Centurion Drinking Game

100 shots of beer in 100 minutes - the long war.

Also known as: 100 Club · Century Club

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Players 1-15

You needShot glasses, beer, a timer

DrinkBeer

Intensity

Time100 min

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Centurion is the marathon of drinking games: one small shot of beer every minute, for one hundred minutes. No cards, no skill, no opponents - Just you, a shot glass, a timer, and the slow arithmetic of a hundred tiny drinks. Minute one feels laughable. Minute forty feels like a commitment. The final stretch is where centurions are made, and where most challengers quietly retire to the couch.

Known as Century Club or 100 Club in North America, Centurion thrives in UK and Australian student culture as a rite-of-passage challenge. Here's the honest math up front: 100 shots of roughly 30 ml is about three liters of beer - Around five imperial pints - In just over an hour and a half. That's why the real game is preparation, pacing, and knowing that stopping early is always a legitimate result.

What you need & setup

Give every participant a shot glass (roughly 30 ml / 1 oz) - Plastic is smart for the late game.
Stock about 3 liters (five-ish pints) of low-strength beer per player, poured into easy-pour jugs.
Set a timer that signals every 60 seconds for 100 rounds - Our Centurion timer below does exactly this.
Appoint a sober or moderating scorekeeper to track the count and watch the room.
Lay out water, snacks, and a tally sheet (or use the timer's count) before minute one.
Agree the exit rules: anyone can stop at any number, and their count is their score.

How to play Centurion

Understand the mission

The challenge is a shot of beer - About 30 ml - Every minute, on the minute, for 100 minutes. Not spirits, never spirits: the entire format only works because each drink is tiny and weak. Even so, completion means roughly five pints in 100 minutes, so treat Centurion as an event you plan, not a game you stumble into at midnight.

Prepare like it's a long game

Eat a proper meal an hour or two before, choose a light beer (session-strength lagers around 3-4% are traditional), and pour into jugs so refilling the shot glass is effortless. Set up somewhere comfortable with bathrooms nearby - Bathroom trips are constant and factored into the folklore. Charge the timer, brief the scorekeeper, and start on a full stomach and an empty schedule.

Settle into the rhythm

When the timer sounds, everyone drinks their shot and refills for the next minute. The first thirty minutes feel trivially easy - That's the trap that has launched a thousand overconfident side-bets. Sip water between some rounds, keep the shots exactly to size (heaped pours compound brutally over 100 rounds), and let conversation carry the room.

Respect the wall

Somewhere between minutes 40 and 70, the volume catches up: fullness, fizz, and fatigue arrive together. This is the wall. Slow your swallowing, skip the temptation to double up after a missed minute, and take stock honestly. The rule that saves Centurion from itself: a missed minute is just a missed minute - Count it, shrug, continue or stop.

Close it out - Or call it

The final twenty minutes are pure discipline. Finishers hit minute 100, raise the last shot, and enter the club with whatever ceremony your group invents. But a 73 or an 88 is a real score, not a failure - Log it as your personal best. Anyone feeling sick, dizzy, or done stops immediately; the scorekeeper's word on cutting someone off is final.

Recover properly

Afterward, switch entirely to water, eat something substantial, and stay put for a while - Three liters of beer keeps arriving in your bloodstream long after minute 100. Nobody drives, everyone's phone has a ride app, and the group stays together until the last centurion is clearly okay. Then spend the next hour arguing about who's doing it next term.

The rules

One shot of beer (approximately 30 ml / 1 oz) every minute, for 100 minutes.
Beer only - Standard or light lager. Spirits, wine, or fortified anything is strictly against the rules and genuinely dangerous.
Shots must be level pours; the shot glass defines the dose for all 100 rounds.
Drink within the minute the timer signals; a missed minute is simply not counted.
No doubling up to make up missed minutes - Ever.
Bathroom breaks are allowed and expected; minutes missed during them follow the missed-minute rule.
Vomiting ends the attempt at that count (the classic 'reset to zero' rule is macho nonsense - Retire the player instead).
Any player may stop at any time; their final count stands as their score.
A scorekeeper tracks counts and has absolute authority to cut anyone off.
Finishing all 100 makes you a Centurion. There is no rule about what happens after minute 100 except water.

Variations & house rules

Half Centurion

Fifty shots in fifty minutes - Half the volume, most of the fun, and the format seasoned groups actually replay. It's the recommended first attempt for anyone new to the game, and it still lands around two and a half pints in under an hour, which is plenty. Graduates can consider the full hundred another night.

Team Centurion

Pairs or trios share the 100 minutes, alternating who takes each shot - A duo takes 50 each, a trio around 33. The timer and the century remain intact but the per-person load drops to genuinely reasonable levels. The best format for parties where the century is the occasion but nobody needs a personal ordeal.

Centurion Lite

Play the full 100 minutes with radler, shandy, or low/no-alcohol beer. You keep the ritual, the timer, the bloated-but-triumphant finish photos - With a fraction of the alcohol. Also the standard way for one friend to join the event fully without drinking fully. The bladder challenge, it must be said, remains completely undefeated.

Cricket Centurion

The UK/Australia crossover version played along to a cricket match or any long sports broadcast, where the timer minutes are supplemented with match events: a shot on boundaries, a toast on wickets. Usually run as a Half Centurion because the bonus sips add up. The century terminology has never been more thematically correct.

Decade Ladder

A structured group format: shots count in decades, and after each set of ten minutes players declare 'in' for the next decade or bank their score and become spectators-slash-scorekeepers. Creates natural exit ramps every ten minutes and turns pacing into visible strategy. The final decade's survivors get appropriately theatrical commentary.

Pro tips

Choose the lightest beer you enjoy - Over 100 shots, the difference between 3.5% and 5% is more than a pint of pure catch-up.

Eat a full meal beforehand; Centurion on an empty stomach is how attempts end at minute 35.

Pour flat-ish beer from jugs - Carbonation, not alcohol, is what defeats most challengers.

Keep shots honest and level; an extra 5 ml per pour is half a liter of hidden beer by minute 100.

Do not sprint the early minutes or bank ahead - The timer sets the only correct pace.

Plan tomorrow accordingly. A Centurion the night before anything important is a scheduling failure.

Where Centurion fits on the shelf

Centurion is the most intense of the 9 world games on this site, rated 5 out of 5.
It is one of the few games here that genuinely works with just 1 players, and it stays fun up to 15.
Budget real time for it (100 min) - this is a main event, not a filler game.
Browse the full world drinking games shelf to compare all 9 games side by side.

A little history

Centurion's exact origins are murky, but the 100-shots-in-100-minutes format is strongly associated with British and Australian drinking culture - University sports clubs, cricket circles, and share houses - While the same challenge grew up as 'Century Club' in the US and Canada. It likely spread through student folklore in the late 20th century rather than from any single inventor. The name nods to the Roman centurion, commander of a hundred, and finishing is treated as joining a very unofficial club.

Drink responsibly: Centurion is one of the heaviest challenges here - Around five pints in 100 minutes at completion - So the pacing rules are the safety rules. Light beer only, never spirits; eat first; skip missed minutes rather than doubling up; and stopping at any count is a finished game. A sober scorekeeper with cut-off authority, water, and no driving: non-negotiable. See our safety guide for pacing tips and alcohol-free versions.

Centurion FAQ

How much do you actually drink in Centurion?

One hundred shots of about 30 ml each comes to roughly 3 liters of beer - Approximately five imperial pints or eight to nine US 12-oz beers - In 100 minutes. With a 4% lager that's in the range of ten standard drinks, which is a heavy session by any measure. This is exactly why light beer, a full stomach, group oversight, and full permission to stop early are core to the game, not optional extras.

Is Centurion the same as Century Club and Power Hour?

Same family, different doses. Century Club (US/Canada) is the identical 100-shots-in-100-minutes challenge under another name. Power Hour is the shorter cousin: 60 shots in 60 minutes, usually soundtracked by 60 one-minute songs. Centurion is the UK/Australian name and the longest form. If you're choosing a first attempt, the progression runs Power Hour, then Half Centurion, then the full hundred.

What beer should you use for Centurion?

A light, low-bitterness lager in the 3-4% range is the classic pick - Session strength is the whole tradition. Avoid anything strong, hoppy, or heavily carbonated: high ABV multiplies the total alcohol dangerously, and fizz is the number-one physical reason attempts fail. Many groups pour the beer into jugs early so it flattens slightly. Radler or low-alcohol beer makes the challenge dramatically safer and is completely legitimate.

What happens if you miss a minute or throw up?

House rules vary, but the sane consensus: a missed minute is simply skipped - Never doubled up - And your count just doesn't advance. Vomiting ends the attempt at your current number; the old-school rule that it resets you to zero only encourages people to push past clear stop signals, so modern tables retire the player with their score and a glass of water instead. The scorekeeper's cut-off decision always stands.

Can you actually finish Centurion safely?

For a healthy adult who uses light beer, eats beforehand, pours honest small shots, and feels genuinely fine throughout, completion is possible - Thousands of students have the stories. But ten standard drinks in 100 minutes is objectively a lot, and 'possible' is not 'advisable' for everyone. Anyone smaller-bodied, unaccustomed to drinking, on medication, or just having an off day should run the Half Centurion or Lite version. The club admits all formats.

Centurion Drinking Game

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What you need & setup