12 Korean Drinking Games: A Guide to the Fun and Frolic
Korean drinking culture is a unique and vibrant world. There are rules for nights out and all of the drinking rounds in Korea and fun drinking games too. Whether you’re enjoying a night out with Korean friends or exploring the lively streets of Seoul, you’re bound to either see others playing or be in the midst of some super fun Korean drinking games. These games add a layer of excitement and camaraderie to the drinking experience, making it all the more memorable.
Let’s dive into the world of Korean drinking games and discover how to play some of the most popular ones… and then make sure you know all of the best Korean hangover cures so you’re good to go the next day.
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Best Korean Drinking Games
There are a variety of Korean alcohol options, but for most Korean drinking games, you’ll either play with beer or soju.
The Bottle Cap (병뚜껑 게임)
First up is the classic Soju Flick game. As the name suggests, this game revolves around the Korean liquor, soju, and the cap from a bottle. Here’s how you play it:
- Open a bottle of soju and immediately stuff a tissue into the lid, you’ll find out why in the next game.
- Twist the little metal “tail” on the lid into a tight spiral being careful not to twist it completely off.
- Take turns flicking this twisted tail around the circle of friends making it tighter and tighter. You want to flick it as hard as you can to try and get it off.
- If you successfully flick it off, the players on either side of you must take a shot of Soju.
This game is easy to grasp and a favorite among locals. It’s a great way to break the ice and get everyone in the party spirit.
Up and Down (업다운)
One of the simplest and most basic games that is often played around tables just after the flick game. This is a high/low game.
- After the flick game, whoever won or the person of the winner’s choosing, gets to be the leader for this game. The winner or person chosen should remove the napkin in the cap and check out the number in the cap which is anywhere from 1 to 100.
- Going around in a circle, everyone takes turns guessing the number in the cap and the leader says “high” or “low” until the number is guessed.
- If you guess correctly, the players on either side of you must take a shot of soju.
This game tests your intuition and can lead to some delightful surprises as you explore the hidden numbers beneath those Soju lids.
Titanic/The submarine (타이타닉/잠수함)
Not related to the movie, but more related to the physics, this game is all about gravity’s power on alcohol and is a simple game that you might see around a table of friends drinking to get the party started.
- Fill a glass halfway with beer.
- Carefully put an empty soju glass in the beer so that it is floating.
- Take turns pouring alcohol into the shot glass.
- How much is poured in is up to you, but be smart and strategic about it.
- Whoever sinks the glass has to drink the whole glass of somaek (soju + maekju (beer)).
3-6-9 (삼육구)
Another common drinking game in Korea. The object of the game is to say the numbers out loud starting from one, but don’t say any number that has 3, 6, or 9. Instead, when a number with 3, 6, or 9 comes up, you just clap. If the number has one digit, you clap once and if the number has two digits, you clap twice.
If anyone makes a mistake, they must drink.
Tap
The rules might sound a bit complicated at first but it’s basically “Simon” but with alcohol. Once you get the rhythm going, confusion turns into laughter and, of course, more drinking.
- Each player needs their own drink for this one.
- The first player starts by tapping their drink once, which passes the turn on to the player to the right.
- The next person must then decide if they want to tap their glass once, twice, or three times.
- One tap passes the game to the right, two taps pass it to the person on the left, and three taps skips the person to the right and goes to the person next to them.
- Whoever messes up the tapping order must drink.
Baskin Robbins 31 (베스킨라빈스 31)
If you’re a fan of numbers and patterns, the Baskin Robbins 31 game might be your jam. Not affiliated with the amazing ice cream brand but fun all the same. This game is not only fun but also a great test of your mathematical skills under the influence of soju. You can also form secret alliances to take people down.
- This game is played in a clockwise fashion.
- You simply count up to 31 in a circle. Each person can say between 1 and 3 numbers at a time.
- The person stuck with the number 31 loses and has to drink.
- You can continue the game by eliminating players until you have an ultimate winner.
007
Feeling a bit like a secret agent? The 007 game is fast-paced and a thrilling addition to your drinking game repertoire.
- In Korean, these numbers are pronounced “kong” (0), “kong” (0), and “chil” (7).
- In this game, you point at people (including yourself) with your hands like a gun.
- The first person starts off aiming at someone (or themselves) while saying, “KONG.”
- This action passes it to the person they pointed to, and they, in turn, point to someone else, saying, “KONG.”
- That person then chooses someone to aim at, saying, “CHIL!”
- The person they point to must quickly say, “BANG!” while the people on either side of them put their hands up in surrender.
- If you mess up, you take a drink.
Rabbit (토끼)
Now, let’s embrace our inner rabbits with the Rabbit game, sometimes called the Bunny game. This game adds a playful twist to the drinking session and keeps everyone engaged. You need at least 4 people to play this game.
- In this game, the starting person holds a fake carrot as if they were a little rabbit eating the carrot, saying in a cute voice, “tokki, tokki” (rabbit, rabbit).
- The people on either side must respond in their cutest rabbit voice, saying, “danggeun (당근), danggeun (당근)” (carrot, carrot).
- The “rabbit” then passes the fake carrot to one of those people/rabbits, and the process continues with that person switching from changing carrot to rabbit and the person next to them starts chanting carrot.
- If you mess up your cute rabbit exchange, you take a sip of your drink. This game can get really confusing really quickly.
Nunchi Game (눈치게임)
A game that you’ll see from elementary schools to bars, nunchi is a word in Korean that describes one’s ability to gauge others’ moods around them and respond appropriately.
This game requires you to read those around you and make sure they’re not going to speak at the same time as you.
- The point of the game is not to be the last person to shout out a number and not to shout out a number at the same time as someone else.
- Everyone begins shouting out numbers starting from 1 and going in order until the final person has said a number.
- It doesn’t matter who shouts out. There is no order but two people can’t shout out at the same time. If two (or more) people say the same number at the same time, they must drink and the game starts again.
- If you get all the way to the end without people shouting at the same time and everyone saying different numbers, well then you all drink because you’ve successfully completed the game!
Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음게임)
If you’ve been learning Korean and think you’re ready for a language game, this is a fun one to play with some other Korean language learners or speakers. Hunminjeongeum is a document that King Sejong created to introduce Hangeul to the masses.
- One person calls out two random Korean consonants, like ㄱ ㅅ, and then puts their hand in the center of the group with their thumb up.
- When someone comes up with a word that contains those two consonants like 고수, 감사, that person grabs the thumb with their own thumb up and says the word.
- This continues until someone messes up or there’s a last person who hasn’t participated yet. The final person or the person who made an error has to drink.
Image Game (이미지 게임)
Kind of a reverse game of “Never Have I Ever”, except if you’re the person everyone thinks has done something, you drink. Another version of this game is called Chopsticks (이미지 게임/젓가락) and is the same game but instead of just pointing with fingers, you point with chopsticks.
- The first player makes a statement like “Had the highest math scores”. Everyone at the table points to the person they think best fits the description. Whether true or not, the person that gets the most votes drinks.
- The person who drinks then makes the next statement.
The Name Game
How many names do you know? This game will test your naming knowledge.
- The first player says a celebrity’s name. If you’re in Korea, try naming as many idols and actors as you can perhaps.
- The next person must then say another celebrity name that starts with the last letter of the previous celebrity’s name.
- The game continues around the circle until someone can’t think of a name and they must drink.
- Feel free to add rules each round like they must be Korean sports players or Hollywood actors.
Drinking in Korea FAQ
What is the drinking age in South Korea?
The drinking age in South Korea is 20 in Korean age, which is 19 in international age.
How do I say “cheers” in Korean?
The most common way to say “cheers” in Korean is geonbae (건배). If you’re in a bar with groups of workers or teams from something, you’ll also often here weehayeo (위하여), which means “for the sake of”.
Make sure you know about The Black Knight (흑기사)
After a few rounds of these games, you might have noticed that not everyone can drink as much as you. That’s alright. We all have different alcohol tolerances. If you want to help a fellow friend out, you can take the shot for someone by being the 흑기사 (black knight) and drink their drink for them.
These are just a few of the many Korean drinking games you might encounter during a night out in South Korea. Remember to drink responsibly and enjoy the moments of laughter and bonding that these games bring.
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