How to Play Ace of Spades

The random category on this blog has been looking pretty bare for the last few months, and so I was racking my brain on what would constitute a random article which is naturally hard because by nature planning a random piece... isn't random. Then, as it happens, lockdown came to the rescue and provided the answer - Ace of Spades. Arguably, but probably more narcissistically, the best drinking game ever invented (if the goal is to get drunk) and if I do say so myself.

It is suitable that lockdown would bring the game back into my life, as it was first created in another time of confinement and boredom. Let me take you back to almost ten years ago, sitting at my parents' dining room table as an 18-year-old boy. A group of friends and I had gathered on a summer weekend to figure out what to do that evening.

While some of us were over the legal drinking age and thus could have gone clubbing or down the road to the local pub, not all of us had those lucky early year birthdays, further, we didn't have much money so spending an evening clubbing or pubbing was going to be too expensive. Then, of course, it started to rain. It was after all a British summer. There we were, the four of us sitting around the wooden table, tapping our fingers and trying to think of something we could play.

The problem we had was there was a limited supply of beer and a limited amount of wine (or probably VKs) at that point. So we couldn't just sit down and drink ad infimum in the house. We did, however, have a couple of large bottles of vodka from leftover birthdays and other random reasons. But even at that unenlightened age, the thought of just sitting down and necking shots wasn't particularly engaging. All the other games we knew didn't particularly inspire that notion either.

The Premise of the Game

Having set the scene, we are now ready to meet the players. Enter stage left, Ace of Spades. It originally started as the most simple of tasks. Put the deck in the middle of the table face down so you couldn't see the front of the next card coming up. Then one by one, in a circle, call out a card, the Four of Hearts, for example. Then turn over the top card of the deck. If it is the card you said, then you had to do a shot.

Incredibly simple. And easy to encourage other people to join in because the chances are so low, right? And they are. I think most people would take a 1 in 52 chance of doing a vodka shot. The potential peril is minuscule. But what you slowly realise as time goes on is that this chance gets steadily more and more likely as you progress further down the deck until someone is guaranteed to do a shot. If there is only one card left in the pack, then you have to guess it.

Anyway, through trial and error and the desire to keep the pressure up and people drinking, we added other rules to make sure there was continuous consumption. The goal of any drinking game, after all, is to get drunk but have fun while doing it. And Ace of Spades achieves that first part spectacularly. It progressively gets tenser and tenser as the rounds go on and the number of cards decreases, that in turn increases that the sense of mortal jeopardy. And the chances of you ending up 'mortaled.'

So now for the full rule list in its final form. You can also find this handy PDF rule sheet that you can download and print off.

The Rules

1. The desk starts in the middle of the table or in-between all the players. Remove the jokers and other cards that aren't part of a 52 card deck. Have the pack facedown so that you can't see the front of the cards.

2. One person calls out a random card from the deck, picks up the top card, shows the group and puts it down on the table (the positioning of where will be important later). If the card is NOT the card they said, then they do not do a shot except if they pulled out a Special Drinking Card.

3. The final round - When there is only one round left of cards. i.e. five players, five cards etc. then spread the cards out on the table so that there all five of them can be seen at any one time.

4. When a player has drawn a card from the deck and placed it down, the card cannot be touched by anyone (including the player that placed it). If any player touches the cards after they have been placed down, then they have to do a punishment drink (typically a shot). 

   The only instance where anyone is allowed to touch the cards is when settling a Double call dispute (see rule 5).

5. Double calls - A double call is when a player calls a card that has already been pulled from the deck. At the start, this will be hard to do (unless done intentionally), but towards the later stages, this becomes more problematic. A typical strategy for making this more manageable (but does require an element of teamwork from all the players), is to place cards in their suits, or number groups around the table letting you quickly scan to see what has come up already. If a person makes a double call, then they have to do a shot but only if they get caught. For example, someone might subtly hide a card that has already been pulled beneath another card that they pull early in the game and at different points call that card to have zero chance of pulling a card they called or any punishment card. Should someone realise this, they are allowed to challenge the player (only on the player that is double callings turn, if the next person calls a card, and then they are confronted it is too late) and touch the cards to move them and prove the second call. If the player that accuses another of double calling is proved wrong, they have to take the punishment drink for touching the cards (if they did).

6. Secondary calls - If player one calls for the Two of Clubs player two cannot call for the

7. Two of Clubs as well. But player three can. In other words, you cannot call the same card as the player before you did. You must say another card. This rule applies until the very last card.

8. The Last Card - when there is just one card left on the table that person that gets the last card has to do the shot for calling the last card, plus any of the punishment shots that might go hand in hand with it if it is a Special Drinking card (see rules for those below).  At the last card is the only instance where you do not get punished for calling the same card as the person before.

9. There are different rules for the type of cards pulled from the deck and for specific cards. Find those below in Basic Drinking Cards and Special Drinking Cards, respectively.

Basic Drinking Cards

Colours, Suits, Numbers

When naming a card and picking up from the deck, you are saying a suit and number, i.e. the Eight of Diamonds, but you are also saying a colour. Red - Diamonds and Hearts and Black - Spades and Clubs. While you might not pick up the exact card, you spoke, you are far more likely to pick up something relating to your card.

Same colour: if you call the Jack of Spades and you pick up the Three of Clubs then you called a black card and picked up a black card and thus have to do one finger of your drink.

Same suit: if you call a Club and pick up a Club. Then you need to drink two fingers of your drink.

Same Number: If you call a king and pick up a king, then you need to do three fingers for your drink.

These do not stack. You pick the highest punishment level and do that amount of fingers. i.e. if you pick up the same number you called (Five of Diamonds and Five of Hearts), you would only do three fingers as the same number, not four digits for the same amount and the same colour.

The Called Card

If you pull the card you called from the deck you must do a shot. Simple. You do not stack the fingers for calling the same colour, suit and number. But you might want to use your drink for a chaser depending on how much you like the spirit on offer.

Special Drinking Cards

Ace of Spades

If the card pulled from the deck is the Ace of Spades, the person who drew the card does one shot for picking the name of the game. It doesn't matter what card they said before they just do the shots.

The only instance where they wouldn't do a shot is when they specifically call the Ace of Spades and pull it from the deck. If they do this, then they get to designate two shots. If they call the Ace of Spades and it is not that card, then they have to do two shots themselves.

For example, there are four cards left on the table, the Ace of Spades hasn't been taken from pile yet, so player A makes a guess which one it is, says it, "the Ace of Spades, and pulls that card from the deck. They are then allowed to designate two shots instead of doing one for correctly calling the card.

The Queen of Spades

Similar but slightly nastier than the Ace of Spades. The Queen of Spades is just a pure punishment card. No matter when you pull it, nor if you call it, you just have to drink two shots.

The Magic Card

The last special drinking card is the Magic Card so named for its never-ending ability to reappear at different points in the game. At the start of the game, the youngest person gets to pick what the Magic Card is. It can be any card in the deck apart from the Ace of Spades and the Queen of Spades.

When the Magic Card is plucked from the pack, the player who takes it, has to do one shot. Much like the Ace of Spades, if they call the magic card specifically, they get to designate a shot. The person that pulls the Magic Card then gets to pick the next Magic Card unless you are in the final round (see rule 3), at which point the Magic Card ends. You, of course, cannot pick the Ace of Spades, Queen of Spades or any card that has already been called.

Those the rules of Ace of Spades, again see the downloadable PDF version here . Or check it out at the end of this document.

The Hardcore Version

Maybe the number of shots in the regular version isn't enough for you and your heavy drinking friends (drink responsibly remember). Anyway, the hardcore version makes a straightforward change that changes the number of shots you do by a large order of magnitude.

I would recommend playing the regular version a couple of times on different nights to get used to the rules before playing the hardcore version if you want to play the hardcore version. I haven't played the hardcore version since university because it is just dumb.

Hardcore Rule

Every shot punishment is added to the punishment shot total.

When a punishment that requires a shot is awarded, you take the total, add the punishment shot to it and do that total amount of shots.

For example, you are the first person to pick up the card you called. That is one shot. But then a few turns later a player pulls out the Magic Card. In the standard game that would also be one shot, but in this version, the punishment total would now be two. So that person has to do two shots. A few more turns later the Queen of Spades rears her head (two shots in a regular game), but in this instance with hardcore rules, that is four shots total as there have been two punishment shots already. (You do not stack the number of shots consumed, i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 for six just the amount deemed by the punishment 1 + 1 + 2 for 4. I guess you could stack the total shots consumed, but then you'd be comatose and probably hospitalised before you finish the game so probably not worth it).

Drink responsibly.

Anyway, game over.

Enjoy.

You can download a PDF here , or see the image of the rule card below.