A few Backpacker Drinking Games

1. A SHIP CAME INTO THE HARBOUR
This is a simple yet effective and MILDLY educational drinking game. Once everyone has a drink, the first player says “A ship came into the harbour carrying a cargo of……. Cars”. Then each player has to name a brand/make of car (or whatever category has been chosen) until someone fails to name one. That person then has to drink & start the game again with the above sentence. This gets a lot trickier the longer you play.

2. FLIP CUP
A firm favourite of mine. Really good for when you’re in a hostel and don’t know anyone. The team nature of the game will get you socialising in no time. You need 2 teams, a table, plastic cups and some drinks. Each team takes a side of the table, opposite each other. A plastic cup of beer is placed in front of each player. The first pair of opponents (the 1st player from each team) down their drinks, balance the cup on the edge of the table (half on half off) and try to flip it (with one hand) so that it lands upside down on the table. Only when they have successfully done this can the next member of their team start to drink and attempt the same challenge. The first team to get to the end of the line wins. It’s a chaotic frenzy that involves a lot of cheering and booing.

3. ROXANNE
Short but incredibly effective. All you need is the song Roxanne by The Police and a group of people with drinks. Well, it doesn’t even have to be a GROUP of people, though I don’t recommend playing it alone. Split your group into two teams. One team drinks when the song says “Roxanne”. The other team drinks when it says “red light”. You will find it hard to keep up!4. BEER PONG

If you’re not American or Canadian, it’s that game you saw in films for years with those infamous red cups that you always wanted to play! Luckily, the whole world loves beer pong nowadays and those red cups aren’t so hard to find. Right, all you need for this game is a table, beer, 2 players (though you can play doubles which would involve 4 players), plastic cups & a ping pong ball. Arrange 10 cups in a pyramid in at each end of the table (20 cups total, obviously). Fill the cups with whatever amount of beer you feel like drinking. Or not beer, I once played with wine spritzers. Always have a cup of water nearby to rinse the ball with in case it lands on the floor. The first player throws the ball and tries to get it into one of the opponent’s cups. You can throw directly into the cup or the ball may bounce once on the table first. If the ball lands in the cup then the opponent must drink the contents of the cup and remove it from the table. Then it’s the other player’s turn. You continue on in this manner until one team has successfully removed all the cups of the opposing team.