Circle of Death

So many of these cup + card games are similar. The devil is in the details though, as they all have nuanced differences. As people who've played a few rounds of Kings, Waterfall, Ring of Fire, Captain Dickhead, and now, Circle of Death, we can attest.

The numbers in the deck though, that's where Circle of Death gets nasty. When you draw a number, you assign that many drinks to players in the game. A Circle of Death variant is alternating Red & Black suits between Give & Take, when it comes to numbers.

But yeah, numbers are where the punishment sneaks up on you.

Equipment

This is all standard equipment to have on hand for a party.

• 3 to 10 of your friends
• Deck of Cards
• A cup of any size
• Wine, Beer, Mixed Drinks, or Hard Alcohol

Setting up the Game

In order to play Circle of Death, you're going need to take the Punishment Cup and place it on a flat surface somewhere. From there, you need to spread out a deck (or two) of cards face down around the cup. Make sure that they are evenly distributed around the entirety of the container. This puts the "circle" in Circle of Death.

Circle of Death Rules

When you draw an Ace

Get ready to start drinking, because it's time for a waterfall. Not to be confused with the card game of the same name, a waterfall is when a group of people continuously drink their drink

When you draw a King

Like ancient times, Kings make rules. The person who draws a king can, and should, make a new rule. We're often told that they can undo a prior King's rules. Whether you abide by that rule or not is up to you. We're actually big fans of compounding rules and effects, so we tend to leave the prior rules of Kings remain in Circle of Death.

However, like the third person on a match in the foxhole, the person who draws the Fourth King needs to drink the punishment cup in the middle.

When you draw a Queen

Drawn Queens represent the Question Game. The person who draws the Queen thinks of a question, and then proceeds to ask another player gathered around the Circle of Death (at the table). That person then asks a question of someone else. The pattern then continues until someone doesn't ask a question, someone takes too long, or someone just breaks out of character like Jimmy Fallon on SNL and starts laughing.

When you draw a Jack

Jacks go back. In this case, the player behind the person. The last player to go before the person who drew the Jack must either sing a song or quote a movie from when they were a kid - within a reasonable amount of time. If they do, the person behind them must do the same. And so on, until a player messes up.

The group will judge whether or not a song or quote is worthy enough for success.

When you draw a Ten

Drawing a Ten in Circle of Death is like other Punishment Cup based games, it's time for categories. The person who drew the Ten comes up with a category, for example, "Breakfast Foods". Then players take turns stating types of common breakfast foods until one person can't, or, takes too long - for example, eggs, cereal, bacon, and so on.

You can't say something that has already been said. Keep that in mind.

When you draw a Nine

Give nine sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Eight

Give eight sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Seven

Give seven sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Six

Give six sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Five

Give five sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Four

Give four sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Three

Give three sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.

When you draw a Two

Give two sips to the other players in the game, dividing them however you choose.