Hand Scribbled Guide to Top 5 Korean Drinking Games

Basics: Playing games while drinking is an important and vital ingredient to your success in adapting to Korean culture. Usually, you need four or more people to play these games, and there is a Penalty Drink that is made before the start of the game. Penalty drink usually is a mixture of two alcohol, and Soju+Beer is a very common P.D. – it’s called Somac, coming from Soju + Macju. Macju is beer in Korean. 70% beer mixed with 30% soju is considered the “golden ratio.”

1) Baskin Robins 31

Baskin Robin’s 31 is a famous ice-cream chain. In Korea, it’s equally famous for being a drinking game.

How: You go around in order and say either one, two, or three number starting from one. The person that ends up saying the number 31 loses.

Ingredients to success:

– 2nd grade level mathematics

– Luck

2) Name-game [aka Frying Pan!]

This game will force you to remember the names of your new friends.

How: Accompanying a 4-beat clapping routine, you call out another person’s name with a number between 1-4: For example, Carren 4. Then “Carren” needs to continue on the clapping while saying her name four times to the beat. The last beat should always have your name, so if someone calls me out with two -” TINA2″, I would say Tina to the last two beats of the four beats [clap-clap-tina-tina]. Korean games usually have 2 syllables, which makes this game possible. Gradually, the speed should increase, and soon someone is bound to mess up.

Beat:

Slap your thighs with both your hands –> clap your hands —> right thumb up —> left thumb up

*Should be a total of four beats

**Revision: One of my readers just told me (thank you thank you), we must start with a song:

dingdingdinding, dangdangdangdang, dingding,dangdang, frying pan game!

Sorry, the melody can’t be illustrated. Maybe should write a sheet? Ask the nearest Korean for the melody for this part

Ingredients to success:

– Fairly good memory, esp. if the group is bigger than ten people

– Good sense of rhythm and beat

– Difficult name (less people will call your name)

3) Image Game

This game is usually the first game that people play because it requires no prior knowledge of the other people, and it is also a way to gain insight on how people view you solely based on your external presentation.

How: Each person takes turn stating a question related to a personality/ trait. For instance, “Who here seems like someone who would have more than 700 friends on facebook?” And in a count of three, everyone points to the person that they think applies to this statement. Usually, the person with the most votes & whoever the person with the most votes chose drink the Penalty Drink together.

Ingredient to success:

– Luck. really.

4) Have or Have not [있다없다]

How: Put out one of your hands like you are giving someone a high-five. Go around in order and state an experience that is somewhat extraordinary. E.g. “I’ve stayed awake for 30 consecutive hours.” Whoever has done so folds a finger. Of course, you can lie about your experiences, but that’s really no fun. Usually, this game sparks conversation and you get to learn more about your new friends. The first person to have all their fingers folded loses.

Ingredients to success:

– Lived a boring life; no “somewhat extraordinary” experiences

– Low morality; feels no guilt lying

– Have good intuition and state experiences that you think other people have had

5) 3.6.9. [삼육구]

How: Go around in order and count in order, starting from 1. Any number that has 3,6,9 as part of the number (1,3,6,13,16,19,33,36 etc.) should clap instead of saying the number. Ex: [person A says 1, person B says 2, person 3 claps her/his hand without saying anything]. The person who messes up drinks the penalty drink.

Ingredients to success:

– Quick reflex

– Basic counting ability

Don’t worry if you keep losing! You can always ask for the “Black knight” if you want someone else to take the penalty for you. But remember, calling out for a knight comes with consequences, one that totally depends on the person you pick.

How black knight works [흑기사]: You pick a person to take the penalty for you (usually they accept), and you must return a favor of their choice. If you’re unlucky, they might reject your call, which means you need to drink twice the amount of your original penalty drink.

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And if you know any other great Korean drinking games that should be listed, please comment below.