Game of Death

In the Game of Death, the whole group points at someone else at the same time on a signal. The leader then calls a number, and you count along the pointing fingers: from the leader to the person they’re pointing at, from there to whoever that person is pointing at, and so on. Whoever lands on the called number drinks.

The dramatic name is just for show – in Korea the game is a favourite with big groups because it needs no equipment at all and nobody knows in advance who it’ll land on.

Everyone chants a short opening line together to the beat, ending with “The Game of Death!”. On the last word, each player points a finger at someone else and keeps it there.

• Call the number: the leader calls out a number, say seven. It can be bigger than the number of players.
• Count: the person the leader is pointing at says “one”. The person they’re pointing at says “two”, and so on.
• Loops: if two people point at the same person or the chain runs in a circle, just keep counting – some people will come up more than once.
• Lose: whoever lands on the called number takes a sip. Then a new round begins with a new chant and new pointing.

Variations

• Two hands: everyone points at two different people with both hands. The leader lowers one hand, passing the turn to whoever that hand was pointing at. They lower a hand too and pass it on. Whoever gets the turn with no hands left up drinks.
• Big numbers: with numbers over 20, nobody can work out where the chain will end.
• Alcohol-free: the loser gets a tally mark. After three marks they do a small forfeit, like starting a song.

Tips

The game really takes off from about six players. Count out loud and point to the next person with your free hand as you count, so nobody loses track. Swinging your finger to someone else after the signal is cheating – everyone keeps an eye out for that.