Drinking Games Around the World

by Rease Kirchner

Nothing brings people together like alcohol. When I studied abroad in Mendoza, Argentina years ago we taught the locals Beer Pong and built them their own Beer Bong. Every country has its traditions and that goes for drinking games as well. I polled friends from around the world and came up with the following drinking games. Note: I left out a lot of the US ones I know so that this would not be overrun with games from the US.

Battleship – Spain

Materials Needed: A 40oz bottle of your preferred liquor, beer, 1 glass
Instructions: Take the cap off the 40 and float it in a glass of beer. Take turns passing the glass around and filling it drop by drop. one who sinks it drinks it. This may or may not have something to do with the sinking of the Spanish Armada.

Beer Pong – United States of America

Materials Needed: 14-22 plastic cups (SOLO brand is preferred), 2 ping pong balls, a long table, endless amounts of cheap beer
Instructions: The rules of this game vary widely and seem to come into question more and more often as the game goes on. The house makes the rules and they must be agreed to before the games commence.
There is both 6 and 10 cup beer pong, once the number is decided each team of 1-2 people gets that number of cups arranged in a triangle in front of them. You will also need a side cup full of water for rinsing the ping pong balls. Each player gets 1 throw and attempts to sink a ball into the opposing team’s cups. If a cup is hit, the opposing team must drink it. Once all your cups have been consumed, you lose.

The China Salute- China

I’m not actually sure what the name of this game is, it was described to me by a friend who spent some time in China.
Materials Needed: A drink for each player
Instructions: One person looks at the other and says something like, “Name, I SALUTE you!” and then that person would HAVE to drink. Then it would be their turn to salute someone.

Cacho – Bolivia

Materials Needed: 5 dice, dice cup, drinks for all the players
Instructions: Players are allowed 1-3 rolls of the dice per turn. The first roll must use all 5 dice, the player can choose the amount of dice for the remaining rolls. The goal is to achieve one of these number combinations:
1. As many of the same kind as possible: One combination each for 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s. The score is the sum of the pips on the dice which score. For example, three 6’s count 18 points, or two 4’s count 8 points. The remaining dice not matching a combination do not count in the score.
2. “Escalera,” or a straight of five: There are only two possible straights: 1-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6. Score for Escalera is 25 points. Escalera on the first roll (called “de mano”) scores an additional five points, as explained under Scoring below.
3. “Un Full,” or a full house (three of one number and two of another): Score for Un Full is 30 points; 35 points if “de mano.”
4. “Poker,” or four of a kind: Score for Poker is 40 points; 45 points if “de mano.”
5. “Grande,” or five of a kind: Score for Grande is 50 points. A “Grande de mano” is an automatic win; the game is over!

You keep track of the score on paper with a tic-tac-toe grid, with a space below the grid for “Grande.” Each player has a their own scoring grid. The left column of the grid is for scoring 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s, respectively, in the three cells. The right column is for 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s, respectively down the column. The center column from top to bottom scores “Escalera” (a five dice straight counting 25 points), “Un Full” (a full house counting 30 points), and “Poker” (four of a kind counting 40 points). Five of a kind is called “Grande” and counts 50 points.

Scoring marks in the center column are “O” (the letter, not a zero) for making the score (NOT the number of points), “X” for not making the score, and “5” for making the score “de mano” (literally out of hand, or on the first roll of your turn, which scores a five point bonus). The scoring mark for “Grande” is a “$” placed just underneath the grid. A “Grande de mano” (Grande on the first roll of one’s turn) is an automatic win.

A player can also call “Bajo” on any roll of his dice, and play the bottoms of all dice instead of the tops. Typically Bajo is called as the dice are rolled out. Any player can call Bajo as many times in a game or turn as he likes.

Roxanne- United Kingdom

Materials Needed: A drink for each player a the song “Roxanne” by The Police
Instructions: Split into two groups and play the song. One half of the room drinks when they hear “Roxanne” the other drinks when they hear “red light”

Rease is a US citizen currently living the ex-pat life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is bilingual and an experienced traveler. She loves gaining and sharing knowledge of local cultures, customs and adventure.
Featured image by Jim H.