Flame Wreath!

Everyone has different drinking games they like to play. Personally, my favorite is Flame Wreath, which is really just the nerdy name we've given to Kings Cup, or Circle of Death, or whatever it is you want to call it. If you played World of Warcraft during the Burning Crusade expansion, I'm sure you get the reference. If you didn't, you'd probably just shake your head if I took the time to explain it. But, if you want to get it, here: http://www.wowwiki.com/Shade_of_Aran, that will still likely mean nothing to you.

Anyway, everyone around the country probably has some version of this game that they play with friends or family or maybe even complete strangers. It's great because it's simple and social. But some nights, I don't want to play a simple social game. Some nights I want to play a game that is just going to destroy me. Which is why I invented Yahtzee: Drinking Edition.

This game is easy to learn because you literally sit down and play a game of Yahtzee. Then, depending on what you roll, you, or those around you, drink. To spell it out for you I'll present the basic scoreboard for a game of Yahtzee.

1s: Add up all 1s in your roll
2s: Add up all 2s in your roll
3s: Add up all 3s in your roll
4s: Add up all 4s in your roll
5s: Add up all 5s in your roll
6s: Add up all 6s in your roll
Bonus 35 (over 63):  If the total of the above is greater than 63, take an extra 35 points
3 of a kind: Total of all dice, assuming you have at least 3 of a kind
4 of a kind: Total of all dice, assuming you have at least 4 of a kind
Full House: Earn 25 points, if you have a pair and three of a kind
Sm. Straight: Earn 30 points, if you have 4 die in consecutive in order
Lg. Straight: Earn 40 points, if you have all 5 die in consecutive order
Yahtzee: Earn 50 points, if you have 5 of a kind
Chance: Total of all dice

In a game of Yahtzee, you only get 13 turns. Each turn consists of 3 rolls. Your first roll must be of all five die, the subsequent rolls can be as many die as you would like. The goal is to maximize your points based on the above score chart. How do we make this a drinking game? Easy. For every point you score you distribute that number of seconds across the remaining players. The exceptions to this being the following: If you roll a Yahtzee, everyone else does a shot. If you have to put a zero in a category, you have to take a shot. If you put your roll in chance, nobody drinks, unless of course you rolled a second Yahtzee and chose to put that in your chance, in which case a shot would still be in order.

Why is this game awesome? 1. You end up drinking, a LOT. 2. It's hilarious to watch people attempt to do any sort of math. 3. It doesn't matter how many people play. Sure, adding extra people means that you can distribute the seconds in smaller numbers, but then you also have extra rolls for those extra people.

Yes, I know, this post really had nothing to do with Flame Wreath, so I will share this next fun little tidbit. If you play Flame Wreath by creating rules, next time try this rule, Find your manners: Any time a player curses the other players can command that they go find their manners and direct them where to find said manners. The offending player promptly goes to whatever room they were ordered to find their manners in and brings back the most interesting object in that room to share with the group.

-Steph

"I'll tell you the secret to avoid hangovers. Don't stop drinking." - Saul Tigh