Quick Play vs Multiplayer Mode: Which One to Pick
By Drunkdeck · Published July 24, 2026 · Updated July 25, 2026
Drunkdeck asks one question before anything else: multiplayer or quick play? It's a small decision with a real effect on how the rest of the session runs, and picking the wrong one for your group means either wasting time on setup you didn't need or missing scorekeeping you wanted.
What quick play does
Quick play skips player setup entirely: no names to add, no turn order to track. You get a card, read it, hit done or pass, and move straight to the next one. There's no scoreboard because there's no roster of players to score. It's built for speed. Pick a category and you're playing within seconds.
What multiplayer does
Multiplayer asks for player names up front, then cycles the deck through each person in turn, tracking who's done what on a live scoreboard. It takes longer to set up, a minute, maybe, but the game actually knows whose turn it is and keeps score across the whole session.
The setup-time trade-off
The real difference between the two modes is roughly one minute of typing player names, traded for the entire rest of the session knowing whose turn it is automatically. For a two-person date that's not worth the minute. For an eight-person party trying to figure out who goes next after every card, that minute pays for itself within the first five rounds.
When to use quick play
Quick play is the right call when you don't need turn structure: a small group passing a phone around informally, a couple with no need to track whose turn it is, or anyone who just wants a stream of prompts without the bookkeeping. It's also the faster option if you're mid-party and don't want to stop and set up players.
When to use multiplayer
Multiplayer is worth the extra minute of setup for any group that cares about turn order or wants a scoreboard to argue about at the end of the night: a proper game night, a bachelorette party, or any group larger than three or four where 'whose turn is it' would otherwise become its own argument. The scoreboard alone tends to be worth the setup time for competitive groups, especially ones that like to settle the night with a clear winner rather than a vague sense of who did the most dares. It also settles disputes about whose turn got skipped.
Switching mid-session
If you start in quick play and decide you want a scoreboard, or the other way around, back out to select a category and pick the other mode. Nothing about the deck itself changes, only how turns and scoring are handled.
Both modes work with any format
Mode is independent of category and game format. Run a fast, no-scoreboard round of Never Have I Ever in quick play, or a full tracked session of Kings Cup in multiplayer. Either mode works with the SFW deck or any other category.
A worked example
Say six friends show up to a pre-drinks session over the course of half an hour. Starting in quick play means the first person through the door is playing within seconds, and each new arrival just joins the circle without anyone stopping to re-add players. Compare that to multiplayer, where every new arrival means pausing to type in another name: fine for a group that's all there at once, slower for one that trickles in.
A quick FAQ
Does quick play track scores at all? No, there's no player roster, so there's nothing to attach a score to. Can you add players partway through a quick play session? Not within that session; back out to select a category and start multiplayer instead. Is one mode "more" of the game than the other? No, both modes deal from the exact same deck of prompts, just with different bookkeeping around them.
Still not sure?
Default to quick play if you're not sure. It's faster to start, and nothing stops the group from restarting in multiplayer a few rounds in once you know you'll want a scoreboard. Neither choice is permanent, and switching costs less time than debating it would.