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Almost every drinking game assumes a circle of people. Ring of Fire needs a full table, most card games need teams, and anything with a chant falls apart when there are only two of you to chant.

These nine are the ones that survive the group leaving. Play responsibly — none of this is worth a bad morning, and it is always fine to play the whole lot with water.

The ones that work best with two

Never Have I Ever. The natural two-player drinking game. Ten fingers each; drink instead of putting a finger down if you prefer. Works because with two people every admission is immediately interesting.

Would You Rather. Both answer. If you pick the same option, neither drinks. If you split, you both drink and then argue about it. The split is the fun part.

Most Likely To, adapted. With two people, point at yourself or the other person on three. Agreeing is boring; disagreeing means you both drink.

Truth or Drink. Straight swap for Truth or Dare when dares are too much effort. Answer honestly or drink. It moves fast and it is the easiest to explain.

The ones that need a deck

Kings Cup for two works if you accept that the game gets short. Deal the whole deck between you and take the card rules in turn.

Higher or Lower. Flip a card, guess higher or lower, wrong guess drinks. Almost no thinking required, which is the point after a while.

Red or Black. Even simpler. Genuinely fine as a background game while you are talking about something else.

The ones that need nothing at all

The Question Game. You may only speak in questions. Statement, hesitation or repetition and you drink. It is much harder than it sounds and it gets funnier as it goes.

Categories. Pick a category, alternate naming things in it, first to stall drinks. Pick categories you both know something about or it ends in four seconds.

Rules worth agreeing before you start

Decide the finish line first. "We stop after this round" said at the start is respected. Said at the end, it is negotiated.

Sips, not shots. Two-player games move much faster than group ones because there is no waiting for your turn. The same game that lasts an hour with eight people lasts fifteen minutes with two.

Anyone can stop, no explanation. If that rule needs defending, it is the wrong game night.

Eat something. Genuinely the difference between a good night and a wasted next day.

Play them in the browser

Drink If… and Kings Cup both run free in the browser with no download — the card rules are dealt for you, so nobody has to remember what a seven means.

For the talking ones, Never Have I Ever and Would You Rather are the two that need the least explaining.