Higher or Lower Drinking Game: Rules and Variations

Higher or Lower is the simplest card drinking game there is. One card is face up, and you guess whether the next one will be higher or lower. That is the whole game, which is exactly why it works at 1 a.m.

What you need

• A standard deck of cards
• A drink for each player
• 2 or more players

How to play

1. Shuffle the deck and flip the top card face up.
2. The first player guesses whether the next card will be higher or lower.
3. Flip the next card. If the guess is right, the turn passes to the next player.
4. If the guess is wrong, the player sips and the turn passes on.
5. If the card is the same value, the player sips twice.
6. Keep going until the deck runs out.

Popular variations

Streak rules

Guess three in a row and you can pass the turn and hand out a sip. Guess five in a row and you make a rule.

The gauntlet

Lay nine cards face down in a row. A player has to guess their way through all nine. One wrong guess sends them back to the start, with a sip for every card already flipped.

Pile up

Every correct guess adds a sip to the pot. The first player to guess wrong takes the whole pot.

Red or black first

Before each guess, call the color too. Right color and wrong direction cancels out. Both wrong means two sips.

Team play

Split into two teams and alternate guesses. The team with fewer wrong guesses at the end of the deck hands out the final round.

A little strategy

• With a 7, 8 or 9 showing, it is close to a coin flip. Pass the turn if your rules allow it.
• With a 2 or a King showing, the odds are heavily on your side. That is when streak rules pay off.
• Count the face cards as they come out. Late in the deck it matters.

Playing with two people

Higher or Lower is one of the best drinking games for two. Alternate guesses and play the gauntlet variation, which gives each round a proper ending.

Playing on a phone

If nobody has cards, an app can deal for you. In Not Another Drinking Game, Higher or Lower shows up as a quick mini game between cards, so it breaks up the night instead of taking it over.