Kings (game)

Kings (also known as king's cup, donut, jug oval, circle of death and ring of fire) is a drinking game that uses playing cards. The player must drink and dispense drinks based on cards drawn. Each card has a rule that is predetermined before the game starts. Often groups establish house rules with their own variation of rules.

For the Japanese party game, see King game. For the Danish film, see King's Game. For the game company, see King Games.
Kings
Cards during a game of Kings
Alternative namesKing's Cup
Heroes
Ring of Fire
Kings
TypeDrinking
Players2+
Age rangeVaries by legal jurisdiction
Cards52
Deck1 deck of standard playing cards
PlayClockwise or counterclockwise
Card rank (highest first)Ace (A) – two (2)
Playing time20 to 40 minutes

Equipment
  • 1 Deck of Cards
  • 2 or more players
  • Alcoholic beverages – typically wine, beer, or mixed drinks - or non alcoholic beverages
  • A large cup which will be used as the King's Cup

Setup and common rules

In this game, a deck of cards is typically are shuffled and dealt into a circle around either an empty cup or a full drink of choice. Each card value is assigned an action, which must be performed by the relevant players upon it being drawn. Players then take turns to draw cards and participate in the relevant activity.

This game is highly open ended and all of the cards can signify any mini-game, the rules and the card assignments are normally confirmed at the start of the game. Depending on house rules, the game either ends when the last rule card has been pulled or the king's cup has been consumed. In variations where cards are placed on top of the king's cup, the game is over when the cards fall off, with the player responsible for knocking them off having to consume the king's cup.

It is also common for the players to make up and agree on a set of rules every time the game is played. Some common assignments for card values include:

Card drawn Title Instruction
Ace Waterfall To perform a waterfall, each player starts drinking their beverage at the same time as the person to their left, starting with the player who drew the card. No player can stop drinking until the player before them stops.
2 Two for you / Two is you The player who drew the card gives out two drinks, either both to the same person or one to two different people.
3 Three for me / Three is me The player who drew the card takes a drink.[1]
4 Hit the floor Last person to touch the floor with their hands must take a drink.
Four is Whores All women playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 6)
5 Five's Guys All men playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 6)
Drive All players put up their hands as if driving a car. The player who drew the card begins. They say "vroom" while tilting their hands to the right or left. The "driver" is passed to the player next to them in that direction. Players now have three options as the "driver" position is passed to them. They can choose to turn to same direction as the person before them and say "vroom", passing it one more person. They can turn their hands in the opposite direction and say "skert" (as in the screeching of car wheels) and pass the "driver" position back to the person who just sent it to them. Now that is the new direction and all "drivers" who turn that way must say "Vroom" until a "driver" decides to "skert" it back again. The last option is to say "beep" while mimicking hitting the car horn. This passes the game's position to the player opposite the current driver. The first "driver" who speaks or turns the wrong way has to drink.
6 Six's chicks All women playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 4)
Six is dicks All men playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 5)
7 Heaven / 7th Heaven Last person to raise their hand has to drink.
8 Mate The player who drew the card chooses another player who must drink at the same time as them for the rest of the game.
9 Rhyme Time / Nine is Rhyme The player who drew the card says a word, with players going clockwise saying words that rhyme with the original. The first person to fail to come up with a rhyming word that has not been used must drink.
10 Categories The player who drew the card chooses a category, with players going clockwise to name things that fall within the category. The first person to fail to come up with something that has not been said must drink.
Jack Social Everyone must take a drink.
Queen Questions The player who drew the card starts by asking anyone a question. This player then asks anyone else a question. The first player who fails to ask a question must drink.
The player who drew the card becomes the question master. Whenever they ask a question, other players must also respond with questions or otherwise drink. This continues until another Queen is drawn, at which point that player becomes the question master.
King King's Cup (+ Rules) When each of the first 3 Kings are drawn, the person who drew the card puts some of their drink into the King's Cup at the center of the table. When the 4th King is drawn, the person who drew the 4th King must drink the contents of the King's Cup. In some variations, the first three people to pick a King card can also make a rule that must be followed until the next King is picked. Some common rules include Buffalo, (must always use left hand) Thumbs, (player puts their thumb on the table silently, last person to do so drinks), In bed, (everyone has to say "in bed" after every sentence) and Teeth (players can't show their teeth when they laugh).

Variations and other rules

Like almost all other drinking games, Kings has endless variations of rules, and individual drinking groups usually have their own set of card effects. There will be similar rules, but there will most likely always be some that some players have never encountered before. Some games specify that playing a certain card allows that player to make up a new rule which lasts for the remainder of the game.

A major variation in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Canada is that the contents of the King's Cup are drunk by the player who breaks the circle of cards (known as the Ring of Fire in the UK).

A popular variation in Australia is the Smoko or Toilet Card replacing Give Two Take Two. In this version, a player needs to possess a Smoko Card to leave the table to smoke or use the toilet. A player can have multiple copies of the card and they can be traded, typically under conditions such as; the recipient must refill drinks on demand, crawl for the rest of the game, talk in a funny voice, etc.

Another popular variation in Australia is where the game is played with the addition of the Joker card. Upon drawing a Joker, the player must take a bong hit of pure good Cush.


In Belgium recently a new variation has come to the surface known as "Circle of Destruction" or "Hardcore Kings". In the beginning a pint is placed in the middle of the circle and everyone has to pour some of their drink in it, from now on this drink is referred to as "Witch's Brew".

Card drawn Title Instruction
Ace Safe Everyone drinks but you.
2 Who A round of spin the bottle is played.
3 Wanna fight me? A match of arm wrestling is played with the player sitting on the opposite side of the circle, the loser drinks. A slap contest can also be played.
4 We're whores Everyone has to take off one piece of clothing as fast as they can, last on to do so has to drink.
5 My life You have to take a sip from every player's drink.
6 ...tynine The player who had sex the most recently drinks, the second time this card is drawn the player who had sex the second most recently drinks and so on...
7 Close to heaven Do a body shot out of the belly button of your left-hand neighbour.
8 Mate Choose a person to be your mate and they drink when you drink, and vice versa, for the rest of the game. If one of the mates draws another 8 card they chose another player and now all three have to drink. You can also merge two mated pairs this way. If all players of the game become mated, then all ties are cancelled.
9 Time to shine You have to do 20 push ups, if you can't do it you have to drink the amount of sips you were short of 20.
10 Witch You have to down the witch's brew. Afterwards the pint is refilled.
Jack The Jack entertains You have to do a credible and serious belly dance, for every minute you can pull this off you may choose another player who had to down their drink.
Queen Mixer Every player has to hand in his drink and you may reassign them to different players.
King Rewind Time You can use your rewind power one time to let someone do their assignment again.

See also

References
  1. LaBrie, JW; Ehret, PJ; Hummer, JF (2013). "Are they all the same? An exploratory, categorical analysis of drinking game types". Addict Behav. 38: 2133–9. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.12.002. PMC 3654653. PMID 23435275.
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