3 Fun Power Hour Drinking Game Variations & Rules

Power Hour is a popular drinking game that combines fun and competition. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and maximally enjoy drinks.

Bored of playing too much King’s Cup? Power Hour is a perfect inbetweener. But beware! This game is very intense in terms of drinking, and is therefore best played at the beginning of an occasion.

The general idea of this game is to drink a shot of beer every single minute of one full hour. No cards or dice needed as Beer Dice.

On average, one round of Power Hour equals 7.5 beers. Of course, this depends on the size of and amount of beer in each shot glass. The last man standing wins the game.

In this guide, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to play Power Hour, along with some rules and fun variations.

How to Play Power Hour

The original Power Hour is played with shots of beer, and is played as follows:

1. Gather your friends and sit around a table.

2. Start the timer or playlist. Each minute, take a shot.

3. The goal is to take a shot every minute for an hour.

Make sure to stick with shots of beer or wine; it’s not wise to play this game with normal shots. However, you can choose to take a different shot every 15 or 30 minutes to add some extra spice to the game.

Below, we also describe some alternatives to the original game that are less intense but equally fun!

Rules

• No skipping shots – everyone must take a shot every minute.

• If someone misses a shot, they are out of the game.

• The last person standing is the winner.

Power Hour Variations

You don’t have to play Power Hour with only beer and a timer. For example, many use a playlist of 60 one-minute song fragments. Another example is to introduce different beverages instead of only one type of drink.

Below, we describe some variations that could make Power Hour even more interesting to play.

1. Power Playlist

In Power Playlist, you and your friends make a playlist of songs that lasts about 60 minutes total. Instead of using a timer, you make a playlist of 60 different songs that each last for one minute. Each song change is a drinking cue.

Before playing, everyone should agree on what everyone will be drinking. You can choose to only go for sips from your drink, or to alternate between shots and sips.

Tip: Too intense? Make a normal playlist. The duration of most songs is about 3 minutes, which makes this version less intense than basic Power Hour.

There’s also many ready-to-play Power Hour playlists available on Youtube, such as the example below.

2. Quarters Power Hour

The Quarters Power Hour is a fun hybrid of Power Hour and Quarters. For this game, you’ll need one quarter per player in addition to the shot glass. It’s almost as simple as the basic version, although it does require more skill. Here’s how its played:

As in normal Power Hour, players take one shot of beer or wine at the end of every minute. However, before players are allowed to take their shot, they must first bounce a quarter in their shot glass. This comes with some additional rules:

• You must single-bounce, so the quarter can only hit the table once for each try.
• You get three lives. For each shot missed, you lose a life.

This is our favorite version of quarters because instead of waiting each minute, everyone is on edge and actively participating.

3. Lucky Hour

For this version, you’ll need a deck of cards. It’s less of an endurance race than the basic game, as we introduce an element of luck. In principal, all players do take a shot every minute, however:

• Before each shot, players draw a random card from a standard deck of cards.
• The player with the lowest card must take the shot for that round, while the others are safe.
• If a player draws a Joker, all other players must take their shot.

This is another fun version because of its unpredictability: even if one player is a better drinker than the rest, other players still have their chance to win the game if they are lucky and draw highest cards.

Wrap up

Power Hour is a fun and exciting drinking game that can bring friends together for a memorable evening. Whether you’re playing with a special Power Hour playlist, or with a normal playlist and a timer, it will keep you entertained for an hour!

If you enjoy Power Hour, you might also like other drinking games like Flip Cup.

Remember to drink responsibly and know your limits. Keep an eye out for each other and make sure that everyone is doing okay. Especially in this game, you should really keep things safe.

So gather your friends, set up the game, and let the fun begin!’