Beer Die is hands down the greatest drinking game ever invented. It’s the perfect combination of both athletic and drinking prowess all wrapped up into one game. All you need to play is a table, two dice, three beers, and some friends.
As far as I know, it’s a game that originated in frats at west coast schools. And as some of those westerners eventually found themselves at schools on the east coast, the game spread like wildfire. A transfer student from California brought the game to my fraternity last summer and we have been playing it nonstop since then. For an entire year (and counting), regardless of the conditions outside, we played beer die. I’ve played die on gorgeous, sunny days, and I’ve played die in brutal blizzards. It never gets old. It’s truly the greatest game in the world.
It looks a little something like this. The version you see below is technically called “snappa.” It’s exactly the same as die, except you play sitting in a chair instead of standing. Personally, I prefer to play standing but to each their own I suppose.
The rules are simple: throw your die high in the air, have it hit your opponent’s side of the table, and if your opponent doesn’t catch the die (with only one hand) once it bounces off the table, you score a point. You score two points if your die hits a cup and bounces off the table, and you score three points if your die goes into your opponent’s cup. Landing your die in your opponent’s cup is known as “splashing”, “kerplunking”, or just plain ole “plunkin.” It’s the beer die equivalent of a slam dunk and it’s fucking electric when it happens.
The first team to score 12 points wins, and you finish your beer each time your opponents reach four, eight, and twelve points. So you drink three beers per game and have a shitload of fun in the process. The beauty of it, though, is that you can sip on your beers throughout the game, so you don’t have to chug your entire drink when the other team reaches four, eight, or twelve points.
Beer Die is our religion. At all hours of the day, there are people in the backyard of my frat house playing beer die. As I am writing this, I can hear the sound of dice smacking against the table in our backyard. You’d think we’re training for the Olympics or something with the dedication that we have for this game. People have elaborate and sacred pregame rituals, people have specific dice that they exclusively toss with, and we all have a collection of beautifully painted (and hilariously named) tables that we play on. We have tournaments every Saturday afternoon and the social hierarchy in the fraternity very closely correlates with who is and isn’t good at beer die. I legitimately think we might not ever get tired of this game. But it’s too soon to tell I suppose. We’ve got one year under our belt, let’s see if we can make it to two.
And now that I’ve finished this blog post, how am I going to celebrate my Saturday? You guessed it. I’m gonna play some fuckin die!!
Cya tomorrow bbs
