Ring Of Fire Card Game
- Are you tough enough to withstand the Ring of Fire Card Game from Ridley's Games? Place the deck face down in a ring around the empty 'King's cup' and have players take turns picking up cards. Everyone follows the rule on the card, like an 'Ace' card where the player 'Sets the Pace' by starting to drink with everyone following suit and unable to stop until the starting player does.
- Ring of Fire is an exciting game which is played with alcohol and playing cards. It is great for hangouts, reunions, bachelor parties, sleepovers, and the like. This PartyJoys article provides all the instructions on how to play the Ring of Fire drinking game.
Ring of fire, also known as “Kings” and “Circle of Death,” is one of those rite of passage drinking games. It requires very little setup, is extremely inclusive and acts as a boozy ice breaker. Ring of Fire Official Rules: 1. To set up the game, first clear off your table and set a cup in the center with the deck of cards placed around the cup in a circle (see image below). Now get a group of friends to gather around the table, each person having a cup/bottle of their preferred booze to themselves.
| Alternative names | King's Cup Heroes Ring of Fire Kings |
|---|---|
| Type | Drinking |
| Players | 2+ |
| Age range | Varies by legal jurisdiction |
| Cards | 52 |
| Deck | 1 deck of standard playing cards |
| Play | Clockwise or counterclockwise |
| Card rank (highest first) | Ace (A) – two (2) |
| Playing time | 20 to 40 minutes |
Kings (also known as king's cup, donut, jug oval, circle of death and ring of fire) is a drinking game that uses playing cards. The player must drink and dispense drinks based on cards drawn. Each card has a rule that is predetermined before the game starts. Often groups establish house rules with their own variation of rules.
Equipment[edit]
- 1 Deck of Cards
- 2 or more players
- Alcoholic beverages – typically wine, beer, or mixed drinks - or non alcoholic beverages
- A large cup which will be used as the King's Cup, or (in the 'Ring of Fire' version of the game) an unopened beer can
Setup and common rules[edit]
In this game, a deck of cards is shuffled and dealt into a circle around either an empty cup or a full drink of choice. Each card value is assigned an action, which must be performed by the relevant players upon it being drawn. Players then take turns to draw cards and participate in the relevant activity.
This game is highly open ended and all of the cards can signify any mini-game, the rules and the card assignments are normally confirmed at the start of the game. Depending on house rules, the game either ends when the last rule card has been pulled or the king's cup has been consumed. In variations where cards are placed on top of the king's cup, the game is over when the cards fall off, with the player responsible for knocking them off having to consume the king's cup.
It is also common for the players to make up and agree on a set of rules every time the game is played. Some common assignments for card values include:
| Card drawn | Title | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | Waterfall | To perform a waterfall, each player starts drinking their beverage at the same time as the person to their left, starting with the player who drew the card. No player can stop drinking until the player before them stops. |
| 2 | Two for you / Two is you | The player who drew the card gives out two drinks, either both to the same person or one to two different people. |
| 3 | Three for me / Three is me | The player who drew the card takes a drink.[1] |
| 4 | Hit the floor | Last person to touch the floor with their hands must take a drink. |
| Four is Whores | All women playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 6) | |
| 5 | Five is Guys | All men playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 6) |
| Drive | All players put up their hands as if driving a car. The player who drew the card begins. They say 'vroom' while tilting their hands to the right or left. The 'driver' is passed to the player next to them in that direction. Players now have three options as the 'driver' position is passed to them. They can choose to turn to same direction as the person before them and say 'vroom', passing it one more person. They can turn their hands in the opposite direction and say 'skert' (as in the screeching of car wheels) and pass the 'driver' position back to the person who just sent it to them. Now that is the new direction and all 'drivers' who turn that way must say 'Vroom' until a 'driver' decides to 'skert' it back again. The last option is to say 'beep' while mimicking hitting the car horn. This passes the game's position to the player opposite the current driver. The first 'driver' who speaks or turns the wrong way has to drink. | |
| 6 | Six is chicks | All women playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 4) |
| Six is dicks | All men playing take a drink. (In some versions this is under the number 5) | |
| 7 | Heaven / 7th Heaven | Last person to raise their hand has to drink. |
| 8 | Mate | The player who drew the card chooses another player who must drink at the same time as them for the rest of the game. |
| 9 | Rhyme Time / Nine is Rhyme | The player who drew the card says a word, with players going clockwise each saying a word that rhyme with the original. The first person to fail to come up with a rhyming word that has not been used must drink. |
| 10 | Categories | The player who drew the card chooses a category, with players going clockwise to name things that fall within the category. The first person to fail to come up with something that has not been said must drink. |
| Jack | Social | Everyone must take a drink. |
| Never Have I Ever | Starting with the player who drew the card, everyone goes around the circle and saying 'never have I ever ___.' Whoever has done the action must drink. | |
| Queen | Questions | The player who drew the card starts by asking anyone a question. This player then asks anyone else a question. The first player who fails to ask a question must drink. |
| The player who drew the card becomes the question master. Whenever they ask a question, other players must also respond with questions or otherwise drink. This continues until another Queen is drawn, at which point that player becomes the question master. | ||
| King | King's Cup (+ Rules) | When each of the first 3 Kings are drawn, the person who drew the card puts some of their drink into the King's Cup at the center of the table. When the 4th King is drawn, the person who drew the 4th King must drink the contents of the King's Cup. In some variations, the first three people to pick a King card can also make a rule that must be followed until the next King is picked. Some common rules include Buffalo (must always use left hand), Thumbs (player puts their thumb on the table silently, last person to follow suit drinks), In bed (everyone has to say 'in bed' after every sentence), and Teeth (players can't show their teeth when they laugh). |
Ring of Fire[edit]
In the 'Ring of Fire' version of the game, a beer can is placed in the center of the ring of cards.[2] Players 'discard' cards by sliding them under the beer tab. The player who pops the beer tab must drink the whole can. Unless decided that signals the end of the game, another can is placed in the middle and the game continues.
If by drawing a card a player creates a gap in the circle of cards, they must finish their own drink.[2]
Variations and other rules[edit]
Like almost all other drinking games, Kings has endless variations of rules, and individual drinking groups usually have their own set of card effects. There will be similar rules, but there will most likely always be some that some players have never encountered before. Some games specify that playing a certain card allows that player to make up a new rule which lasts for the remainder of the game.
A major variation in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Canada is that the contents of the King's Cup are drunk by the player who breaks the circle of cards (known as the Ring of Fire in the UK).
Ring Of Fire Card Game
A popular variation in Australia is the Smoko or Toilet Card replacing Give Two Take Two. In this version, a player needs to possess a Smoko Card to leave the table to smoke or use the toilet. A player can have multiple copies of the card and they can be traded, typically under conditions such as; the recipient must refill drinks on demand, crawl for the rest of the game, talk in a funny voice, etc.
Another popular variation in Australia is where the game is played with the addition of the Joker card. Upon drawing a Joker, the player must take a bong hit of pure good Cush.
In Belgium the game is known as 'Circle of Destruction' or 'Hardcore Kings'. In the beginning a pint is placed in the middle of the circle and everyone has to pour some of their drink in it, from now on this drink is referred to as 'Witch's Brew'.
| Card drawn | Title | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | Safe | Everyone drinks but you. |
| 2 | Who | A round of spin the bottle is played. |
| 3 | Wanna fight me? | A match of arm wrestling is played with the player sitting on the opposite side of the circle, the loser drinks. A slap contest can also be played. |
| 4 | We're whores | Everyone has to take off one piece of clothing as fast as they can, last on to do so has to drink. |
| 5 | My life | You have to take a sip from every player's drink. |
| 6 | ...tynine | The player who had sex the most recently drinks, the second time this card is drawn the player who had sex the second most recently drinks and so on... |
| 7 | Close to heaven | Do a body shot out of the belly button of your left-hand neighbour. |
| 8 | Mate | Choose a person to be your mate and they drink when you drink, and vice versa, for the rest of the game. If one of the mates draws another 8 card they chose another player and now all three have to drink. You can also merge two mated pairs this way. If all players of the game become mated, then all ties are cancelled. |
| 9 | Time to shine | You have to do 20 push ups, if you can't do it you have to drink the amount of sips you were short of 20. |
| 10 | Witch | You have to down the witch's brew. Afterwards the pint is refilled. |
| Jack | The Jack entertains | You have to do a credible and serious belly dance, for every minute you can pull this off you may choose another player who had to down their drink. |
| Queen | Mixer | Every player has to hand in his drink and you may reassign them to different players. |
| King | Rewind Time | You can use your rewind power one time to let someone do their assignment again. |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Card Drinking Games
- ^LaBrie, JW; Ehret, PJ; Hummer, JF (2013). 'Are they all the same? An exploratory, categorical analysis of drinking game types'. Addict Behav. 38: 2133–9. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.12.002. PMC3654653. PMID23435275.
- ^ ab'Ring of Fire Rules (With A Handy Infographic to Reference)'. Let's Play A Drinking Game. April 19, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.