Pre-Drinks Games

By Drunkdeck · Published July 24, 2026

Pre-drinks have a hard deadline: the group is heading out in an hour, not settling in for the night. The right game gets everyone loose and laughing fast, without needing so much setup that half the time is gone before the first card.

Quick play mode

This is exactly what quick play mode is built for: no player setup, just a stream of prompts dealt straight to the group. Skip multiplayer's roster and scoreboard when time is tight.

Categories

Fast rounds, zero equipment, and it naturally winds down on its own once people start getting ready to leave. See the Categories drinking game guide.

Would You Rather

No setup at all. Just start posing dilemmas the moment people arrive. It's easy to jump in and out of as people are still getting ready. See the Would You Rather drinking game guide.

Setting a hard stop

The one rule worth agreeing on before the group starts: pick the time you're actually leaving and stick to it, out loud, before the first round. Pre-drinks games are meant to warm the night up, not become the whole night: a game that's genuinely fun tends to make a group lose track of the clock.

Pacing before you're actually out

Pre-drinks is also the easiest place to overdo it, since the games are fast and the drinks tend to be poured generously at home. Keep an eye on pace here more than at any other point in the night. See Responsible Drinking for tips on keeping the warm-up from turning into the whole night by accident.

Play it in Drunkdeck

Load the SFW deck in quick play mode: no player names, no setup, just cards dealt as fast as the group can go through them before it's time to head out.