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Ride the Bus

Four rounds of guessing, each harder than the last: colour, higher or lower, inside or outside, then the suit.

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What you need

  • 2–10 players
  • One phone each
  • 15 minutes

How to play

  1. Round 1 — Red or blackCall the colour of your first card. A coin flip, and the easiest drink you will avoid all game.
  2. Round 2 — Higher or lowerIs your second card higher or lower than the first?
  3. Round 3 — Inside or outsideWill the third card fall between your first two, or outside them? Two cards close together make this brutal.
  4. Round 4 — Guess the suitOne in four. Most tables lose someone here.

Who drinks, and how much

  • One drink for each wrong guess, in every round.

Variants and house rules

No bus ride

The classic pub version has a second phase where the worst player 'rides the bus' through a gauntlet of face cards alone. This version stops after the four rounds — it keeps everyone involved instead of making one person play solo while nine people watch.

Escalating stakes

Agree that round 3 is worth two drinks and round 4 is worth three. The difficulty already ramps; the drinks may as well.

Good to know

  • Inside or outside is exclusive: a card matching either of your first two counts as outside.
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