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Kings Cup has more disputed rules than any other drinking game, mostly because everyone learned it from a different group and is completely certain their version is correct.

Here is the standard set, plus the arguments worth having. Play responsibly — every rule below works exactly as well with water.

Setting up

Spread a full deck face down in a ring around an empty cup in the middle. Players take turns drawing one card and doing what it says. The ring must stay unbroken; break it and you drink.

Every card

Ace — Waterfall. Everyone starts drinking at once. You can stop when the person to your right stops. Whoever drew the card controls how long it goes.

2 — You. Pick someone. They drink.

3 — Me. You drink.

4 — Floor. Last person to touch the floor drinks.

5 — Guys. All the men drink.

6 — Chicks. All the women drink.

7 — Heaven. Last person to point at the ceiling drinks.

8 — Mate. Pick a partner. They drink whenever you drink, for the rest of the game.

9 — Rhyme. Say a word. Go round the circle rhyming with it. First to fail or repeat drinks.

10 — Categories. Name a category. Go round naming things in it. First to stall drinks.

Jack — Never Have I Ever. Standard rules, three fingers.

Queen — Question Master. You are the Question Master until the next Queen. Anyone who answers a question you ask drinks.

King — Pour. Pour some of your drink into the centre cup. Whoever draws the fourth King drinks the whole thing.

The house rules worth keeping

Thumb Master. Whoever holds it can put a thumb on the table at any time; last person to copy drinks. Usually assigned to a card most groups do not care about. Genuinely good — it runs in the background all game.

No first names. Anyone using a real first name drinks. Sounds trivial, catches everyone constantly.

No pointing. Same idea. Best combined with the above.

The rule that a rule ends when the next same card is drawn. This one is worth insisting on, because otherwise you accumulate fourteen active rules by the end and nobody can play at all.

The house rules worth dropping

Anything that removes a player. Kings Cup is a background game for a group that is talking. Rules that eliminate people leave someone sitting there.

Anything that requires remembering more than two active rules. In practice nobody does, and enforcement becomes an argument.

Making the final King a punishment. The centre cup is enough. Adding forfeits on top is where nights go wrong.

Play it without a deck

Kings Cup deals the cards and shows the rule for each one, free in the browser — which settles the "what does seven mean" argument permanently. For two-player nights where a full deck does not work, Drink If… is the better option.