Spades count as penalty points, so the more of those cards you’ve taken, the worse off you are! It’s an unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat game—enjoy it with your friends!
In conclusion
I’ve introduced quite a few, but did any of them resonate with you? As you play, you might find yourself getting more and more excited, remembering how absorbed you were in card games as a child.
These days there are also card games you can play online, so that could be a good option too!