Headed to the Songtan Market BBQ Festival this fall? Here are some Korean drinking games you might want to learn!
About Korean Drinking Culture
Many people in Korea love to play games when they drink. This includes Korean nationals and international residents who join local customs. The games tend to be simple, easy to follow, and designed to make everyone laugh or suffer together, or both. Spending a night playing drinking games in Korea is like a right of passage.
For Non-Drinkers
If you don’t drink, you can often still play drinking games. Due to health issues, I often can’t drink. When this happens, one of my friends will “volunteer as tribute” and take my shots for me (as well as their shots). We laugh and play together as a team. However, when there is no one who wants to be a tribute, I drink soda instead or a penalty shot (a gross mixed drink shot). I’m always grateful for everyone’s understanding and willingness to include me when I can’t drink.
About the Songtan Market Drinking Board Game
The Songtan Market created their own drinking board game for the Songtan Market BBQ Festival. In order to ensure everyone has fun, South of Seoul volunteers offered to 1) translate each of the board game spaces and 2) create a guide for the included Korean games so that everyone can play together! The Korean Board game looks like this:
The Songtan Market plans to publish a pretty English version of the game, but we wanted to also share the English Translation of the Korean map in case English versions aren’t available. The English translation of each ‘space’ is as follows:
The board game includes 5 of Korea’s most popular drinking games.
5 Korean Games Included in the Board Game
The following Korean drinking games are included in the Songtan Market Drinking Board Game. Keep in mind, if you haven’t played a lot of Korean games it may take a little while to fully conceptualize the following games. Just relax and have fun with it.
Son Byung Ho Game (Never Have I Ever) / 손병호 게입
Son Byung Ho Game can also refer to this game as the “5 fingers game”. Many English-speaking players call it “Never Have I Ever”. A player puts up 5 fingers. Then, the person whose turn it is reveals something that they have done. Any player who has also done what the previous player did puts down a finger. This continues until one person at the table puts all fingers down. Whoever puts all fingers down first has to drink. If you are playing with other people who don’t speak your language, go ahead and use Papago! Getting the right translation can be half the fun! (Rules from Korean Local Pages)
Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음게임)
An unlimited number of players can play. Keep in mind, this is language based and you may need to adjust the rules for English vocabulary. The game is basically drunk Scrabble with booze and awkward physical contact.
First, the game Hunminjeongeum starts with a person saying two consonants of their choice and putting their hand out with their thumb up. The rest of the group gathers around them. In English, you might say, “T and K.”
Second, other players begin calling out words that contain the two consonants. They might say, “Talk” or “Take” and then grab the previous person’s thumb with theirs up, forming a chain.
Finally, the last person or people who make a mistake or can’t think of a word have to drink.
On a historical note, the name ‘Hunminjeongeum’ is not a random long word. It’s the name of the document that King Sejong created to introduce Hangeul to the masses. (Rules from Lingua Asia)
The Bottle Cap / 병 뚜껑 게임
The Boggle Cap Game is not complicated. You only need a bottle of soju and the cap off the bottle. This is meant to be played when you open each bottle. Usually, when you take the cap of soju it has a kind of ‘tail’. Take the soju cap and twist the loose ‘tail’ until it’s straight (without breaking from the cap) and then you flick it with your finger. You only get one chance per turn and continue to pass the cap around until someone breaks the metal tail off the soju cap. Whoever breaks it makes everyone else drink. (Rules from The Smart Local) The game usually occurs while everyone carries on talking and drinking.
007 Bang / 007 뻥
The 007 Bang needs at least 5 players to start the game.
- Someone starts by drawing a circle or square in the air. The shape doesn’t matter, this is just for added drama.
- The person who drew the shape points to four people, representing 0, 0, 7, and Bang, respectively.
- The person who represents Bang, then points to another person in the group, indicating that that person has been “shot.”
- This is where it gets messy. The one to get shot must freeze, while the ones sitting on either side of the victim must put up both hands.
- If the victim does not freeze or if the ones sitting next to the victim do not put their hands up, they lose and enjoy getting hit by the rest of the players.
Since 007 Bang is not that easy to conceptualize if you aren’t used to Korean games, we have linked this post to a YouTube video: How to play 007 Bang game in English?
Instinct Game / 눈치게임
This is a game that doesn’t require any additional materials. The game only needs people who are drinking. The game has two simple rules:
- Don’t say the same number as another person
- Don’t come in last
This game is pure chaos. Players don’t have to go in a specific order. Instead, they have to simultaneously call out a number and stand up whenever they like to. If player A says “1” without anyone else doing the same, they are safe. If players B and C happen to say “2” at the same time, they’ll lose and have to down a shot each. However, if everyone manages to call out a number without colliding, and you happen to be the last man standing, you’ll be crowned the ultimate loser. (Rules from The Smart Local)
Join Pyeongtaek Food & Fun
Would you like to know more about delicious fun in Pyeongtaek? Join the South of Seoul-managed Facebook group Pyeongtaek Food & Fun.
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
