Drinking JENGA

Warnings about drinking games

Remember: the goal of drinking games isn’t to get drunk, but to blend two timeless social joys into one—playing games and sharing a few drinks with friends

How to play DRINKING JENGA

Option 1 – CUSTOM DRINKING JENGA

For us, it’s hands down the most exciting option of the three…, as it offers a unique and personalized experience, adapted to the tastes of the participants, created by and for them.

How do you play?

It involves assigning a specific action to each block, which will be written directly on the block itself. Each time a player pulls a block, they read it aloud—and do whatever it says. Each removal becomes an opportunity to share laughs and fun.

“Game Tiles” by mastermaq is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can mix classic drinking game actions – e.g. boys drink – with more typical fun party game actions – e.g. twerking for 10 sec or drinking. Below you’ll find many more ideas in case you need inspiration.

By adjusting the number and type of actions, you can make the game 100% drinking or 100% party game. You’re in control! Agree as a group on the types of actions included to make sure everyone’s comfortable.

TThat’s another reason we think this version of “Drinking Jenga” is the best: the shared time in creating the actions can be as much fun as the game itself, also serving to create an anticipation of what’s to come next. It’s perfect.

Rules for DRINKING JENGA

The basis of the game is the same as in classic JENGA: after creating the tower, each player, in turns, must remove a wooden block and place it on top without the tower collapsing. If you have never played before, we recommend you to visit our page about JENGA to know its rules in detail.

To the basic rules we will add the following:

1. Player who removes the block reads the action written on it, and this action is carried out before they place the piece on top of the tower.
2. If a player decides not to perform the action, they must take a sip, a finger, two fingers, or the penalty you all agreed on before the game started.
3. If a player collapses the tower, there’s a penalty. You decide what it is. It could be something like “finish their drink in one gulp” or “lean out of the window and sing Yellow Submarine at the top of their lungs”. Get creative and make sure everyone agrees.

Stock ideas for JENGA FOR DRINKING

A JENGA game usually has 54 blocks, but it is not necessary to create 54 different actions. You can repeat some of them two or three times.

The simpler and more common ones like “take a sip” can be repeated multiple times, while if you’re creating something stronger, something that’s agreed upon by everyone but secretly hoping it lands on someone else ;), you can include it just once.

In some of them we have written “bebe un sorbo” (drink a sip) and in others simply “bebe” (drink) but only for information purposes. It’s up to you to decide how much to drink for each action in your game: a sip, a finger or two fingers.

We offer you below a lot of ideas to inspire the actions of your personalized DRINK JENGA.

Purely “drinking” ideas.

1. SIP: Take a sip of your drink.
2. ONE FINGER: Drink one finger of your drink.
3. TWO FINGERS: Drink two fingers of your drink.
4. HALF: Drink half of what’s left.
5. ALL: Drink the entire glass.
6. TAKE A SIP WITH A PAL: Choose someone to take a sip with you.
7. GIRLS SIP: Girls take a sip.
8. GUYS SIP: Guys take a sip.
9. SIP WITH LEFTY: Take a sip along with the player to your left.
10. SIP WITH RIGHTY: Take a sip along with the player to your right.
11. ALL SIP: Everyone takes a sip.
12. ALL SIP & DANCE: Everyone takes a sip and does a silly dance.
13. TOAST: Come up with a toast for a player. Everyone toasts and takes a sip.
14. SIP x COUNTRY: Take a sip for each country you’ve visited.
15. SIP x TATTOO: Take a sip for each tattoo you have.
16. SIP IF ASLEEP: Drink if you’ve ever fallen asleep at work or school.
17. SIP x SOCIAL APP: Drink if you have more than three social media apps on your phone. You decide: one sip per app or the way that feels right.
18. SOCIAL MEDIA SIP: Take a sip for each social media platform you’re on.
19. AWKWARD QUESTION: Choose someone to answer an embarrassing question. Both take a sip if they don’t answer.
20. IMITATE A CELEBRITY: choose someone to imitate a celebrity. GIRLS SIP: Girls take a sip.
21. SIP x FORGETFUL: Take a sip for every time you’ve lost your keys or phone.
22. TRADE: Swap drinks with another player.
23. CLUMSY HAND: The one who pulls this block uses their non-dominant hand for the rest of the game. They sip if they slip.
24. ROULETTE: Spin a pen or a bottle on the table. The player it points to takes a sip.
25. PAPER, ROCK, SCISSORS: Challenge a player to a game of rock-paper-scissors. Loser sips.

Funny Actions

1. TWERK IT: Do twerking for 10 seconds.
2. PASSION DANCE: Choose a song and passionately dance your heart out for 20 seconds.
3. BACKWARDS WORD: Pronounce a word backwards out loud.
4. JOKE TIME: Share a joke; take a sip if no one laughs.
5. OPERA STAR: Sing a song of your choice in opera style.
6. PUT ON A SHOW: Pick someone to perform their best dance move. Both sip if they decline.
7. FARM LIFE: Mimic a farm animal for 10 seconds.
8. IMITATE A PLAYER: Imitate another player for 10 seconds.
9. LIP SYNC: Say a word aloud without moving your lips. Others must guess what you said.
10. CHARADES: Act out a scene from a famous movie using only gestures. Others must guess what is it.
11. CONFESSION TIME: Choose someone to make an embarrassing confession. Both sip if they decline.
12. ONE FOOT BALANCE: Balance on one foot for 30 seconds. If you can’t, take a sip.
13. BACKWARD WALK: Walk around the table backward. If you stumble, take a sip.
14. SPOON TRICK: Balance a spoon on your nose for 1 minute. If you can’t, take a sip.
15. BOOK ON HEAD: Walk with a book balanced on your head for 30 seconds.
16. CONSONANT CHALLENGE: Say a sentence chosen by your companions using only a consonant they pick.
17. BOX HEAD: The player must wear the box on their head for the next turn. They can take it off afterward. This action requires preparing a box with two small eye holes so that it’s challenging to extract the block while wearing it.
18. FOLLOW THE LEADER: Encourage everyone to sing and dance “Follow the Leader” for a minute.
19. PASS: If a player pulls a block with the word “Pass,” they can save it and use it to avoid an action in another turn. Once used, they must place it back in the tower, which means they have to place two blocks on top of the tower in that turn, increasing the risk of it falling.
20. RHYME TIME: Say 10 words that rhyme with a word chosen by others in under 60 seconds.
21. NAMES: Players take turns saying famous names (celebrities, historical figures, etc.). Each player must say a name that starts with the same letter as the previous name’s last name. For example, if someone says “Michael Jackson,” the next player should say a name starting with “J,” like “Jennifer Aniston.” If someone can’t come up with a valid name or takes too long, they have to take a sip.
22. NOSE TOUCH: Touch your nose with your eyes closed.
23. STRAIGHT LINE: Walk three meters in a straight line.
24. FINGER TOUCH: Extend your arms, open your hands, and touch the fingers of both hands.
25. CREATE A RULE: The player who draws this piece has the chance to create an additional rule that all players must follow for the rest of the game. Whenever someone breaks the rule, they must take a sip of their drink. Example rules: everyone speaks in a foreign accent, every time someone laughs the rest must laugh too; you can only speak in rhymes; answer every question with another question; no one can touch the floor with their feet; stand up and spin around three times before pulling a piece; act as if you’re in a silent movie, no speaking allowed.

These are just a few ideas. Get creative and make your own rules!

“Boxhead Paige” by mastermaq is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

How to assign actions to the blocks?

We suggest two methods. Both assume that you have a classic JENGA.

1 – Directly Write on the Blocks with Colored Markers:

Pros: Looks nice, no additional cost.

Disadvantages: that JENGA will already be a Drinking JENGA forever, and also with the same shares.

2 – Use Labels or Stickers:

Write on labels, stick them on blocks, and remove them after the game. Ensure label height doesn’t exceed block height.

Pros: Each game can have different actions.

Cons: Need to purchase stickers.

And if you don’t have a classic JENGA

You can borrow one from a friend, family member, neighbor, or anyone you know. You can customize it for the drinking game using stickers and then return it as if nothing happened 😉

And of course, another option is to invest in one. You will find it in any store specialized in board games, although the best price and the best offers are usually on Amazon.