Waterfall
Rules
Waterfall
Once an ace is drawn, everyone starts to drink. The player who picked the card can stop whenever he/she wants, but others have to keep drinking. Once he/she decides to stop, the player on his/her right can stop and so on. The last player in the ring has to finish last.
Give 2
The player can make another player take two sips.
Drink 3
The player who picks this card has to drink 3 sips.
Girls drink
All the girls in the game have to drink!
Bust a jive
The person who picks the card has to come up with a dance move. The next person has to do that dance move and add to it. This continues until someone makes a mistake and has to drink.
Guys drink
All the guys in the game have to drink!
Heaven
All players reach for the sky. The last person to do so has to drink.
Mate
The player who picks the card chooses another player to be their mate. This means when one of them drinks they both drink.
Bust a Rhyme
The player who picks this card says a word and all the players after him/her has to say a word that rhymes with this word. First one to not come up with a word has to drink.
Categories
The player who picked the card chooses a category. Then everyone goes around and says something that fits in the chosen category. Whoever cannot think of anything in the category has to drink. Good categories to use include types of liquor, car companies, and types of cereal.
Thumb
Drawing a Jack makes you the Thumb Master. Whenever you choose you can put your thumb on the table causing all players to race to do the same. Last player to do so has to drink. You remain Thumb Master until a new Jack is drawn.
Question
Ask a question from any other player, who must in turn ask a different player a question. Whoever doesn't answer with a question has to drink, and you can't ask a question back to the person who last asked you.
New rule
The player who picks a King gets to create a new rule for the game. If the rule is not followed the person who broke the rule has to drink. A good rule is to for example only be allowed to hold the drink in your left hand.
What is Waterfall?
Waterfall is a classic card drinking game for parties and pre-drinks, and one of the easiest ways to turn a quiet gathering into a loud one. Everyone sits in a circle, cards are drawn one at a time, and each card triggers a small rule — a dance, a rhyme, a category, a race to touch the table. No skill, no setup, no learning curve: draw a card, do the thing, pass the deck on.
The game takes its name from the Ace. When one appears, the whole table drinks in a chain that can't be broken until the person ahead of you stops — a wave of drinking that rolls around the circle like a waterfall. It's the rule everyone remembers, and the reason the game has stuck around dorm rooms and kitchen tables for decades.
How to play
- Gather round. Get three or more friends into a circle with their drinks. Prop a phone in the middle or pass it around.
- Draw a card. Tap the deck to flip the top card. Every value from Ace to King has its own rule — the full list is above.
- Do what it says. Some cards hit the drawer, some hit everyone, some kick off a mini-game like Rhyme or Categories.
- Ride the Waterfall. When an Ace lands, everyone drinks together and can only stop once the person before them in the chain has stopped.
- Play on until the deck is spent — then reshuffle and go again.
Tips for a good round
Waterfall lives and dies on its energy, so keep the deck moving and don't overthink the rules. The King's new-rule card is where the best nights come from — a good house rule ("no pointing," "left hand only," "call everyone by a fake name") quietly wrecks people for the rest of the game. And because turns are quick, it works brilliantly as a warm-up before moving on to something longer like Kings or Ring of Fire.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the game called Waterfall?
It's named after its most memorable rule, the Ace. When an Ace turns up, everyone drinks at once in an unbroken chain — nobody can stop until the person before them stops — so the drinking cascades around the table like water over a ledge. Draw an Ace early and the whole round starts with a bang.
How does the Waterfall (Ace) rule actually work?
Everyone begins drinking together the moment the Ace is drawn. The player who drew it decides when to stop; only then may the next person in the chain stop, then the one after them, and so on. Whoever sits at the tail of the chain drinks the longest, so seating suddenly matters.
How many players do you need for Waterfall?
Three or more works well, and it scales happily up to a big group. The more people in the circle, the longer each Waterfall lasts and the more chaotic the rules like Categories and Rhyme become.
Do I need a real deck of cards to play?
No. This browser version shuffles and deals a full deck for you — just tap to draw. All you need is a group of friends and something to drink. It works on phones, so you can pass one device around the circle.
Can Waterfall be played without alcohol?
Absolutely. Every rule plays identically with water or soft drinks, and the party games baked into it — Rhyme, Categories, Bust a Jive — stand up perfectly well sober.
More games to play in the browser
Once Waterfall has warmed the room up, move on to Kings or Ring of Fire, or switch gears with Never Have I Ever. You can also browse all our games.
Waterfall for iPhone
The beloved iOS version of Waterfall, polished since 2016. Switch between Waterfall, King's Cup and Ring of Fire rule sets, or customise every single card to match your crew's house rules.
- Preset rule sets — Waterfall, King's Cup and Ring of Fire, ready to go.
- Custom card rules — rewrite any card to match the way your group plays.
- Localised in English, Finnish, Spanish and Swedish.
- Works offline — once installed, no connection required.
- One-time purchase — $1.99 on the App Store. No ads, no in-app purchases.
