THE GAME

A month ago, around the time some very important essays were due and my creative juices were flowing immensely, the rules for a Game of Thrones spin off of the well-played drinking game Ring of Fire began forming in my mind. After a few trial runs with friends and several adjustments I finally have a finished piece which I feel obliged to share should anyone wish to try them out.

WARNING: There are some potential spoilers for those who have not seen the first three seasons of Game of Thrones.

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REQUIRED: 1 or more packs of cards, 1 King’s Chalice

SET UP: First, each player must draw one card at random from the deck in order to determine which house they pledge their fealty to (see "Fealties" section). Place the cards back in the deck and then arrange them in a ring around the King’s Chalice. Players then take turns picking cards and carry out the corresponding rules.

THE RULES

A – RED WEDDING – A simple waterfall where the picker begins drinking and everyone in the circle drinks too. Each player can only stop drinking when the person before them stops and when a player stops drinking they must pretend to die dramatically.

2 – DUEL – The player must choose an opponent with whom they duel which may take any form they choose. A forfeit is decided before the duel takes place and the loser must carry out said forfeit. If the duel is a draw, duellers must both carry out the forfeit.

3 – HODOR – When a player speaks, they become Hodor and so can only use the word “Hodor” until their next turn. If they utter any other words they must have a drink. There can be multiple “Hodors” at any one time.

4 – KHALEESI – Player declares “Khaleesi” and all women must drink.

5 – DRACARYS – At any point after picking this card, the player can shout “Dracarys” and then must stand up and start flapping their arms like wings of the dragon. The last player to do so must heat up their beverage and then take a drink.

6 – VALAR MORGHULIS – Player declares “Valar Morghulis” and all men must drink.

7 – DIREWOLVES – Player can being howling at any time. The last person to howl must drink.

8 – SQUIRE – Player chooses a squire who will accompany them and assist them in all further challenges. There can be multiple squires at any time but no player may have more than one squire. A player can only be a squire to one other player. Squires do not work in chains, so if for example a player is given a specific task, only they and their squire must carry it out, not any squires of their squire.

9 – MASTER OF COIN – Player takes two coins and tosses them. If heads and heads then nothing happens. If heads and tails they must take a drink. If tails and tails they are permitted to make one rule. Any coin which lands heads up they keep and are then allowed to attempt to put in another player’s drink and if successful their victim must down their drink.

10 – FEALTY SWAP – Player MUST choose another player with whom they swap fealties.

J – HAND OF THE KING – Player becomes hand of the king/queen and must do whatever the king commands them (within reason), failure to do so ends a punishment of the king’s choosing. If the king/queen is absent, they are in charge.

Q – QUEST – Player must go on a quest determined by the other players.

K – THE IRON THRONE – Player is now king/queen; their chair the Iron Throne. The must fashion themselves a crown out of whatever they can find. On each turn they are allowed, but not required, to make up to two rules – these rules cease when they are dethroned. Any player who does not address them as “your grace” must take a drink. They have the casting vote over any decisions which need to be made. They can choose to be exempt from rules. When a new king/queen is chosen, the previous king/queen must down their drink. At the end of the game, the player who is king/queen must be given a dirty pint in the King’s Chalice which they must down.

JOKER – Optional. The theme song is played. All players must drink whilst it plays; the last person to stop drinking is able to make a rule.

FEALTIES

Each player chooses a fealty at random at the beginning of the game by drawing a card, the number corresponds to the house to whom the pledge their fealty. Each house comes with its own set of rules which will be carried out during and at the end of the game, and they are as follows:

ACE/TWO (A/2) – BARATHEON – Player must drink double at all times. At the end of the game, the player must ride the bus turning over only black cards. Riding the bus is setting up cards in rows of 1-2-3-2-1 OR 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 and the player must turn one card from each row over, if they encounter a red card, new cards are placed on top of those turned over and they must start again. Every card that is turned up corresponds to a drink and all drinks are taken when they have reached the other side.

THREE/FOUR (3/4) – GREYJOY – Player must have a ‘boat’ (any object other than a straw) floating in their drink at all times; if the boat sinks they must down their drink.

FIVE (5) – NIGHT’S WATCH – When taking the black, player must recite the oath of the Night’s Watch – this also applies after a fealty swap. For as long as they are in the Night’s Watch they cannot become king/queen – if they draw a king then the old king/queen continues their reign.

SIX/SEVEN (6/7) – LANNISTER – At the start of the game they must take a drink of all other players’ drinks. During the game they must only drink with their non-sword wielding hand. At the end of the game, they must give a drink of their drink to all other players, because a Lannister always pays their debts.

EIGHT/NINE (8/9) – MARTELL – Player must be touching at least one other player at all times, failure to do so and they must take a drink – this is paused during challenges.

TEN/JACK (10/J) – STARK – During the game if the card the player draws is a heart then they must down half their drink. At the end of the game they must down a full drink because they are a Stark and are likely to die.

QUEEN (Q) – TARGARYEN – During the game player has 3 “Dragons.” Each dragon enables the player to pass any challenge they are sets, i.e. any task they are bid to carry out during the game they can give to someone else to carry out instead. At the end of the game the game they must consume a spoonful of a fiery substance (e.g. hot sauce, a mixture of ketchup and chilli powder etc.)

KING (K) – TYRELL – Player must attempt to kiss every king/queen during their reign. Failure to do so and at the end of the game they must down a full drink. If there is a fealty swap during the game, the new Tyrells must only kiss the monarchs who reign during their new allegiance.

ADDITIONAL AND OPTIONAL RULES

-          Game ends when the last card is drawn. After this all tasks designated to be carried out at the end of the game are now to take place.

-          At the start of the game whoever has to pledge their fealty to house Baratheon becomes king/queen.

-          At the start of the game if there are no Baratheons the person who picked the highest card is King/Queen.

-          If at the beginning of the game there are multiple Baratheons then they must duel to determine who becomes king/queen.

-          Rules do not carry beyond the last card being drawn, so a king/queen cannot decree that they do not have to drink their dirty pint.

-          During fealty swaps, a player can choose to pledge their allegiance to a house no other player is loyal to, but only if all players agree.

I appreciate there are a lot of rules to remember and may take a little while for games to go at a good pace, but I hope you enjoy! (and I apologize for any misspellings etc.)

Big thanks to Mr George R. R. Martin for your extensive world of concepts and characters which made the division of this game so easy.

Iain.