Thumper Drinking Game

To play the Thumper drinking game, you’ll need to remember every player’s hand signals and do them in the correct order. You might recognize this game from the movie Beerfest where they hit their hands on the table in a circle. It’s a fast game that’s fun to play and, if you can’t remember the signs, you will have to drink!

First, gather a group of players and sit around a table. This is best for 4 or more people so that it can be interesting enough.

Before you start playing, go around the table and have each person pick a hand signal. This could be anything you want, like making moose antlers, putting a finger to your lips, or holding up a few fingers. Everyone has to demonstrate the hand signal to the group and everyone tries to remember the others.

Pick a player to be the leader and then everyone starts hitting the table with their hands like a big drum roll. The leader then shouts “What’s the name of the game?” and the players respond with “Thumper!”.

They then yell “And why do we play?”, which the group responds with “To get f**ed up!”.

The leader then puts up their hand signal immediately followed by someone else’s hand sign. The player who’s sign was shown last must then play their hand sign followed by someone else’s hand signal. This continues to the next player, who shows their sign followed by someone else’s sign.

If any players miss their signal or forget someone else’s, they must drink!

What You Need

Number of Players: 4 or more

• Your hands
• A table
• Some drinks

Thumper Drinking Game Rules

• Have the players sit around a table.
• Each player must come up with a unique hand signal and take turns showing it to the group. This can be anything you want, like putting a thumb to your nose or grabbing your chest. All players try to memorize the signs.
• Everyone starts to slap their hands on the table like a drum roll.
• Choose a leader to start the round. They shout “What’s the name of the game?” and the players respond with “Thumper!”.
• They then shout “And why do we play?”, which is answered with “To get f**ed up!”.
• The leader then immediately plays their hand signal followed by someone else’s hand signal.
• The player who’s hand signal was shown last must then do their own hand signal followed by another player’s sign. This continues around until someone messes up.
• If they mess up the order, mess up the signal, or forget the right order, they must drink.
• The person who loses then starts the next round by throwing up their own signal followed by someone else’s. Continue playing until you’re all tired of thumping!

Thumper Variations

One variation of Thumper is to add a new hand signal as you go around so that it gets increasingly complex to remember. The first person would play their sign followed by someone else’s. The second player would play the first person’s sign, their sign, and a third player’s sign. This continues until all the player signs have been shown in order successfully. If anyone can’t remember the signs correctly, they have to drink.

In this version, you could randomly select a player to go next, or you could just go around the table.

No matter the version, Thumper is a fun and exciting drinking game that will get your blood pumping!