How to Play the Drinking Game Circle of Death

I've played plenty of drinking games in my day, but my favorite of all drinking games is Circle of Death. The great thing about Circle of Death is that there's no set way to play. Although there are some basic rules that are universal, you'll probably never find two people who play Circle of Death the same way (they may even call it by a different name).

To begin playing this drinking game, all you need are people (there is no limit to how many can play), a deck of cards, and, of course, drinks! You'll spread the cards face down in a circle on the table, making sure that the cards overlap. Each time it's someone's turn, they will remove one card from the circle (of death). This leads me to the first, and most important rule of this drinking game. If you break the circle when drawing your card, you must chug your entire drink to the delight of all the other players.

Now that you have your circle set up, you'll want to lay down the rules for what each card means when a player draws it. The following are the Circle of Death card assignments that I usually play with:

2-4 (take) - If you draw a 2 through 4, you must take the number of drinks on the card.

5-8 (give) - If you draw a 5 through 8, you give out the number of drinks on the card. You can break them up or give them all to one unlucky person.

9 (bust a rhyme) - When you draw a 9, it's time to bust a rhyme. You say any word you feel like, then everyone goes around the table and tries to rhyme with it. The first person to mess up, must take a drink.

10 (social) - When you draw a 10, everyone says cheers and takes a drink together.

Jack (Thumb Master) - When you draw a Jack, you become Thumb Master. That means anytime you put your thumb on the table, everyone else must do so as well. The last person to realize what's going on and put their thumb on the table drinks. You remain Thumb Master and may use your power until the next Jack is drawn.

Queen (Question Master) - When you draw a Queen, you become the all powerful Question Master. Every time you ask someone a question, they must reply in a question or they drink. You remain Question Master until the next Queen is drawn.

King (category) - When you draw a King, you pick a category (brands of beer, for example), and everyone must go around the table and name something in the category. The first person to mess up drinks.

Ace (rule) - When an Ace is drawn, you must make a new rule that everyone will follow until the end of the game. You can make any rule you like, but some examples are: anyone who cusses has to drink, if you say anyone's name you have to drink, or you can only point with your elbows.

Even though this is the way I normally play Circle of Death, there are lots of ways it can be varied. You could say red cards of 2-8 are for taking drinks and black are for giving out or odds are for taking and evens are for giving out, for example. If there are too many rules for you to remember, you could eliminate the 9 bust a rhyme or 10 social rules and lump them in with the taking and giving out drinks cards. As long as everyone is in agreement, it's a really fun drinking game to play.

Although you can technically use any drink with this drinking game, I do recommend playing Circle of Death with beer. Miller Light being my beer of choice. You can end up taking quite a few drinks in a row, which could be bad news with mixed drinks or wine. I've played with stronger beverages before and I can't say that I remember finishing the game!

Next time you want to play a drinking game, give Circle of Death a try. It's pretty easy once you get going and absolutely hilarious. Circle of Death does make it easy to get carried away, though, so be sure to drink responsibly!