Rage Cage

Put 10 to 20 cups tightly together in the middle of the table, each about a third full. The cup right in the centre, the death cup, is filled to the brim. Everyone stands around the table.

Two players facing each other each get an empty cup and a ping pong ball. On “3, 2, 1” both try to bounce the ball off the table into their own cup at the same time. There are no turns: everyone shoots as often as they like.

• Make it: pass your cup and ball to the player on your left. Make it on your very first bounce and you may pass to anyone.
• Stacking: if you make it while the player next to you still hasn’t, drop your cup into theirs. They’ve been stacked: they drink a cup from the middle and keep shooting with that one.
• Ball in the middle: if a ball lands in one of the middle cups, the shooter drinks it.
• Death cup: when only the death cup is left, the next player to be stacked drinks it. That ends the round.

Variations

• Slap Cup: instead of stacking, you slap your neighbour’s cup away when you make it first.
• With points: whoever stacks the most cups wins – a ball in the middle only costs one sip.
• Team tournament: two teams stand alternately around the table and each team only drinks its own cups. The team that runs out first loses.

Tips

A smooth, dry table is a must or the balls won’t bounce cleanly. With more than twelve players the far end gets bored – use two tables instead. Strictly speaking, Stack Cup is a separate team game, but people often use it as a nickname for Rage Cage.