Insane drinking games from around the world

If you thought winning your fraternity flip-cup championship four years running demonstrated some kind of drinking-game prowess, think again. Turns out, drinkers across the globe have a more extreme view of what constitutes booze-fueled competition -- like taking down pint glasses full of vodka and running eight miles while toting a case of beer. Here are seven international games that take drinking to the next level.

beer with cigarette
Big Eyed Sol

7. Napkin, Beer, Cigarette -- South Korea
South Koreans love smoking almost as much as they love drinking, so it's only natural their favorite game cleverly combines the two. After a napkin and coin are placed atop a glass of beer, players take turns trying to burn holes in the napkin. Whoever causes the coin to fall through without burning the bar down gets to drink delicious coin-tainted ash beer.

men walking with beer
Wikimedia

6. Kastenlauf -- Germany
Turns out beer-loving Germans excel at heavy drinking and heavy lifting (or at least lifting and brisk walking), as their national drinking game is designed to test both one's physical prowess and ability to put away a ton of booze. The concept is simple: Working in pairs, players lug (and chug) a case of beer for eight miles, and can't cross the finish line until all their bottles are empty.

man with many shot glasses
Butterbits

5. Tiger has Come -- Russia
Russkies up the ante on their drinking festivities by adding the tried-and-true factors of gambling and humiliation. Their liquor of choice is tequila, of course vodka, and the action goes down like this: after a player places his bet, he ducks under the table and waits for the designated leader to say, "Tiger has come", before taking a shot. Once the "tiger has left" (he finishes his shot), he can return to his seat, raise his bet, and refill his glass. Play progresses until only one dude can climb out from under the table. By the way, we have no idea where the tiger is actually headed.

people holding bags on their heads
Youtube

4. Goon of Fortune -- Australia
How to have a good time at a barbie Down Under? Quote Crocodile Dundee II until you're sadly drinking alone in a corner, or, better yet, remove the foil bladder from your cheap box of wine (known in Oz as a "goon"), and pin it to one corner of a rotary clothesline -- which any legit Aussie backyard should have. Players stand in a circle under the clothesline, give it a spin, and yell, "Goon of fortune!" Whoever finds the goon bag above his head when it comes to a stop takes a swig -- straight from the box, of course.

Ping Pang Pong sign
Derek Thomas

3. Ping, Pong, Pang -- Japan
This game works off the simple premise that drunk people lose the ability to speak properly, and that they ought be punished for tongue-tied idiocy by being made to drink even more. A player shouts "Ping", his buddy yells "Pong", and a third shouts "Pang", before nominating which dude’ll kick it all off again with a “Ping”. Onlookers chant "Iki, iki, iki", which means "Drink, drink, drink", and whenever someone hesitates following their cue, they have to take a shot. How have they not made this into a TV gameshow?

Dude putting lemon in his eyes
Henri Bergius

2. The Yachtsman Stuntman Slam -- Great Britain
Credited to the British Royal Marines, Prince Harry is reportedly a reigning champ -- with the photographic evidence to prove it. TYSS begins when cadets squirt a lemon in their eyes, snort lines of salt, and take shots of tequila. While holding the shots in their mouths, they dive off a boat, swim under its hull, and climb back on board. Then, they spit the tequila into a glass, set it on fire, drink it, and suction the shot glass onto their chests -- leaving a scorching red ring of honor. Anyone want to please call b*lls&t on this?

closeup of beer
Mr. T in DC

1. Bear Paw -- Russia
Either Russians are genetically predisposed to having robotic-like tolerances, or they're raging alcoholics; either way, they've made our list twice. The "Bear Paw" begins with a perfectly innocent glass of beer being passed from comrade to comrade. As each person takes a sip, he or she tops the beer up with, you guessed it, vodka!. By the time they have a pint glass full of pure alcohol, each sip is then replaced with beer... and so on, and so forth until the entire group is dead (or at least appears to be hibernating).