Game on

Like most things in this world, drinking games have historic significance. In fact, the earliest reference in Western literature to drinking games is from Plato’s "The Symposium". The game was pretty simple, it involved filling a bowl of wine, drinking it, and passing it on to the next player. The earliest known drinking game from ancient Greece is called Kottabos, and the game involved players who used dregs to hit targets across the room with their wine.

There is also a history of drinking games being enjoyed in ancient China. These games involved the use of dice or the vocal exchange of riddles. The drinking games evolved during the Tang Dynasty where written lots were drawn from a silver canister. These pieces of paper would state which player had to drink and how much they had to drink. There were even drinking referee officials including a registrar to the rules, who knew all the rules of the game. If a contestant dropped out of a game, he would be labeled as a “coward” and a “deserter” and not invited back to any drinking contests.

There are various types of drinking games that can go from simple to pretty complicated. The simplest kind of drinking game falls under the category of endurance games. These are the games where players try to out-drink each other. They drink and the last person standing is the winner. The other types of games are “loser buys” games, speed games, thinking games, coordination games, card games, dice games, tolerance games, movie games, and miscellaneous games.

Speed games are popular at parties, especially games like boat Race and beer Bonging. The reason for their popularity is their tendency to get people drunk faster. Thinking games like 21 and beer checkers involves the players’ powers of observation, recollection, logic, articulation, and memorization. These games are not difficult in the beginning, but they become more challenging as they continue because the players’ coordination and memory tend to deteriorate. Some types of drinking games intertwine with each other; card games can be in the thinking games category or vice versa.

These games make drinking much more enjoyable and even bring unity among players. These are also a great way to get to know other people you couldn’t really talk to when you’re sober.