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TV Show Drinking Game
Catchphrases, cold opens and cliffhangers - drink on cue.
TV Show Drinking Game
Game of Thrones Drinking Game
The **Game of Thrones Drinking Game** feeds off the show's ritual: ravens flapping into Winterfell, Tyrion pouring...
You watchGame of Thrones
You needDrinks + friends
Triggers14 drink rules
Best with2-15 players
The Game of Thrones Drinking Game feeds off the show's ritual: ravens flapping into Winterfell, Tyrion pouring another cup, Daenerys reciting six titles before she says hello, the small council leaning over a map. Across eight seasons and 73 episodes these beats never stop, which is why it plays as well as any TV show drinking game - and why a Lannister-heavy episode can fire the debt line three times before the credits roll.
Choose the season for its rhythm. Seasons 1 to 6 are ten episodes each of roughly an hour and spread the triggers evenly. Season 7 is seven episodes and Season 8 only six, but they run long - the Winterfell battle episode in Season 8 is over 80 minutes - and they pack in the dragon fire that the early seasons only tease. An early-season episode is a chatty game; a late one is quiet, then very loud.
How to set it up
- Pick a season by its heavy hitters: Season 1 for 'winter is coming' and the Stark family, Seasons 3 and 4 for Lannister scheming and wine, Season 7 for dragons.
- Decide whether the opening title sequence counts. The map credits change every week and the room tends to debate them, so agree that nobody drinks until the first scene.
- Assign one person to titles and courtesies - 'your grace' is often thrown away mid-sentence in a crowded hall - and another to ravens and the painted table at Dragonstone.
- Warn the room that the ninth episode of any early season is the big one (the beheading, Blackwater, the Red Wedding, the Watchers on the Wall) and that the plot will pull attention off the triggers.
The rules: drink when…
The heart of the game: 14 triggers. Read them out before you press play, keep the ones your group likes, cut any that would fire every minute, and remember that a "drink" is one sip.
| When this happens… | …you drink |
|---|---|
| Someone says 'Winter is coming' | Sip |
| A Lannister mentions gold, debts, or 'a Lannister always pays his debts' | Sip |
| A raven is sent or arrives with a message | Sip |
| Characters plot around a map or the painted table | Sip |
| Tyrion drinks wine or jokes about drinking | Sip twice |
| Daenerys reels off her full list of titles | Sip |
| Jon Snow broods or someone says 'You know nothing' | Sip |
| Cersei sips wine or plots against someone | Sip twice |
| Someone mentions the Iron Throne | Sip |
| The White Walkers or the army of the dead appear | Sip |
| Arya crosses a name off her kill list | Sip |
| Someone says 'your grace' or 'my lord' | Sip |
| A character mentions the Wall or the Night's Watch oath | Sip |
| A dragon breathes fire on screen | Drink for 3 seconds |
How to play
Build the list for the season
For Season 1 keep 'winter is coming', 'you know nothing' and ravens. For Seasons 3-6 lean on Tyrion's wine, the Lannister debt line and Arya's list. For Seasons 7-8 drop the courtesies and drink on dragon fire, the Iron Throne mentions and the dead. No single list survives all eight seasons.
Count Daenerys once per recital
Her full title run - Stormborn, Khaleesi, Breaker of Chains and the rest - is one trigger no matter how many titles Missandei gets through. If you are watching Meereen scenes in Seasons 4 to 6, expect it every time she receives a visitor.
Rule on wine
Tyrion's wine and Cersei's wine are separate triggers and they share scenes. In the Red Keep episodes agree whether a cup in hand counts for the whole scene or only when they actually sip.
Pace the battle episodes
Blackwater, Hardhome, the Battle of the Bastards and the Long Night are 20 to 40 minutes of fighting with almost no dialogue triggers. Drink on the dead and the dragons only, and let the rest of the list rest until the aftermath scenes.
Variations & house rules
House loyalty teams
Split into teams and assign each a great house - Stark, Lannister, Targaryen. Your team drinks whenever your house's members scheme, win, or lose on screen. The house sitting on the Iron Throne at the episode's end hands out one sip to everyone else.
Throne duel
Two players each pick a claimant to the Iron Throne. Every time your character gains power or wins a scene, the other player drinks. A death or a betrayal resets the count.
Small council
Everyone picks a schemer - Littlefinger, Varys, Tywin, Olenna, Cersei - and drinks only when their own character is in a scene. The trick is that Littlefinger and Varys turn up everywhere in Seasons 1 to 4 while Olenna appears twice a season, so choose for pace, not loyalty.
Pro tips
Season 1 is the only season where 'winter is coming' is said constantly; by Season 4 it is nearly gone, so leave it off the list for anything after the Red Wedding.
Arya's list starts in Season 2 and she recites it at bedtime for three seasons, so a Season 3 or 4 episode with Arya and the Hound on the road drinks steadily on that alone.
Season 8 episodes run 60 to 80 minutes with long wordless stretches - keep the list to dragons, the dead and the Throne, or the night runs out before the episode does.
Drink responsibly: A King's Landing episode fires 'your grace' and wine triggers all hour, and the ten-episode seasons stretch that across a full day of watching. A movie-length game adds up fast, so keep the pours small, water between drinks, and swap any trigger for a sip of water whenever you like. See our safety guide.
Frequently asked questions
Which Game of Thrones season is best for a drinking game?
Season 3 or Season 4. Tyrion and Cersei are both pouring wine in King's Landing, the Lannister debt line is at its peak, Arya is reciting her list every night, Daenerys is collecting titles across Essos, and the ravens never stop. Season 1 is a lighter game built around 'winter is coming' and the Starks; Season 7 is a dragon-heavy one.
How long does one episode of the game take?
About an hour for Seasons 1 to 6, closer to 70 or 80 minutes for the Season 7 and 8 episodes. The battle episodes - Blackwater, Hardhome, the Battle of the Bastards, the Long Night - have fewer talky triggers, so they feel slower even though they are the most exciting.
How do you play the Red Wedding or another big episode?
Play the first two thirds normally and put the cups down for the last act. 'The Rains of Castamere' and the other ninth episodes are built to land as shocks, and the trigger list stops mattering once the doors close. Pick the drinks back up for the next episode's fallout scenes, which are dense with ravens and council talk.
Which episode is best for a Game of Thrones finale party?
The Season 6 finale, with the Sept and every house moving at once, is the most trigger-rich finale in the show - Cersei's wine, the Iron Throne, Daenerys sailing with her dragons, and a full round of 'your grace'. The Season 8 finale plays on the Throne and the dragons alone, so keep the list to those two.
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