How To Play The Popular 21 Rule Drinking Game

Sometimes, even the best parties need a little boost, and one of the easiest ways to get everyone involved in an activity is to play some popular drinking games. King's Cup is always fun, as is any card game, but there's another simple one you can try that doesn't involve any extra equipment: 21. Also known as "Cheers to the Governor," 21 is a fun group game where participants count to the number 21 together. Everyone sits around in a circle and takes turns saying the next number. For example, the person starting says "one," the next person says "two," etc. Sounds easy right? The catch is that every time the number 21 is hit, a rule is made up for the next round.

The rule is always associated with a certain number. For example, the person who has to say the number four might have to touch the ground or take a sip of their drink instead of speaking. If they hesitate or forget the rule, they have to take a drink and the round starts over. If the group successfully gets to the number 21, everyone usually has a drink together and yells "cheers to the governor."

What makes 21 so fun is that you can make it completely your own. There aren't any certain rules that need to be added, but some popular ones include switching the direction of play or replacing a certain number with a different one, which makes things very confusing. For example, whoever has the number four has to say "eight" instead.

You can also replace numbers with funny words or noises, make people shout or whisper numbers, introduce accents and different languages, or do repeat numbers to try to catch people out. Adding some movement is also fun — you can make players jump or bang the table instead of saying a number, or have a full on dance party if you feel up to it.

Some people also like to count backwards again from 21 to make the game longer and more difficult, but this might get too hard as time goes on, especially if you're drinking something like a long island iced tea or these other strong cocktails you should know about. The most important part of the game is having fun — just make it your own and do some counting. No one will care once the drinks start flowing!