When you’re sitting around the campfire with your best mates enjoying a few beers, sometimes you just want to keep the party going.
But what can you do to make the night more fun and memorable?
We’ve determined the top 10 most fun drinking games to keep the campfire shenanigans going all night long.
1. Never Have I Ever
A boozy twist on this classic tell-all game, Never Have I Ever not only keeps the campfire going, but it also is pretty darn entertaining.
With a drink in hand, the first person in the circle states something they have never done before, like “Never have I ever stalked an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend on social media.” Everyone in the circle who has done that then takes a drink.
As the game continues, you can expect people’s answers to get more and more interesting.
2. The Alphabet Game
This drinking game tests your memory and geography skills.
The first player in the circle names a city anywhere in the world that starts with the letter A, like Anaheim. The next person has to then say Anaheim, followed by a city that starts with B, like Barcelona. The third person then has to say Anaheim, Barcelona, and a city that starts with C, and so on.
The first person to mess up the list of cities or can’t come up with the next one in an adequate amount of time has to take a shot.
3. The Beer Pong
You can never go wrong with the classic game of beer pong.
Setup a longer table with a pyramid shape of red solo cups on each end (five cups, followed by four cups, three cups, etc.) and fill each one with a decent swig of beer.
You can play one or two players per team, but the goal is to successfully throw a ping pong ball into one of the cups on the opposite side of the table. When you do, the opposing team has to drink the beer inside and remove the cup. (For a cleaner version of this game, fill up the cups with water and keep a beer on the side to drink from.)
The first team to clear all the cups is the winner.
4. G’Day Bruce
This Australia-based drinking game seems easy at first, but gets increasingly difficult and confusing as the drinks continue to flow.
While sitting in a circle, player One turns to someone next to them and says, “G’Day Bruce.”
Next, Player Two replies to Player One by saying, “G’day Bruce.”
Then, Player One responds by saying, “Say G’Day to Bruce (indicating to Player Three), Bruce.”
Player Two then turns to Player Three saying “G’Day Bruce.”
The tricky part is, the next Bruce is chosen at random in the circle, so it’s not in order. Keeping track of all the Bruces will get confusing.
When someone messes up, they not only have to take a drink. They then become a different name of your choosing, like Steve or Sheila. Obviously, this makes the game even more difficult and ensures the drinks will continue.
5. 21
The popular drinking game 21 requires a group of people around a campfire, a beer or wine in everyone’s hand, and a witch glass, which is an extra glass that we’ll later explain.
The youngest person in the circle starts by calling off the number one. The person to his or her right then says the number two. The counting continues until someone makes an error or until someone says the number 21, which requires them to take a drink and create a new rule for the game.
Rules could include, “when the number 7 comes up, you have to moo like a cow first, then say the number.” If someone messes up that rule, they take a drink.
The Witch Glass is filled with a special alcoholic drink (typically hard liquor) and is incorporated using the made-up rules, i.e. “if your number is divisible by five, you need to drink from the witch glass.”
6. The Tipsy Artist
If you’re a bad artist, get ready to drink.
Whoever is working the timer whispers a word to the artist and starts the clock. That person, on a large pad of paper, then has to attempt to draw that word and have the rest of the players guess what it is supposed to be.
Once someone correctly guesses, the artist has to take a drink for every 20 seconds that has passed. So, the incentive is to draw quickly, but if it’s too sloppy, you’ll be drinking for awhile.
7. Drink Drink Shot
Remember playing Duck, Duck, Goose as a child? The 21-year-and-up version is called Drink, Drink, Shot!
Everyone should have a beer and a shot of liquor nearby at the start of the game.
As everyone sits around the campfire, the first person walks around tapping each player to take a drink. They then randomly tape someone to take a shot.
That person then must chase the other around the circle back to the empty chair. If they catch them, the player caught has to take the shot. If the tapped player doesn’t catch the person, they have to take the shot.
8. The Flip Cup
This classic drinking game requires a longer table and a lineup of red solo cups on each side. The relay-race drinking game is best for larger groups.
After splitting into two even teams, have everyone put a beer into their red solo cup and align on opposite sides of the table. Facing each other from across the table, the first player on each team chugs their beer at the start, and then tips the cup over on the edge of the table and tries to successfully flip it over right-side up. Once they accomplish that, the next person goes.
The winning team finishes the relay first. And everyone should be feeling it after a game or two.
9. The Polish Horseshoes
Also called Beer Stick, this game is especially fun when camping on or near a beach.
You’ll need two PVC pipes or poles to install into the ground about 25 feet apart. Each team of two people then stand behind their respective poles, taking turns to throw the frisbee in an attempt to knock off the other person’s beer off the pole.
There are some rules :
- You can’t catch or block the frisbee before it passes the pole.
- You always have to have a beer in your hand.
- You can’t save the beer before the frisbee hits the pole.
Only the team throwing the frisbee can score in the game. Here’s how you score:
- If you throw the frisbee and the other team fails to catch it (1 point).
- If you throw the frisbee and knock the bottle to the ground, but the opposite team catches the frisbee (2 points).
- If the frisbee and beer bottle both hit the ground (3 points).
Uncatchable frisbees (the frisbee is below the knees or comes up short from the pole) results in no points.
10. Camping Words
This game can last all day at the campsite.
Come up with a predetermined list of camping-related words, like tent, fire, wood, etc. Whenever someone inadvertently says one of those words, they have to take a drink.
Add more words to the list as the night progresses and expect hilarity to ensue.
Andrew Dodson
Andrew Dodson is an avid camper who enjoys the great outdoors with his wife and two-year-old son. He resides in Colorado, where you can often find him enjoying hikes with a toddler strapped to his back and mini goldendoodle Percy nearby.
