A little fun fact about me: I love St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s funny, because I used to hate it as a kid. I’m sure you can imagine the juvenile teasing that came from being the only kid whose last name was Green on St. Patrick’s Day.
Now, though, I’ve grown out of that and learned to appreciate the day that celebrates all the Irish my name, natural hair colour, and eye colour suggest.
A while back, I decided it’d be really fun to try to come up with geeky drinking games in honour of St. Patrick’s Day. What I came up with wasn’t your typical go-out-to-a-bar drinking game; in fact, they pretty much require you to be at home!
Which is both good for my introverted side, and for the fact that I’m basically on lockdown for the next few weeks because my office told everyone to stay home because of coronavirus.
So if you, too, are choosing to stay safe and indoors this St. Paddy’s Day, have fun with some of these games—designed to be just as fun whether you choose to imbibe or not.
Author’s note: I have no idea if any of these exist already, they were just what came out of my brain.
The Harry Potter Challenge
This one is great for a longer session, if you’re going to be stuck inside for a day or two or even a few consecutive evenings. It’s something that I’ve long joked about doing with my sister, and hey, maybe now’s the time to try!
Basically, the idea is that you have a Harry Potter movie marathon, and drink every time:
- Harry either introduces himself like it’s no big deal, or directly tells someone his parents are dead (you will be surprised how many times that was actually one of his lines)
- Ron says “bloody hell” or loses control over the squeakiness of his voice
- Hermione acts smarter than everyone else
And any time Hagrid shouldn’t have said that, finish your drink off and get a new one!
The Epcot Challenge
Have you ever heard of the Drink Around the World Challenge at the Epcot Center? The idea is that for each country of the world you visit, you have a signature alcoholic drink—and by the time you get to the end, you’ve had a very good day.
This challenge for Disney geeks is to recreate that challenge with themed drinks from each of the countries represented—including the shot from Sweden that proves you’re a Viking if you can down it without flinching.
Although the original challenge started on Reddit, it’s now so recognized that Visit Florida did a full guide—including what kinds of drinks to find at each country’s pavilion.
Bonus: Extra points go to everyone who shows up for this challenge with Mickey ears on.
The D&D Challenge
This is my personal favourite, and I genuinely want to try it out at our next game. It would be a very dangerous one for us!
It’s a character-based drinking game, so it’ll depend very heavily on your party and their level of roleplay. The idea is that for every type of player you have at your table, there’s a signature action or behaviour, and when they do that, everyone else at the table drinks.
| Player type | Action |
|---|---|
|
Barbarian |
Smashes first, asks questions later. |
|
Druid |
Turns into an animal or plant for no apparent reason other than “I can.” |
|
Fighter |
Tries to intimidate something. Finish your drink if they fail. |
|
Monk |
Runs into a fight before a tank because their Dex will save them. |
|
Ranger |
Talks to animals or plants for no apparent reason other than “I can.” |
|
Paladin |
Tries to convince the party that maybe they shouldn’t do that immoral thing. |
|
Bard |
Tries to charm and/or seduce something. Finish your drink if they fail. |
|
Wizard/Sorcerer |
Uses Fireball. Finish your drink if they damage the party with it. |
|
Rogue |
Gets themselves into a situation they really shouldn’t have. |
|
Cleric |
Has to use up all their spell slots to save the others from any of these situations. |
