Quarters Drinking Game

Bounce a quarter into the glass - miss and pass, land and rule.

Also known as: Coinage · Monedita

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Players 3-8

You needQuarter, shot glass or cup, drinks

DrinkBeer

Intensity

Time15-30 min

Quarters is the original bar-table skill game: bounce a coin off the table and into a glass, and you hold the power. Miss, and the quarter moves on. It predates beer pong's ten-cup theatrics and needs almost nothing - A quarter, a glass, a hard table and a steady hand. That minimalism is exactly why it has survived for generations of dorm rooms, kitchens and dive bars: the game fits in your pocket.

Don't mistake simple for shallow. A good quarters shooter is genuinely intimidating, sinking bounce after bounce and dishing out drinks with royal indifference, and the make-a-rule tradition means a hot streak can rewrite the whole table. Meanwhile the speed variant turns this quiet skill game into a two-coin panic sprint. Whether you play it slow and stately or loud and frantic, quarters is the cheapest fun in the cup-games canon.

What you need & setup

Find a hard, smooth table - Wood or laminate bounces best; tablecloths and glass tops are the enemy.
Place a single cup or shot glass in the center of the table; a heavier, wide-mouthed glass is the fair standard.
Give each player their own drink, kept safely back from the bounce zone.
Choose one quarter (or local coin of similar weight) as the game coin, plus a spare for when it inevitably rolls under the fridge.
Sit in a circle around the table and pick a starting shooter - Winner of a practice bounce, or just the host.

How to play Quarters

Take your shot

On your turn, bounce the quarter off the table so it ricochets up and into the center glass. One bounce, off the table surface, into the cup - Throws that fly straight in without bouncing don't count. You can shoot from any angle around your seat, but the coin must leave your hand in one motion.

Make it and choose a drinker

Sink the quarter and you point at any player, who takes a drink. Then you retrieve the coin and shoot again. There's no limit to a streak: a shooter on a heater can keep making and keep assigning drinks until they finally miss. This is where quarters legends are made and grudges are born.

Miss and pass - Usually

Miss the glass and your turn ends; the quarter passes to the player on your left. One classic exception: the chance. If your miss stayed on the table, you may call 'chance' and shoot once more - But if you miss the chance too, you drink yourself. High risk, extremely funny.

Make three in a row, make a rule

Sink three consecutive shots and you've earned the crown: invent a table rule. No first names, drink with your left hand, no pointing, everyone must address you as Captain - Anything the table can stomach. Rule-breakers drink each time they slip. Rules stack all game, and by round five the table is a legal minefield.

Enforce the rules

Every standing rule is live at all times, not just during shots. Sharp-eyed players who catch violations call them immediately, and the violator drinks. If a dispute erupts, the current shooter arbitrates - One more reason to keep making shots. A rule can be repealed only by a new three-in-a-row champion who spends their rule-making on repealing it.

Play to a rhythm, not a finish

Quarters has no formal end state - It runs until the table moves on, so agree on a session length or a cap. Some houses play elimination: accumulate a set number of assigned drinks and you're out, last two standing play a final head-to-head. Others just let the coin circle until dinner arrives.

The rules

The quarter must bounce off the table at least once before entering the glass - Direct throws don't count.
Make the shot: assign one drink to any player, retrieve the coin, and shoot again.
Miss the shot: your turn ends and the coin passes left.
Chance rule: after a miss that stays on the table, you may call 'chance' for one extra shot - Miss it and you drink.
Three makes in a row earns the right to create one table rule; rules stay in force for the whole game.
Breaking any standing table rule costs one drink per violation, whenever it happens.
The coin must be shot from your seat area - No leaning over the glass to drop it in.
A quarter that lands balanced on the rim is a house call: agree before the game whether it's a make, a miss or a re-shoot.
Coins that leave the table are fetched by the shooter; play pauses until the game coin (or the spare) returns.
Only the assigned player drinks - No delegating your penalty to a teammate or a good sport.

Variations & house rules

Speed quarters

Two glasses and two quarters start on opposite sides of the circle, and everyone shoots simultaneously - Make it and pass your glass left immediately. When the second glass catches up and stacks onto a player still fumbling their shot, that player drinks and the chase restarts. Loud, fast and merciless; the definitive party version of quarters.

Quarters baseball

Set up four glasses in a line as the bases: sink the nearest for a single, the farthest for a home run, and track runners like real innings. Misses are outs, three outs retires the side. A slower, scorekeeping cousin that rewards genuine accuracy - And a natural warm-up for full Beer Baseball.

Moose

The center glass is joined by an empty 'moose cup' (or an ice tray in the classic version). Sink the moose cup and everyone must throw hands to their head like antlers and yell 'MOOSE' - Last player to react drinks. Adds a reflex layer on top of the shooting game, and produces outstanding photos.

Anchorman

A team version: two teams take turns bouncing quarters into a shared pitcher or large cup. The losing team must drink the pitcher's contents - But their captain, the anchorman, drinks last and inherits everything the team leaves behind. Choose your anchor for chugging ability and emotional resilience.

Shot glass gauntlet

Replace the single cup with a line of three shot glasses at increasing distance, worth one, two or three assigned drinks. Shooters call their target before bouncing. Smaller targets flip the difficulty curve and separate the table's snipers from its pretenders within two rounds.

Pro tips

Grip the quarter flat between thumb and forefinger and strike the table close to the glass - Short bounces are far more controllable than long ones.

Aim to hit the table roughly a coin's width from the glass; the ideal bounce is low, short and lazy.

Consistency wins rule-making streaks: find one grip, one angle and one distance, then never change them.

Keep drinks and phones out of the bounce zone - A wet quarter skids, and nobody's screen deserves that.

Spend your rule wisely: rules that punish common habits (first names, pointing, saying 'drink') generate the most chaos per word.

Rotate the glass to a new spot occasionally so the table wears evenly and home-field advantage stays honest.

Where Quarters fits on the shelf

Quarters lands mid-table for intensity (7th of 14 cups games), rated 3 out of 5.
The sweet spot is 3-8 players - enough for chaos, few enough that every turn matters.
A typical session runs 15-30 min - a solid middle act for the evening.
Browse the full pong & cup games shelf to compare all 14 games side by side.

A little history

Coin-tossing drinking games are old enough that pinning down an inventor is hopeless - Games of skill with coins and cups appear in bar lore going back generations, and some trace the family line to ancient coin-flicking pastimes. The modern American form of quarters, with its bounce-into-the-glass mechanic and rule-making rewards, is commonly said to have taken shape in US college scenes by the 1970s and 1980s, spawning regional names like 'monedita' along the way.

Drink responsibly: Keep the target glass empty or water-filled and drink from your own cup when assigned - A coin that's been on the floor has no business in anyone's beverage. Pace the table with small sips, cap the session length, and let anyone tap out of assigned drinks without ceremony. See our safety guide for pacing tips and alcohol-free versions.

Quarters FAQ

What do you need to play quarters?

A quarter, one sturdy glass, a hard-surfaced table and drinks - That's the entire kit, which is why quarters has survived every party trend since the 1970s. Any similar-sized coin works internationally, and a wide shot glass or rocks glass makes the fairest target. Avoid tablecloths, padded tables and glass tops: the bounce is the whole game, and it needs a hard, honest surface.

Does the quarter have to bounce?

Yes - The bounce is the defining rule. The coin must strike the table at least once before landing in the glass; a straight lob into the cup is a miss (and, on most tables, an invitation for mockery). One clean bounce is standard, though some houses happily count multi-bounce miracles. Agree before the game starts, because someone will absolutely rattle one in off two hops.

What happens when you make three in a row?

You earn the game's crown jewel: the right to invent a table rule that binds every player for the rest of the game. Classics include no first names, no pointing, no saying the word 'drink,' and drinking only with your non-dominant hand. Violations cost a drink each time. Rules stack as the game goes on, which is how a quiet coin game becomes total anarchy by round six.

How is speed quarters different?

Speed quarters abandons turns entirely. Two glasses and two coins circulate around the table at once, everyone shoots the moment a glass reaches them, and making the shot lets you pass the glass left. If the glass behind ever catches up and stacks on yours, you drink and the loop restarts. It's the difference between a chess clock and a fire alarm - Same skill, triple the adrenaline.

Can you play quarters without alcohol?

Easily. Assign sips of water or soda, or convert drinks into points, dares or push-ups - The bounce-shot skill and the rule-making chaos carry the game entirely on their own. For hygiene, keep the target glass empty or water-filled and have players drink from their own cups when assigned; nobody actually wants to sip around a coin that's toured the floor.

Quarters Drinking Game

What you need & setup