New Year's Eve Drinking Games
Let's drink to the new year and play a game. Wikipedia

The year is coming to an end and that means it’s time to brush up on the old college drinking game playbook. Hopefully, unless you are currently college-aged, you’ve graduated up to a better beer and wine selections, but if not don’t worry: Drinking games are meant to put the hooch down fast, not to help you savor the stuff.

Some of these games involve, or would be complimented well by, your favorite New Year’s cable special. All of them – and this really shouldn’t need to be explained – require you to buy alcohol in advance (or order it for delivery via a smart phone app, because that’s one of the many gifts 2015 brought that you can be thankful for).

As you imbibe, make sure to reminisce fondly on all of the good the year has brought and all of the great things to come in the year ahead. That means drink responsibly.

Below are four of the best drinking games to play on New Year's Eve:

Confidence: Pull out your deck of cards and a glass. Each person, after pouring a bit of their drink into the middle glass, then flips over a card. They then decide whether or not they the next card is higher or lower, then flip that card. If they’re right, the next person takes a guess. Whoever gets their guess wrong drinks everything in the middle.

Cheers To The Governor: Everyone gets in a circle and counts from 1 to 21. On the first go around you switch the numbers 11 and 7. Once you make it to 21 , that person shouts “cheers to the governor” and everyone drinks. That person gets to change the 7-11 rule up to anything they’d like (switch out whatever number with anything else, including names and phrases) and the game starts again. Anyone mess up and they take a drink for themselves.

Sip Sip Shot: This is just like your favorite childhood game, duck duck goose. Everyone sits in a circle while someone walks around tapping the heads of players and saying “sip.” Obviously, each person then takes a sip. When they want, they say “shot” instead and that person gets up and chases them around the circle. If the person touching heads makes it back into the open seat, the chaser takes a drink. If they don’t, they keep on tapping.

King’s Cup: Grab a deck of cards and a large cup that can fit lots of beer (like a beer boot, for example). Now, get in a circle and spread the cards around the cup evenly. Players pull cards in a circle. Each card has a specific instruction associated with it. Here are the associations for each card:

Ace: This rule is called “waterfall.” The card-puller starts drinking, followed by each successive person to come. The first person to start drinking continues to drink until they don’t want to anymore or can’t, at which point they stop. The next people in line have to wait for the people in front of them to stop drinking before they can do the same.

Two: This rule is called “you” and the card-puller picks anyone they want to take a drink.

Three: Just like the rule above, except the card-puller has to pick themselves (this rule is also known as “me”).

Four: All the ladies in the circle drink for four. There’s a rhyme, but you’ll have to figure it out on your own.

Five: For this rule, the card-puller gets a new power: Every time they place their finger on either the floor or the table, everyone else must do so. The last person to put their thumb on the table must take a drink. The card-puller retains this power until the next five is pulled.

Six: All the males drink. There’s also a rhyme for this one, but it is also one you’ll have to figure out on your own.

Seven: The rule is known as “heaven” and everyone points to the sky. The last person to do so has to take a drink.

Eight: The rule is known as “mate” and the card-puller picks a partner to take a drink with.

Nine: Known as “bust a rhyme” this card requires the puller to say a word. From there, everyone goes in a circle and rhymes with the word until someone proves they aren’t Eminem.

Ten: This one is known as “categories.” The card-puller chooses a category and something that fits in there. Everyone in the circle must follow suit with something different that fits in the category.

Jack: This card starts the mini game “never have I ever.” In which players hold up their hand and go in a circle saying stuff they haven’t done. Each time a player has done one of the things someone else mentions, they drop a finger. Once someone makes a full fist, the game is over and that individual takes a drink.

Queen: This is a game of questions. The card-puller asks someone a question. The respondent must respond with a question (it can be aimed at anyone) and the first person not to respond with a question has to drink.

King: Whoever pulls the king gets to make a rule, and anyone who violates said rule must take a drink. The first three king pullers pour some of their drink into that large container in the middle. The fourth person to pull a king drinks that concoction to end the game.

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