10 Nintendo Games That Make For the Best Drinking Games
Ah, alcohol and video games. A beautiful, symbiotic relationship rivaled perhaps only by the co-dependance of the shark and modest remora fish. These two amazing commodities combine together best when paired with Nintendo’s long-winding lineup of amazing party games, which house drinking games ranging from casual get together to raging house party.
And sure, we all know Beerio Kart, but what other Nintendo titles hide awesome drinking games deeps in the depths of their couch co-op gameplay? With the friendly reminder to always drink responsibly, here are the 10 Nintendo games that make absolutely awesome drinking games for anybody to enjoy.
Beerio Kart (Mario Kart)
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Beerio Kart has become the poster child for video game drinking games pretty much since the first Mario Kart was released in 1992. It’s so popular it has its owndefinition on Urban Dictionary, so you know it’s the real deal.
Despite the name, Beerio Kart doesn’t always have to be played while drinking beer, but for the sake of the game lasting more than a few rounds, it may be best to avoid harder mixed drinks or shudder actual shots.
Here are the rules.
Several strategies can be invoked here. You could space out your drink throughout the match, or guzzle it all down at once at the beginning or end of the race. From personal experience, Beerio Kart usually turns into “chug a beer and do a race” pretty quickly, and by the forth or fifth race you might be needing the Wii steering wheel to stay on track.
Sort of like the ever changing rules of beer pong, certain people believe the game should be played a certain way. I have gone to parties where the no drinking and driving rule was expanded to having to actually pull over onto the side of the track and come to a compete stop before the drink could touch your lips. Another stated you could only start drinking after the first lap, to prevent the inevitable chug and race approach.
If you happen to be in a room with a bunch of Beerio Kart pros, perhaps the limited ruleset may seem a bit easy. I too have been in this scenario, and present what my friends and I refer to as the Pro Beerio Kart.
Pro Beerio Kart Rules:
Super Smashed Bros. (Super Smash Bros.)
Less well-known than Beerio Kart but still relatively popular, Super Smashed Bros. can double as a awesome drinking game. Whether it’s the original, Melee, Brawl, Wii U, or Ultimate, any Super Smash Bros. title can be used and will have you feeling a buzz after a few KOs.
Whether you prefer stock (the obviously better option) or time limits, the rules stay the same.
Of course you can make this entirely your own with Smash’s seemingly unlimited options to customize your game. By allowing certain items or adjusting the game’s options, you can create new rules and expand upon the ones given above.
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
There have been seven WarioWare games over the years, but Smooth Moves for the Wii is the perfect foundation for a super fun drinking game.
Like with the other games in the series, Smooth Moves sees you play micro/minigames that are categorized into differently themed levels. With each minigame cleared, you gain a point, and after you beat the “boss” minigame in each level you can continue on to try and get a high score by beating minigame after minigame as time speeds up and the difficulty is increased.
There are four lives for each level, and you may gain one back if you lose one by beating the boss level that cycles back as difficulty goes up. If you lose all four lives, the game is ended. So all you have to do is choose a level and follow the rules below.
As the minigames get quicker and quicker and you get down to the final life, this drinking game almost feels like a crazy “hot-potato” type of thing where you try desperately to not be the last person to mess up and have to finish the rest of your drink. The more drunk you get, the harder this will be.
Derby Dash (Wii Party)
There’s tons of awesome mini-games in both Wii Party and its successor Wii Party U (exceptHide-and-Go-Beak, screw that anxiety-inducing nightmare), but none topDerby Dashon the Wii.
This game may seem shallow on the service, but after (I’m not kidding) hours of playing this one minigame with friends, it has a unexpected layer of strategy to it that makes its replay value extraordinarily high.
So the goal, like in all horse races, is to be the first one to cross the finish line. The kicker, though, is that you use a crop to get small bursts of speed, and when you stop using it you can regain stamina to use it again later in the race. If you use up your stamina at the start of the rest, you better be prepared to be left in the dust by the finish line. And likewise if you horde your stamina to try and gun it at the end, your opponents will probably already be miles ahead.
Patience and planning are highly rewarded in Derby Dash, and the more you play the better you understand the perfect times to use your stamina and when to save it for a big rush to the finish. The best part is if the race is close enough, a slow-mo will camera will run to show the champion who will win by a nose, causing an uproar from your opponents.
What’s great about Derby Dash is that when a person wins a few matches in a row they can get cocky and bet high stakes on themselves. At the same time though, winning in Derby Dash is never guaranteed since you may learn your opponent’s stamina strategy simply by watching them. By copying them, even a new player to the game could get lucky and end up winning by a hair.
Mario House Party (Mario Party)
There have been 12 Mario Party games released (excluding the spin-offs, of course) that all include the famous board game with an interspersed minigames game mode, and most all of them follow the same basic rules.
So whether you’re playing on an N64 or trying out the latest Mario Party on Wii U, check out these rules to speed up the inebriation process while also enjoying a few minigames.
Of course, you can always add additional rules if you are playing a certain Mario Party entry that changes up the format a bit. For example: In the original Mario Party you could drink once every time you get a fake Bowser star, or in Mario Party 10 in Bowser Party you can drink once every time Bowser catches up to you.
Nintendoland
Nintendoland has some awesome minigames, and some just alright ones. Three out of the 12 total games can make pretty great drinking games if you follow these rules.
The first is Mario Chase, a game where one person uses the Wii U Pad to run around maps as Mario while everyone else looks at the TV screen as Toad tries to corner him. Just this one Mario Chase minigame was one of the most innovative uses of GamePad during the whole Wii U’s lifetime, offering a fun digital game of tag where no one has to actually stand up.
Since the games are usually quick, the rules are simple.
Mario Chase Rules:
Next is Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. Similar to Mario Chase, some players are trying to evade while others try to catch. Either with 1 v 2, 3, or 4 players, one player controls two analog sticks on the GamePad to try and catch the remaining players who run around trying to gather candies. The more candies they get, the slower they go, making them easier to catch. Those running also have the option to drop candies if they feel they are about to be caught, giving them a speed boost to escape.
Sweet Day Rules:
Finally we have Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, where one player is an invisible Boo thats skulks around Luigi’s Mansion trying to grab the other players by surprise. The players’ flashlights can harm the ghost, with the ghost having 100 points of life that drain as long as the light is on them. When the ghost is near a player, their Wii Remote will vibrate, and flashes of lightning can temporality expose the ghost’s location.
Luigi’s Ghost Mansion Rules:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
You might not immediately think of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a title that is suitable for a drinking game, but it’s honestly perfect for getting good and sloshed alongside some friends.
The premise is simple: Alongside some buddies, you’ll be tasked with setting off into the game’s open world and trying to make as much progress as possible. For every death or blunder that results in your needing to restart, both you and your friends will need to down some cold ones and then continue on with your journey.
We’ve laid out some basic rules that can act as a beginner’s set down below, and you may add to or take away from them as you see fit.
It’s definitely a little looser rules-wise than other entries on this list, but that makes it all the more fun to try out and find a ruleset that works for you and your buds specifically.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Few Nintendo games are as chaotic as Super Mario 3D World, but this is a huge mark in the game’s favor when trying to find Nintendo games that make for perfect drinking games.
Alongside a group of friends, you’re able to make your way through the title’s myriad of levels and hazards with a number of drink-laden stipulations. These can range from penalty drinks for losing a life and failing to properly use a power-up to missing a collectible scattered throughout the level, with the persons or persons punished with a drink determined by your total number of players.
Reddit userMajorGamer14came up with a great set of rules several years back that serves as a great framework to use if you’re intimidated by making your own ruleset. We’ve listed their rules down below for you to check out at your discretion.
Pokemon Drunklocke (Pokemon)
Pokemon Nuzlockes are fun enough to play with friends while sober, but they become even better with a drinking game applied to its ruleset.
As for what rules you can apply to make a Nuzlocke into a drinking game, it’s pretty straight-forward: For every time a Pokemon faints and becomes unusable, everyone present has to take a drink. If your entire team ends up getting wiped and you white out, then everyone present needs to finish their drinks and start a new one to go along with the new run.
Granted, this one isn’t recommended for those who enjoy taking on the harder variants of Nuzlockes via rom hacks and the likes. Remember: This should be about making a fun night out of a video game’s rules, not bringing you and your friends to the verge of disaster. Likewise, the earlier entries in the series are more viable as they’re easier to get through in a short amount of time.
Splatoon 3
Splatoon 3 is great for making a drinking game out of some cooperative play sessions, and the rules couldn’t be easier.
After gathering however many friends will be playing the drinking game, you’ll need to enter into a match together. Based on everyone’s performances, drinks will be divvied up based on factors like who was knocked out the most, who covered the most terrain in ink, which team won the match, and so on and so forth.
Given how quickly matches can be completed though, our recommendation is that you avoid penalties that would require anything more than a drink. Trust us when we say that it won’t take long for everyone to get properly sloshed even if you’re sticking to more temperate drink amounts.
What Nintendo drinking games have you tried that are worth mentioning? Is there a certain Nintendo console that is the best to play drinking games on? Let us know down below!
