Do you have a favorite board game to play with drinks? Whether you are looking for party or game night with friends, learn the best ways to make board games into drinking games.
Things can get wild and crazy with sip of alcohol, and you don’t necessarily need a special game to make that happen. Instead, there are classic board games that you can easily turn into a drinking game.
How do you make a board game into a drinking game? To make a board game into a drinking game is quite simple, first you need to select the right game to do so. Each game will have different set of rules for the looser or winner to drink. Beer, wine, or cocktail, it’s your choice!
In general, we recommend drinking shots of beer or wine rather than using cocktails or hard alcohol. Beer and wine have lower alcohol percentage and taking 1 ounce shots is a great way to prolong the drinking and entreatment without being smashed in the first few minutes.
The best classic board games to turn into drinking game are:
- Risk
- Monopoly
- Clue
- Catan
- Battleship
- Game of Life
- Snakes and Ladders
- Ticket to Ride
- Carcasonne
- Ludo
You may already own these popular board games at home. They are family friendly games that all ages can participate, however each can easily be modified with the addition of your favorite drinks.
Turning Board Games into Drinking Games
Turning board games into drinking games is fun way to shake up the game night with friends. But always drink responsibly and set a designated driver before gameplay begins!
There are several boardgames that we enjoy playing like ludo, snakes and ladders, monopoly, risk, and many more.
To make a board game into a drinking game is actually not hard. All you need to do is to slightly alter the rules to include drinking shots for a certain rule.
In this article, we are going to review how to set drinking rules on these classic board games to spice up the night. Answered below are frequently asked questions about turning board games into drinking games.
Enjoy responsibly!
How to turn Risk into a drinking game?
Turn risk into a drinking game by drinking every time someone gains control over a continent or when a fight occurs to ease the competitive tension.
Start by playing Risk as you normally would, but here is where the drinking rules apply:
- Conquering a country = drink
- Lose a country = drink
- Conquer an entire continent = Down the rest of the drink
- Eliminated from the game = take a shot
In addition, you can add more drinking rules when rolling the dice. Each number will require a certain number of drinks:
- 1 = Take a shot
- 2 = Down your drink
- 3 = Roll the dice again.
- 4 = Waterfall
- 5 = Select 2 players to roll the dice and whoever gets the lowest number has to drink.
- 6 = Make a new rule until another player rolls a 6.
Risk board game is considered a friendship ending game when the battles get heated. Even though there is no study or proof, however, statistics show that it is true.
Lighten the load and make Risk a drinking game. It depends on the players and if adding shots will make a difference, so play at your own risk.
How to turn Monopoly into a drinking game?
Monopoly is perfect game to turn into a drinking game. The general rules go like this, when a player lands on community chest, chance, just visiting space, income tax space, unowned property, utility space or go, they must drink.
Make your own rules for drinking and stick to them all through the game.
Begin playing Monopoly as normal and add these few drinking rules:
- Land on someone’s property = 1 drink
- Own all of property = 2 drinks
- Land on a hotel = 3 drinks
- Roll doubles = everyone drinks
- Paying luxury tax = 1 drink
- Landing on GO = other players drink
- Mortgage a property = 1 drink
- Going to jail = finish entire drink
- Visit you in jail = 1 drink
- Pay water or electric bill = 1 drink
- FREE parking = other players drink
- Money back from government = assign a drink to someone
- Pay at Community Chest or Chance Card = 1 drink
Monopoly has community chest and chance cards which do not hold much of meaning or is associated with a mentioned action.
Here are extra drinking rules that you can apply to chance and community chest, If :
- Have to pay = you have to drink
- Paying $50 each player = drink once for each player
- Other players pay you $50 = they must drink
- Sent to a railroad = drink for the amount of rail roads owned by player
Add spice or a twist to your game by adding in spaces for drinking. Speed the game up and the maximum players will get drunk, this way they give up at a certain point and the winner is declared.
How to turn Clue as a drinking game?
Turn Clue as a drinking game by assigning one drink to every room available over the clue board. Whenever you get into a room, you have to drink the assigned drink, a pinot Grigio, pint of IPA or a sour whisky. Can’t leave the room until the drinks are finished.
In this drinking version of Clue, the goal is not looking for anyone was murdered. Instead, the players are trying to figure out where Mr Black passed out drunk.
It will require 6 to 8 different types of booze to play Clue as a drinking game. Each player can change the weapons with different types of alcohol.
The following rules for drinking Clue games are:
- Other player proposes a theory that cannot be disproven = 1 drink
- You reveal a card that no one has seen before = 1 drink
- You propose a theory that cannot be proven = 1 shot of spirits
- Another player reveals a card that no one has seen before = 1 shot of spirits
- You made accusation and you’re wrong = 1 shot of spirits
- Another player made accusation and is right = all other players take a shot.
The game of Clue is employed for game nights mostly as it is a fun way to enjoy party together over a few drinks. Overtime, it has gained popularity once Clue turned into a drinking game, but ensure to select lower percentage alcohol for this game because you’re bound to be drinking a lot.
How to turn Catan into a drinking game?
The Catan can be turned into a drinking game by adding in rules that result in drinking when particular events occur. They have to finish the drink when they are almost near to 10 points.
Here are an additional Catan drinking game rules to follow when players need to drink:
- Gaining a victory point.
- Need to discard, drink for every card number discarded.
- Roll doubles. Drink the number shown on one dice.
- Trade resources with the bank. Drink for every resources traded.
- Other player take your longest road or largest army card.
- Drink 2 for losing 2 victory points.
- When placing the thief, drink one sip from another players drink.
Catan can take so long to play if players takes forever to make a move, so you can easily set a punishing rule for time over 1 minute. If it is over 1 minute, you can add 1 drink per each minute they take, this will quicken up the game pace and add some fun to it.
How to turn Battleship into a drinking game?
There are two ways to turn the game of Battleship into a drinking game. The simplest being to take a drink each time there is a hit from your opponent.
For advanced users, create a battleship board on your own. Place drinking shots on the battleship squares and enjoy playing the game over a clean pizza box.
Battleshots, as you may call it, is a traditional game rendition of Battleship the board game. The game is easy and fun way to get drunk quickly and is ideal for pregaming for a party night or night out.
To set up Battleshots, you need the battleships board, 16 shot glasses and alcohol of your choice. Lay down the board between the two player and create a privacy screen so that you don’t see the other player on the other side. Then, secretly arrange your ships or shot glasses on the grid.
The drinking rules are as follows, if the player guess is correct, the other player would drink the shots in that place. To win the game, the player must make enough correct prediction that opposite side finishes all their drinks.
How to turn the Game of Life into a drinking game?
In order to change the Game of Life into a drinking game, either making it a great time or the low of life with what you have accomplished. Drink whenever you land over a living space, which describes what you have never done all through your life till now.
Here is how to turn the Game of Life with drinking game rules for you to apply:
- Mistakenly pulled the silly spinner off of its base where it doesn’t spin correctly, they must drink once and re-spin.
- Chooses to go to college, the player must drink once at the start of their turns for the rest of the game.
- For each loan they currently have and each kid they have, the player needs to drink once at the start of every turn.
- If the spinner lands on a number where other player already bought the stocks, drink up.
- Finishing game with a value of below one million dollars, you must finish your drink.
To simplify things even easier for you, make the Game of Life into a drinking game by having a drink whenever there is a negative situation or whenever there is big happiness. The game represents some real-life events, overjoyed happiness, and lows of life.
How to turn Snakes and Ladders into a drinking game?
Simply switch snakes and ladders into a drinking game by making it shots and ladders. Whenever you land on a snake or descend, then there is a shot at the snake’s tail and the shot glass are always refilled.
At the end, when the player heads up a ladder, they choose another player to drink a shot at the ladder top. Refill the shot glass again for the next round.
Position a shot glass at the ladder top and the snakes tail. Once shot glasses are in position, each player refills after taking the shots, so each of the shot glasses should remain filled at all times.
The snakes and ladders drinking game is very simply. For ladders, you give out drinks and for snakes you take drinks.
The amount you give or drink depends on how many levels the ladder or snakes make you rise or fall. Add your favorite alcohol to the glasses, play and drink up!
How to turn Ticket to Ride into a drinking game?
The Ticket to Ride is fun board game to change into a drinking game by having players drinking shots with the progress of the game. The players’ race to end up with a majority of the victory points by connecting their destination cards to the most efficient routes of a train.
The original game is a race between players to make the most efficient train routes and connect the destination cards to end up with the most points. However, the drinking version is where players drink as the game continues and even more drinking involved if they are the looser.
This game can be split into 2 categories, scoring drinks and color drinks:
- Color Drinks: In colors drinks, the game starts with each player picking a train card and place it in front to remind them of their color. When the game heads forward, the player positions a train of the selected color, then you have to drink for the train car placed by him or her. In addition, rainbow cards are employees for drinking for each of the rainbow cards.
- Scoring Drinks: In scoring drinks, the player must drink when he is surpassed by another player. For every 5 points near to winner, each player has to take a drink.
This board game is perfect way to enjoy classic games with your favorite drinks at the same time. There are numerous editions and versions of Ticket to Ride, however the drinking rules can apply to all of them.
How to turn Carcasonne into a drinking game?
Carcassone can be turned into a drinking game. If they want to get a bonus tile, instead of taking a gold nugget tile, which is the regular game, the drinking game version takes a shot.
It is simple to turn the regular rules to your convenience to make it a drinking game.
Here are fun drinking rules for Carcassone board game that you can add to change from family friendly game to adult game:
- When church is place = everyone drinks
- Placing time with a garden = pick another player to drink
- Completing a city or road with other player = both drink the rest of their drink.
There is also drinking version of Carcassonne that is coaster sized tiles, scoreboard rubbed, and shot glass meeples. Rules are same as the original version but each player takes Meeple shots and drinks accordingly before placing it right-side up or upside-down.
By moving around the shot, you can fill it from 25% to 75% when you reach 50, 100, or 150 points. The game ends when everyone drinks the rest of the shots and scoring the points with unused shots.
How to turn Ludo into a drinking game?
Turn Ludo into a drinking game by drinking a shot when another player lands on your pieces. The goal of the drinking Ludo game is to get all your pieces on the board by dice roll and moving around the board until you return to the starting point.
Get all the pieces into your home. Move around and take a shot when any other players land on your place.
Players can choose and fill the shots, however be careful because you can be the one drinking it.
Use original Ludo game to turn into drinking game, or get this Ludo drinking game that already include 16 shot glasses and waterproof board.
Perfect board game to play with spouse or bring to the party. Place it on the bar or bar cart to get the gameplay started!
Turn Any Board Games into Drinking Games: Conclusion
Board games are a fun and healthy way to release stress from busy weeks. They have been enhancing our development and growth throughout childhood.
A few takeaways are boosting critical thinking and reasoning skills to make you smarter and good for your brain to enhance immunity.
If you have classic board games that you haven’t played for long time, simply spice it up by adding drinking rules to enjoy your favorite craft beer, wine, or hard alcohol.
Almost all classic board games such as Monopoly, Risk, Snakes and Ladders, Ticket to Ride, or Risk can be converted into drinking game. And some board games already have drinking versions that you can purchase including Cacasonne and Ludo.
Use caution as overdrinking or overdoing it is not recommended. Drink responsibly and remember that it just for fun and is not intended to blow caution to the wind by getting carried away.
Turning a board game into a drinking game requires creativity and flexibility to move around the rules of winning or loosing and turning it into drinks for you or other players. A little twist to the regular gameplay by creating rules for drinking can thoroughly enhance the playtime.