The Best Drinking Games For New Year's Eve 2016

Just about everyone seems to be over 2016. Celebrity deaths (both real and fake), creepy clowns and a divisive presidential election has already left us with just about the worst hangover imaginable, so what better way to greet 2017 than with friends, fun and booze?

International Business Times gathered the top five games to play at your Saturday night New Year's Eve Party. Just remember to pour one out for the inventor of the Solo cup, Robert Hulseman, who died Thursday.

1. Beer Pong

This is the college classic. Beer pong is what your parents (and probably your grandparents) played to get drunk back in the day. Our parents have always encouraged us to do better than them and that's just what you'll do by coming up with variations on an old favorite. One obvious way to spice up the game is to add more cups and more players. "Ultimate Beer Pong" requires four players on each team and as many cups as possible for each pyramid. Other innovators have required participants to knock back their drinks before their throw and others, even more creative yet, have begun putting their cups on Roombas. If nothing else, you could always fill your cups with liquor.

2. Ride The Bus

Warning: this game is not for the faint of liver. An ideal game of ride the bus requires around seven players and a deck of cards. The dealer, who drinks along with the other players, asks each player to guess their next card based on the rule of that particular round.

For instance, the "driver" will ask players whether they believe their card will be red or black. If players guess right, they can delegate one sip to someone else, but if they're wrong, they take the drink. The second round asks whether the next card is higher or lower in value than the card from the previous round. The third round asks whether the next card's value falls between or outside the values of the player's previous cards. The fourth round asks players to guess the suit of the card. Each round adds the amount of sips at stake.

Once players have four cards in front of them, the driver builds two trees with the remaining deck of cards. One tree is for giving sips, the other is for taking. The driver will reveal these cards one by one, again with the numbers of sips increasing per level of the tree, until the final cards are presented. Whoever has the same card as the last card in the "give" tree must assign all their sips to one person without dividing them up.

3. Speed Bump

Speed Bump is simple, yet deadly. Use this single-player game for latecomers to the party who need to catch up to the rest before the clock strikes 12. A dealer lays four cards face-down on the table and one facing up. The player must guess if the card after the revealed one will be higher or lower. If the player guesses wrong, he or she drinks, but if the answer is correct, the dealer moves on to the next card until all five are complete. Every time the player makes a mistake, however, the dealer resets the game and the player starts from the beginning. Once someone woms, somebody else takes his or her place.

4. Flip Cup

Flip Cup is a game of speed and precision. Players line up in teams on opposite sides of a long table and pour themselves an agreed upon amount of beer. The first two contestants will toast each other and begin chugging their drinks. After finishing, each player must place his or her cup upside down at the edge of the table, leaving a bit hanging over so that the player can attempt to flick it up. The goal is to get the cup to flip over completely and land perfectly face down on the table. Once this is complete, the next teammate begins the task. Whichever team finishes their drinks and successfully flips their cups first wins.

5. King's Cup

King's Cup, known simply as Kings by most, is another game that dates back generations. Decades of playing has also led to an almost legendary conflict over the actual rules of the game. Everyone seems to have their own variation of what each card does and what actually happens with the center cup or can.

One common way to play is by spreading a deck of cards face-down around a can of beer. Each card is assigned a rule and players go around in a circle drawing.

Two is "you," the player chooses someone to drink.

Three is "me", the player drinks.

Four is "floor," players must rush to touch the ground with their hand, the last one to do so drinks.

Five is "guys," males drink.

Six is "chicks," females drinks.

Seven is "heaven," like four, but players must reach into the air.

Eight is "date," the player must pair up with someone else and every time the player drinks, the other person must too.

Nine is "rhyme," the player comes up with a word and others must go around coming up with words that rhyme. The first person to draw a blank drinks.

Ten is "categories," like nine, except the player comes up with a topic like car companies or countries and players must go around naming them.

Jack is "Never Have I Ever," players must raise five fingers on one hand and go around stating things they have never done. If someone has done something the person describes then they lower their finger. The first person to lower all give fingers drinks.

Queen is "Question Master," if anyone responds to a question asked by the person who draws this card, they drink. The title of Question Master is passed on wheen another queen is drawn,

King is "new rule," the player must come up with a new rule that players must abide by until another king is drawn, or face a penalty. Some kings of the past have forced people to keep their chins to the table if they swear or speak in funny accents.

Ace is "waterfall," the person who gets this card must start chugging their drink and everyone else follow in succession. You can't put down your drink until the person before you does.

After each card is drawn, players carefully place it under the beer can's tab. Ultimately, one of these cards will cause enough to pressure to make the can hiss. The player who places that fateful card will have to chug the entire can of beer, which is then replaced.