Kings (game)

Kings or King's Cup is a popular drinking game similar to Circle of Death. It uses a standard deck of playing cards. The deck of cards are shuffled and spread down on a table, usually in a circle. In some variations, a cup is placed in the center of the table. The play goes around the table with each player drawing one card at a time. Each card has a different action associated with it, which are listed below.

In 2006, a company name Crunk Masters created a pictoral version of the card game, where images represented the rules in question, similar to the classic game "Old Maid." The Crunk Masters Kings rules are verbalized below, with little variation. The official Official Rules for Kings can be found on the Crunk Masters website.

Crunk Masters Kings Official Rules

2) You
Choose a person to drink.

3) Me
Take a drink.

4) Social
All players must drink.

5) Guys
All the boys take a drink.

6) Chicks
All the girls take a drink.

7) Hands to Heaven
All players must raise a hand toward the sky. The last player to do so, drinks.

8) Pick a Mate
The person who draws the eight has to choose someone at the table to drink the same time as the person who draws the card does. For example, if a person loses on "Never have I Ever", their mate has to drink a long with them.

9) Bust-A-Rhyme
The drawer starts with one line, and in succession, everyone rhymes with the last word of the line. If you repeat what's already been said or take too long to come up with something, you drink.

10) Waterfall
Before you start the waterfall, everyone should fill their drinks. Everyone starts drinking when the drawer of the card starts. The person to their left can't stop drinking until the person to their right stops. As you guessed it, the person to the right of the drawer is screwed.

J) Categories
The drawer starts with a Category and an example and everyone in turn comes up with another example. Again, if you repeat what's already been said or take too long, you drink. For example, I (being the drawer), would say 'the category is NBA teams'. I would give the example of the Bulls, the next person might say the Celtics, and so on.

Q) Questions
You start by making eye contact with someone and asking them an off-the-wall question. The players then go around in a circle asking each other questions. The point is to do this fast and to make the person laugh. Whoever laughs first drinks. In some groups, the first person to answer one of the questions, or make any statement other than a question, drinks instead.

K) Kings Make Rules
Pour some of whatever you're drinking into the center cup so that it fills up to a 1/3 of the cup. The game ends when the last King is drawn and the bearer has to drink the full cup. This works best when people are drinking various drinks (beer, liquor, etc.), as part of the fun of the game derives from the requirement that the person who draws the last King must drink something not especially palatable.

The drawer of this card gets to make a rule and a punishment for breaking that rule. Examples of commonly applied rules include a Thumb Master rule where the drawer becomes the thumb master and when they put their thumb on the table (unnoticeably), the last person to do so has to drink. There's also the 'Drink, Drank, Drunk' rule where you can't say any of these words. You can also have the 'Orgasm Rule' so that whenever someone says a certain word, they have to fake an orgasm.

A) Never Have I Ever
The person who draws this card says something that they've either done or never done. Whoever has done this, takes a drink. There's another variation on this rule. You can have everyone start with 3 fingers held up. If you've done the action, put a finger down. The first one to lose their fingers drinks.

Variants

There are probably as many variants of Kings as there are groups who play the game. For starters, any action whose name isn't somehow connected to the associated card (9 is almost always "Bust-a-Rhyme", and K is always the same) can be associated with any other card (for instance, A is "Make-a-Rule" and 7 is "Waterfall"). Also, in some circles, 4 is "Whores" (women drink) and 6 is "Dicks" (men drink). Another value is then assigned to 5. This variant is especially popular at fraternities.

In some versions of the game, the number cards 2-8 require a number of drinks equal to the card's number. If the card is black, the player must drink that many drinks. If the card is red, the player distributes that many drinks however he/she chooses. For example, a black 4 requires the player to drink 4 drinks, while a red 5 allows a player to assign one person 1 drink and another person 4 drinks, or any other combination of 5 drinks total.

Also, in some variants, the King's Cup will be filled with whatever the participants are drinking (typically beer) before the game begins. In this variant, each King drawn will be placed on top of the cup, and the person who draws the fourth will be required to drain the cup. Sometimes an especially large container such as a pitcher or coffee carafe is used as the King's Cup.

In addition, in some groups, the cards will be arranged in a ring around the cup. The first player to "break the circle" (that is, draw a card that leaves a gap in this ring) must pound the King's Cup, regardless of how many Kings have been drawn. The deck is then shuffled, and a new ring formed. Alternatively, if everyone has had enough, the game ends. This rule is nearly always treated as optional, as if the circle is broken early, the concoction in the King's Cup will be neither especially large nor especially foul. Alternatively, the player who "breaks the circle" may be required to finish his or her own beverage.

Another alternative rule will be to place a can of beer in the center of the table, and form a ring with the cards around the can. As you draw a card and play the rule, you place it under the tab of the can. The person who cracks the seal of the can must chug the beer. If they chug the whole can, they win the game. If they fail, a new can is placed in the center and the game continues. Under this rule, Kings are played as a social (everybody drinks).

A selection of variant rules follows.

Variant Rules

A) In Your Face
You take a drink.

3) Three's Company
Social. Everyone takes a drink.

3) Buzz
In a clockwise fashion beginning with the card-drawer, each person says the next number in the natural number series starting with one. However, if the number is a multiple of seven or eleven, or has a seven in it such as 37, the person must say "buzz" instead of the number. For example, the first person says "1", the second says "2"...3, 4, 5, 6, buzz, 8, 9, 10, buzz, 12, 13, buzz, etc. Play continues until someone makes a mistake in the series and consequently drinks.

4) Whores
All women drink.

5) Hand Jive
Make a gesture, then point to someone. They repeat the gesture, add one of their own, and point to someone else. First person to make a mistake in repeating the sequence drinks.

5) Word Association
This is similar to "Categories". The drawer says any noun and the person to the left of him or her must say a word that relates in some way to the previous word. Play continues clockwise until someone either cannot think of a similar word or says a word that is considered "too far off" by the other players; this person drinks. An example goes: "blue", "orange", "banana", "monkey" etc.

5) Touch The Sky
Everyone must raise their hand. The last person to get their hand up must drink.

5) Thumb Master (or Nose Master)
See the 10) Make A Rule for details. Nose Master is the same, only player must touch his thumb to his nose. Drawing another five replaces who the Master is.

6) Dicks
Men drink.

7) Seven-Eleven
The person who picks the card names one item available at 7-11 (hot dogs for example). The next player must name what each player before him named plus a new item (2nd player, "hot dogs, beer." 3rd player "hot dogs, beer, condoms.") Whoever cannot recite the entire list correctly drinks.

7) Seven Doubles Eleven
The person who picks this card starts by saying the number "1", counting continues in a clockwise direction until "6", the person just left of the person who says six then says "f*ck you!" and the direction reversed to counter clockwise with the person who just said "6" saying "8" and continues until the person who should say "11" instead says "f*ck you" and direction reverses again. This continues and EVERY multiple of 7 and 11 (7,11,14,21,22 etc. . . ) is replaced with "F*ck You!" and the direction changes. This continues until someone messes up and then they have to drink.

7) Heaven
Opposite of "floor". Last player to throw their hands in the air drinks.

7) "Sentence"
The player who draws the card says a word, then the next player says the first word and a word of their own, the third player adds on to the sentence by saying the previous two words and their own third word, and so on. The first person to mess up drinks.

8) Hate
Pick another player, that person must drink until you tell them to stop. If the player finishes their drink before being told to then the person who picked the card must drink until told to stop.

8) Dare
Dare another player to do something. If they won't, they drink (generally more than once).

8) Categories'
The drawer starts with a Category and an example and everyone in turn comes up with another example. Again, if you repeat what's already been said or take too long, you drink. For example, I (being the drawer), would say 'the category is NBA teams'. I would give the example of the Bulls, the next person might say the Celtics, and so on.'

10) Thumb-Control
The player who has drawn the most recent 10 is said to have "thumb-control." This means that at anytime during the game this person may touch their thumb to anything they wish and everyone else must do the same. The last person to do it drinks.

10) "Social"
Everyone drinks!

10) "Prank SMS"
The player who draws this card must hand their mobile phone over to the rest of the group, who get to send one SMS to anyone they can find in the contacts list or a number they supply. Professional contacts are often off-limits for this, however. Typically, ex-partners or potential partners are targeted.

J) Back
The previous person in the rotation takes one drink.

J) "Jack-off"
Much like "Hand Jive," but play continues counterclockwise instead of through pointing from player to player. First person to make a mistake in repeating the sequence drinks.

J) "Social"
Everyone drinks!

J) Piss-card
Only the person who has drawn the most recent jack may use the bathroom. All other players must hope to draw a jack or for the game to end (or beg the current jack owner to take them with him or her).

J) Ass-on-the-wall
Everyone must put their naked ass on an object decided upon prior to the start of the game. The object is commonly the wall, but it can very well be the neighbours' front door, the railing of a boat, or your friends car. Whoever is last must drink and add some of his or her drink to the punishment jar.

Q) Quickness
All players must put their thumbs on the table. The last player to do so takes one drink.

Q) Question Master
The player who draws the Queen becomes the Question Master. No player may answer a question from the Question Master. If they fail in this task, drink. The next Queen replaces the Question Master.

Q) Waterfall
Before you start the waterfall, everyone should fill their drinks. Everyone starts drinking when the drawer of the card starts. The person to their left can't stop drinking until the person to their right stops. As you guessed it, the person to the right of the drawer is screwed.

Note that any of the rules can be assigned to any card, so long as an appropriate name for the action is chosen.

This game is also commonly played with the number cards (or most of the lower cards) dictating the number of drinks to be taken, and the colour dictating whether the person who drew the card takes that many drinks or orders another to take them. Example: Rules are as given in the opening section of this page for 9,10,J,Q,K,A. For 2-8 they are as described here. A person draws a red 3, takes 3 drinks. Next person draws black 5, orders whoever they wish to take 5 drinks (they may also order, for example, two people to take two and three drinks respectively). Note that 7 and 8 could retain the rules listed in the earlier section, as could 5 and 6. "Taking 3 drinks" refers to three swigs, three fingers, or any other predetermined quantity.

Links

Crunk Masters Online!