What drinking games can you play on FaceTime?

Yes, there's even an online version of beer pong.

Published on 02/03/2021 at 03:50 PM

Image by Emily Carpenter for Thrillist

Image by Emily Carpenter for Thrillist

We can’t go out with friends for rounds of chilled beers or happy hours loaded with sweating pitchers of margaritas right now, which is a bummer-because drinking with friends is a lot more fun than drinking alone. Shuffleboard games over cold cocktails are temporarily gone, and we’re not even allowed to meet up for kickbacks where King’s Cup and Beer Pong reign supreme. A year into this pandemic, and it’s safe to say that it very seriously sucks to continue isolating. I miss getting drunk at an arcade bar over games of rickety pinball.

That being said, with the help of technology and Zoom calls, some drinking games can still be played virtually with a chatroom of pixelated and familiar faces. If you’re craving human connection alongside a generously poured drink, then you’ve come to the right place. Here are ten drinking games you can play virtually with friends at your next Zoom birthday party, or over iMessage. Let’s just hope your internet connection is still holding up one year later.

Never Have I Ever

You don’t need to be in the same room to play Never Have I Ever (though, sure, it does help to make sure you can see everyone’s fingers and ensure that no one is cheating). Regardless, this game is all about talking through life experiences and laughing about the dumb shit we’ve done while we were young and reckless. If you’ve never played before, the premise is simple: each player holds up 10 fingers. Players go around in a circle and share something they’ve never done before, like say, go skinny dipping. Those who have gone skinny dipping will put a finger down, take a drink, and the game continues. Whoever’s 10 fingers go down by the end of it is considered the loser (or maybe winner for all that rich life experience?); feel free to adapt the game so that the loser takes a shot or downs a beer. Be prepared to learn truly embarrassing things about your friends.

Quiplash

Quiplash is a battle of wits created by Chicago-based video game developers, Jackbox Games, that’s intended for a group of three to eight players. Even without alcohol, the game will induce fits of laughter and test your friends to see who can truly be crowned as the funny one in the group. Quiplash itself is extremely straightforward and playable: all you have to do is answer prompts, like “the last person you’d invite to your birthday party,” and then go head-to-head with friends and vote to see whose answer is more clever or funny. You can buy Quiplash on Steam for $4.99 and connect it to your Zoom account; aside from that, all everyone else needs is a phone-which acts as your controller-and internet connection to play. Turn it into a drinking game is easy; losers have to take a shot, when it’s a tie everyone needs to sip on something, and if you can’t come up with an answer in the allotted time frame you’ll have to chug some of your drink. The game will only get funnier and messier as time goes on.

Cup Pong

Ah, this really takes me back to college days and dorm room tiles sticky with spilt beer. Cup Pong is a game under the Game Pigeon umbrella-an app that allows you to play a range of virtual games through iMessage, including darts, basketball, and pool. Like beer pong, your aim is to toss little ping pong balls into red Solo cups with a small flick of your wrist; you even get balls back if you land both balls into cups in a single turn. Unlike beer pong, you don’t have to be at a sweaty frat party to enjoy. Message a friend to play and drink beers as you go for the full experience.

Would You Rather

Would You Rather requires no outside accessories. It’s a game purely about working through difficult decisions. Gather your friends on Zoom, or whatever video chatting service you’re using, and tell them all to prepare a handful of tough questions that will make for a great internal debate. In this version of the game, everyone shares which options they would like to select. The losing team has to drink. Would you rather be a centaur or a mermaid? Would you rather drink a shot of soy sauce or a shot of hot sauce? Would you rather drink alone on a Friday night or play a brain-scratching game with your pals?

Most Likely To

If you never got a high school yearbook superlative, it’s not too late! Find out what your friends really think about you by playing “Most Likely To.” Basically, everyone votes on who is the most likely to do or be something, i.e. most likely to be president, most likely to need help getting out of the karaoke bar after one too many drinks, most likely to buy something stupidly unnecessary with their stimulus check. Whoever is voted the most likely-whether they approve or not-will take a shot. You can even replicate the karaoke struggle experience in this game after a couple of rounds.

Truth or Shots

Let’s all take a trip down memory lane to middle school sleepovers, where Truth or Dare, alongside MASH, were mandatory games. But instead of being dared to go outside and moon your neighbours or prank call your crush, your only options are telling the truth or downing a shot. This is a dare I can get behind.

Power Hour

Is Power Hour an actual game? The only real objective is to drink something every minute for an entire hour. It could be sips of beer, shots if you’re brave (though you’ll probably want to space those out to every 10 minutes), or-if you’re not particularly up for nursing a debilitating hangover the following day-mugs of whatever non-alcoholic drink you have on hand. The best part of Power Hour is scheduling out time with friends to drink and chat for an hour. And those sips of michelada or chilled wine are merely a bonus.

Wizard Staff

Similarly to Power Hour, Wizard Staff isn’t a game that has much action-aside from drinking. This is something I used to play in college with my fellow dorky friends who were equally as obsessed as I was with Settlers of Catan and playing Nintendo 64. With Wizard Staff, your main quest is to acquire, as the name suggests, a wizard staff. How does one do this? By drinking copious amounts of canned beers whose empty remains are then stacked and duct taped together. Whoever has the longest staff is the most powerful wizard and in need of the biggest glass of water at the end of the night. The premise is so stupid, and yet, the desire to become a wizard is tantalizing.

Drink With Friends

As the name implies, Drink With Friends is a game about, well, drinking with friends. This online board game allows you and your buddies to connect in virtual rooms via codes, sort of similar to the model that Jackbox Games has popularized. Once in, roll a virtual die and make your way around the board with your drink in hand. Each tile you land on has different challenges or rules to abide by. First one to the finish line is the winner (or maybe loser, depending on how many drinks were consumed throughout the game).

Drink Drank Drunk

Drink Drank Drunk is a crowdfunded card game from Amsterdam that has made its way online (available for free!) due in part to the pandemic. It’s simple and intuitive to play; just set up a virtual room with friends, draw cards, and complete the actions stated on the cards. Among the action cards are various super powers, weaknesses, and rules that can be established to keep the game interesting and the drinks flowing.

Kat Thompson is a staff writer at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @katthompsonn. 

This Bride’s Wedding Cake Is From Woolies, and Why Didn’t We Think of This Sooner?

"It was as if a weight had been lifted."

There are a lot of cultural expectations around a wedding. There’s pressure to find the perfect venue, a good band, decorations, and of course, a cake. The cake is a constant tradition; whether you have a traditional or non-traditional wedding, the cake or dessert will always be part of the wedding. Although, they don’t come cheap. Wedding cakes can cost between $300 to upwards of $1,000. Although, one bride proved you could have a beautiful, tasty cake on a budget.

Camille Rochester found herself in a bind when one of her bridesmaids had to back out of making a cake last minute. Instead of turning to a baker who quoted her $500 for a two-tier cake, she turned to Woolies.

“My manager at the time suggested a Woolies mud cake after she had one for her mum’s 80th. Hers was a sponge cake with pink icing and white buttercream icing around the edges. I remember thinking that sounds like such an amazing idea, and it was as if a weight had been lifted,” said Rochester.

Rochester ordered a custom cake from Woolworths. She requested a slab of the iconic Woolies chocolate mud cake, with ganache on top and ganache decorations along the edges. According to Rochester, the slab cost $100 and served 100 people.

“We had a budget, but that wasn’t the reason behind choosing Woolies. I think after all the stress of planning and dramas, I just thought “, it’s just cake; as long as it tastes good, why should it matter what it looks like?”

“It tasted amazing.  If I’m being honest, I don’t remember any cake from any wedding I’ve been to except my own and my sisters, so I have zero regrets,” she said.

As for the reactions, Rochester explained people were surprised and thought it was a great idea once they found out.

When asked if she would do it again, Rochester said absolutely and that she would recommend it to anyone who would listen.

Would you order your wedding cake from Woolies?

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