Beer Die Drinking Game

A table, four cups and a die flying at terminal velocity.

Also known as: Snappa

Be the first to rate this game

Your rating:

Players 4

You needTable, 4 cups, 1 die, drinks

DrinkBeer

Intensity

Time30-60 min

Beer Die - Snappa, to some houses - is the athletic aristocrat of dice drinking games. Two teams of two sit at opposite ends of a long table, each guarding a pair of cups, and take turns lobbing a single die high into the air at the far half. Land the die on the table so it drops off the edge uncaught, and you score. Plunk it into a cup, and things get loud.

Unlike every other game in the dice category, Beer Die is a genuine sport: there are serves, one-handed catches, defensive dives and heated line calls. Games run to a set score with a win-by-two finish, and good tables develop house doctrine about ceiling height and toss arc. If beer pong is basketball, Beer Die is tennis played by people holding drinks.

What you need & setup

Set a long table (a door on sawhorses is traditional; 8 feet is ideal) with teams of two seated at opposite ends.
Place one cup of beer near each corner, roughly a hand's width from the end and side edges.
Fill each cup to an agreed line; players also keep a personal drink for penalty sips.
Pick a target score - games to 7 or 11, win by 2, are standard.
Flip the die for first serve; highest face throws first.

How to play Beer Die

Learn the toss

The die must be lobbed underhand or with a gentle flick, and it must reach a minimum height - house standard is above the thrower's head, stricter tables demand it clear an agreed ceiling line. Low, flat throws are illegal and score nothing. The arc is the sport: a good toss hangs long enough to be defended and drops steeply.

Score on the drop

You score one point when your die lands on the opponents' half of the table and falls off any edge without being caught. The defense may catch it one-handed only, after it leaves the table and before it touches anything else - trapping it against a body or the floor does not count. A clean catch kills the point dead.

Hunt the cups

Hitting an opponent's cup with the die is a plink: worth a point at most tables, and the defending team drinks. Sinking the die INTO a cup is the crown jewel - typically two points, and the cup's owner must fish the die out and drink the cup. Some houses rule a sunk die wins the game outright. Agree beforehand, in writing if necessary.

Defend your end

Defense is where legends are made. Any die coming off your half may be caught one-handed for a clean kill; drop it or use two hands and the point stands. You may not interfere with a die while it is still on the table or could still hit a cup - goaltending gives the throwers the point plus a drink.

Drink on the rhythm

Beer Die drinking runs on penalties and intervals: drink when your cup is hit or sunk, when you drop a catchable die, and when your team is scored on. Tradition adds a communal sip whenever anyone says the number five - the forbidden number, called 'bizz' instead - which sounds absurd and becomes second nature disturbingly fast.

Serve, switch, close it out

Teams alternate throws, with teammates alternating tosses. Play to your target score, win by two, and honor the sacred etiquette: shooters call their own height violations, defenders call their own drops, and disputed points are replayed without whining. Winners hold the table; challengers bring the next round.

The rules

Teams of two sit at opposite ends; each player guards one cup near their corner.
Tosses must arc above head height (or the agreed line) - flat throws score nothing.
One point: die lands on the opponents' half and falls off uncaught.
Catches must be one-handed, off the table, before the die hits anything else.
Cup hit (plink): one point, defenders drink.
Die sunk in a cup: two points, cup owner drinks the cup (dice-water rinse first, ideally).
Goaltending - touching the die over the table or shielding a cup - gives the throwers a point.
Saying 'five' costs a sip; the number is called 'bizz'.
Games to 7 or 11, win by two; teammates alternate throws.
Players call fouls on themselves. This is the whole culture of the game.

Variations & house rules

Snappa Rules

The stricter cousin: points only count on dies that hit the table and drop off the back edge, height calls are hawkishly enforced, and every point requires the throwing team to confirm 'good height' from the defense. Slower, more formal, and beloved by veterans who consider standard Beer Die anarchic.

College Table

Add the underclassman rule set: dropped catches cost a full extra sip, sunk cups end the game instantly regardless of score, and the losing team drinks whatever remains in all four cups. Fast, brutal and best reserved for tables that know their pace - this is Beer Die at maximum wattage.

Bizz Buzz Die

Extend the forbidden-number rule: 'five' is bizz and 'seven' is buzz, and violations cost a sip each. Since scores in a win-by-two game hover around those numbers constantly, the table's vocabulary collapses into gibberish by game three. A beautiful marriage with the word-game category.

Dry Die

Full sport mode: water in the corner cups, points only, no drinking rules at all. Beer Die is genuinely fun as a pure skill game, and Dry Die is how leagues run brackets and how you practice your arc without commitment. The diving catches remain exactly as heroic.

Three-Man Teams

Six players, three cups per end, throwers rotating in fixed order. The extra cup crowds the corners and roughly doubles plink frequency, so cut the cup-drink penalties in half. Not traditional, but the correct answer when six people and one table all want in.

Pro tips

Throw for the back third of the table - dies landing deep are hardest to read and drop off the edge fastest.

Catch with soft hands at hip height, letting the die settle into your palm; snatching at it is how drops happen.

Keep a dice-water cup for rinsing before anyone drinks a sunk cup. Non-negotiable.

Tape a height line on the wall behind each end - it kills 90 percent of arc arguments before they start.

Guard your cups with geometry, not hands: sit so your body shadows the cup lane without goaltending.

Play outdoors or under high ceilings; a proper arc needs eight-plus feet of air to be legal and beautiful.

Where Beer Die fits on the shelf

Beer Die lands mid-table for intensity (6th of 9 dice games), rated 3 out of 5.
The sweet spot is 4 players - enough for chaos, few enough that every turn matters.
A typical session runs 30-60 min - a solid middle act for the evening.
Browse the full dice drinking games shelf to compare all 9 games side by side.

A little history

Beer Die's origins are contested territory - several New England colleges claim it, with accounts commonly pointing to campuses in Maine and Vermont sometime in the 1970s, and the name Snappa attached to a related tradition. No definitive record settles it, and honestly no bar argument ever will. What is certain is that it spread through college leagues, spawned governing-body-style rule sets, and inspires more house-rule fundamentalism than any game here.

Drink responsibly: Beer Die involves diving for catches, so clear the floor of glass and cords, keep the sport in the corner cups modest, and take penalty sips rather than chugs. Athletic games plus long sessions sneak up on people - rotate in water games between matches. See our safety guide for pacing tips and alcohol-free versions.

Beer Die FAQ

What is the difference between Beer Die and Snappa?

Mostly lineage and strictness. Both are the same core game - lobbed die, corner cups, one-handed catches - but Snappa tables typically enforce harder height requirements, score only on specific edges, and formalize point confirmation. Many regions use the names interchangeably. Whatever your table calls it, the pregame rules summit matters more than the label.

How high does the throw have to be?

The universal floor is above the thrower's head at the top of its arc, and stricter houses require clearing an agreed line or a literal ceiling height. The point of the rule is defense: a legal toss must hang long enough to be caught. If defenders never have a play on the die, your table's height standard is too low - raise the bar, literally.

What happens when the die lands in a cup?

The signature disaster. Standard scoring gives the throwing team two points, and the cup's owner must remove the die and drink the cup - after a rinse from the dice-water cup if your table has hygiene standards, which it should. Some houses rule a sunk die as an instant game win. Settle that question before the first serve, not after the first sink.

Can you catch the die with two hands?

No - one-handed catches only, made after the die has left the table and before it touches the ground, your body-as-a-trap, or anything else. Two-handed grabs, chest traps and pinning it against your torso all count as drops, meaning the point stands and, at most tables, the dropper drinks. The one-hand rule is what turns defense into highlight reel material.

Why can't you say the number five?

It is Beer Die's oldest ritual: five is forbidden, replaced by 'bizz', and saying it costs a sip. Origins are murky - explanations range from scoring superstitions to pure inherited nonsense - but the rule survives because it is funny, it catches everyone, and a table shouting 'BIZZ' in unison at a rookie is a rite of passage. Some houses ban 'seven' too.

Beer Die Drinking Game

What you need & setup