Smoke or Fire (Drinking Game/Punishment Game)

Category	BxD Suggestion
Players	5+
Age	21+
Play Length	30+ minutes
Overall Rating	3.5 / 5
Replay-ability	3 / 5

Prerequisites: 

• Deck of cards
• (Optional/Recommended) Drinks
• (Optional) Markers (Read the "Tips" section)

How the game works:
Smoke or Fire is originally a drinking game where the players in the game make guesses against the drawn cards. If the players guess correctly then they don't need to drink, and can give drinks to other players. If the players guess incorrectly then they will need to take drinks. Drinks can be substituted out for punishments instead. There are 2 different versions of Smoke or Fire that I've seen, I've added "How to Play" instructions for both below.

Experience:
Although, I don't condone getting drunk, playing the original version of the game with drinks is really fun. If almost everyone has alcoholic drinks and a few people have soda, the punishment isn't as severe to those just drinking soda, so it does dampen the effect of the game. With that being said, again, please do not force anyone to drink when they don't want to. And make sure to know your limits. This game can be played by 2 people, but I recommend it to have at least 5 or more people since it allows distributing the drinks more broadly and therefore reducing the rate at which people get buzzed, which equates to longer game play.

Smoke or Fire Version 1 - How to Play:

• Shuffle the deck of cards.
• Designate someone as the dealer to help facilitate the game/be the game master.

Round 1:

• The dealer asks each player, including themselves, going clockwise, if they think their card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Smoke (Black aka Spades/Clovers) or Fire (Red aka Hearts/Diamonds)". 
• If the player answers correctly, they can tell one player in the group to drink.
• If the player answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink.
• The player keeps the card and places it in front of them.
• The play continues to every player, clockwise, until the play moves back to the dealer.

Round 2:

• The dealer asks each player, including themselves, going clockwise, if they think the next card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Higher or Lower" than the card in front of them from the previous round. 
• If the player answers correctly, they can give 2 drinks. These 2 drinks can be given to any one person or split up to 1 per person, for 2 people.
• If the player answers incorrectly, they have to take 2 drinks. 
• The player keeps the card and orders it in numerical order with the card they have in front of them, where Ace is the lowest (value of 1) and King is the highest value card.
• Values in the deck: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K in rank of lowest to highest.
• For example, 5 is lower than K.
• The play continues to every player, clockwise, until the play moves back to the dealer.

Round 3:

• The dealer asks each player, including themselves, going clockwise, if they think the next card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is outside, between or equal to the the cards.
• If the player answers correctly, they can give 3 drinks. These 3 drinks can be given to any one person or split up among different people.
• If the player answers incorrectly, they have to take 3 drinks. 
• The player keeps the cards and places them in front of them, again ordering them in numeric order.
• The play continues to every player, clockwise, until the play moves back to the dealer.

Round 4: 

• The dealer asks each player, including themselves, going clockwise, what suite (Diamond, Clover, Heart, or Spade) they think the next card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is.
• If the player answers correctly, they can give 4 drinks. These 4 drinks can be given to any one person or split up among different people.
• If the player answers incorrectly, they have to take 4 drinks. 
• The player keeps the cards and places them in front of them, again ordering them in numeric order.
• The play continues to every player, clockwise, until the play moves back to the dealer.

Subsequent Rounds:

• For each subsequent round, the cards drawn from the deck applies to all the players (including the dealer).
• Start with the dealer drawing a card from the deck, the dealer reads out the value of the card.
• Everyone in the group, including the dealer, checks if the value of the card matches any cards in their hand (the cards they have in front of them) and takes or gives drinks depending on the number of matches and the round. 
• For example, if this is Round 5, the drawn card value is "9", and your hand is:
• Hand: "2, 6, 7, J" = 0 matching * Round 5 (Take 1 drink) = You take 0 drinks. 
• Hand: "A, 5, 9, K" = 1 matching * Round 5 (Take 1 drink) = You take 1 drink. 
• Hand: "3, 9, 9, Q" = 2 matching * Round 5 (Take 1 drink) = You take 2 drinks. 
• For example, if this is Round 8, the drawn card value is "9", and your hand is:
• Hand: "2, 6, 7, J" = 0 matching * Round 8 (Give 2 drinks) = You give 0 drinks. 
• Hand: "A, 5, 9, K" = 1 matching * Round 8 (Give 2 drinks) = You give 2 drink. 
• Hand: "3, 9, 9, Q" = 2 matching * Round 8 (Give 2 drinks) = You give 4 drinks. 
• Then place the flipped over card in a discard pile. 
• Everyone can take turns flipping over the top card of the deck and reading the card until the game ends.
• Round 5: Take 1 drink.
• Round 6: Give 1 drink.
• Round 7: Take 2 drinks.
• Round 8: Give 2 drinks.
• Round 9: Take 3 drinks. 
• ... etc. 

Smoke or Fire Version 2 - How to Play:

• Shuffle the deck of cards.
• Designate someone as the dealer to help facilitate the game/be the game master.
• Note that in this 2nd version of Smoke or Fire, the dealer changes. 

Round 1:

• The Dealer, Player A, asks Player B, going clockwise, if they think their card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Smoke (Black aka Spades/Clovers) or Fire (Red aka Hearts/Diamonds)". 
• If the player, Player B, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the new Dealer. 
• If the player, Player B answers correctly, the Dealer takes a drink and the Dealer stays the same. The Dealer then needs to ask the next player, the player left of Player B, Player C, if they think their card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Smoke (Black aka Spades/Clovers) or Fire (Red aka Hearts/Diamonds)". 
• If the player, Player C, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer. 
• If the player, Player C, answers correctly, the Dealer takes a drink and the Dealer stays the same. The Dealer then needs to ask the next player, the player left of Player C, Player D, if they think their card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Smoke (Black aka Spades/Clovers) or Fire (Red aka Hearts/Diamonds)". 
• If the player, Player D, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer. 
• If the player, player D, answers correctly, the Dealer has to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer since a player can only stay the dealer a maximum of 3 times per round.
• The player keeps the card and places it in front of them. 
• The game continues until every player becomes a dealer once.

Round 2:

• The Dealer asks Player B, going clockwise, if they think their card (which will be taken from the top of the deck) is "Higher or Lower" than the card in front of them. 
• Values in the deck: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K
• Where A (Ace) is the lowest value card and K (King) is the highest value card, in the order the listed order above. For example, 5 is lower than K.
• If the player, Player B, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer.
• If the player, Player B, answers correctly, the Dealer takes a drink and the Dealer stays the same. The Dealer then needs to ask the next player, the player left of Player B, Player C, if they think their card is "Higher or Lower" than the card in front of them.  
• If the player, Player C, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer. 
• If the player, Player C, answers correctly, the Dealer takes a drink and the Dealer stays the same. The Dealer then needs to ask the next player, the player left of Player C, Player D, if they think their card is "Higher or Lower" than the card in front of them. 
• If the player, Player D, answers incorrectly, they have to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer. 
• If the player, Player D, answers correctly, the Dealer has to take a drink and Player B becomes the Dealer since a player can only stay the dealer a maximum of 3 times per round. 
• The game continues until every player becomes a dealer once.

Tips:

• Make the game easier by using an object, any object, as a marker for the current dealer. And when the dealer changes, move the object marker to that player who is now the dealer. 
• In addition, you can also get another object to be used as a marker for the current player.

Pros:

• Great for laughs. 

Cons:

• May get too drunk/punished.

More:

Photo Credits:

Photo 1: Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash 

Photo 2: Photo by Jack Halmilton on Unsplash