How to ride the bus drinking game

Ride the bus is a fun drinking game that can be played with a big party. Ride the bus is a fantastic game of chance and logic in which players strive to avoid becoming wasted by not becoming the player who “ride the bus” at the conclusion of the game. Here’s where you can learn how to play ride the bus.

How to ride the bus drinking game
Although reading the rules of the game may appear to be difficult, it is simple to play and comprehend even if it is one’s first time. If drinking activities like card games aren’t your thing, try Dodge Beer.

Range of Players


The ride the bus game requires at least two players, but the more the merrier.

Setup for the Drinking Game “Ride the Bus”The job of “dealer” is allocated to one participant. His duty is to assist with the shuffling of the deck of cards and to ensure that everyone respects the regulations for riding the bus.

Everyone who participates in the game should sit at the same table. Each player should have his or her alcoholic beverage on hand.

How to play the game “Ride the Bus”
There are four rounds in the game Ride the Bus. The performance of the participants over these four rounds will determine who will ride the bus at the conclusion. The game usually concludes with the “ride the bus” rider very inebriated.

Round 1: After shuffling the cards, the dealer asks each player their first question one by one. “Red or black?” he would inquire. If the player receives the colour of the topmost card on his turn, he can distribute a drink; if he doesn’t, he must drink.

Round 2: The dealer asks the participants a new question, “higher or lower?” in the second round, which follows the same pattern as the first. The player must predict whether their next card will be worth more or less than their first. If your guess is correct, you get a drink. If you guess incorrectly, you get a drink. However, if you receive the same card, you will be subject to an immediate penalty and will be required to drink.

Round 3: The third round follows the same pattern as the previous two. The dealer asks the participant a new question “In between or outside?” You must predict whether the value of your next card will fall between the first and second card values or will fall beyond the range. If you guess correctly, you get a drink; if you guess incorrectly, you have to drink.

Round 4: The fourth round follows the same pattern. The dealer asks the players to estimate the card’s suit (heart, spade, club, or diamond). If you predict correctly, you get five drinks; if you guess incorrectly, you get one drink.

The pyramid round: With four cards in each player’s hand, the dealer will construct a face-down pyramid with a foundation of five cards and a top of one card. Each row represents a different value of drink: row 1 represents one drink, row 2 represents two drinks, and so on until the fifth row. One card is revealed at a time, beginning with the base. If a player has the card, he must discard it and distribute drinks to the other players. He could serve up to five drinks at a time, depending on the row.

Ride the bus: Once the player has seen the last vehicle of the pyramid and all potential cards have been tossed, the game is over. Any leftover cards are totaled, and the player with the greatest card value gets to ride the bus. That meant he’d have to start the game all over again, this time with only him and the dealer. He begins over every time he guesses incorrectly. The game concludes when the player has correctly answered all four questions in a row, or when the entire deck of cards has been used up or the individual has become utterly inebriated.

How to ride the bus drinking game

Ride the bus is a fun card drinking game that can be played by a large group of people. Ride the bus is an amazing game of luck and logic, as participants try their best not to get wasted by not becoming the player who “rides the bus” at the end of the game. Learn how to play ride the bus here.

Reading the paper’s rules might sound quite complicated, but it is easy to play, and people will find it easy to understand even when it is their first time. If card games aren’t your style of drinking game try out Dodge Beer.

Player Range

The ride the bus game needs a minimum of 2 players, but the more players, the better.

Gear

Ride the Bus Drinking Game Setup

1.       One player is assigned with the position “the dealer.” His job is to help shuffle the deck of cards and to make sure everyone follows the ride the bus rules.

2.       Everyone that plays the game should sit around the table. Each player should have his alcoholic drink ready.

How to play ride the bus game

Ride the bus game comprises four rounds. During these four rounds, the participant’s performance will determine who will ride the bus at the end. Most times, the game ends with the “ride the bus” rider getting completely drunk.

Round 1:

The dealer starts by shuffling the card then asking everyone their first question one by one. He would ask them, “red or black?”. If the player gets the topmost card’s color on his turn, he can distribute a drink, but if he fails to get it, he must take a drink.

Round 2:

The second round follows the same process; the dealer asks the participants a new question “higher or lower?”. The player must guess if their next card will be higher or lower in value than their first card. If you guess right, you distribute a drink. If you guess wrong, you take a drink. But if you get the same card, then that’s an automatic penalty, and you must drink.

Round 3:

The third round follows the same process. The dealer asks the participant a new question “In between or outside?” you have to guess if your next card value will fall in between your first and second card values or will fall outside the value. If you get this correctly, you distribute a drink, and if you guess wrong, you must drink.

Like in the last round, if you get two identical cards, you would probably pick outside and be correct, except you get a third identical card, then you will have to drink.

Round 4:

Round four also follows the same process. The dealer asks the players to guess the suit (heart, spade, club, diamond) of the card with him. If you guess correctly, you distribute five drinks, and if you guess wrong, you drink.

The pyramid round:

With four cards on every player’s hand, the dealer will build a face down pyramid with a base of 5 cards up to the one card at the top.  With each row designated value of drinks, row 1-one drink, row 2 – 2 drinks till the fifth row. Starting from the base, one card is revealed. If any player has that card, he will discard it and distribute drinks. Depending on the row, he could distribute up to 5 drinks at a time.

Ride the bus:

Once the last car of the pyramid has been shown to the participant, and all possible cards are discarded. Any player with remaining cards is counted, and anyone with the highest value of card ends up riding the bus. Which means he would have to start the game all over again, only him and the dealer this time. Anytime he guesses wrong, he starts again. The game ends when the player has successfully answered all four questions in succession or until the entire deck of card is finished or the person is completely drunk.

Have you ever thought of riding a bus? Believe it or not, we’ll teach you how to ride it in a few minutes, just go buy a bus! No, just kidding, you won’t need it… Get some cards, a bunch of drinks, and some friends, by default. Needless to say, there will be a driver and some riders, that’s how it works!  

Mercifully, besides all the enchanting drinking card games we have written about over time, there are some others left, which require special articles because that’s what they are: special! Undoubtedly, ‘Ride The Bus’ is a great example! Before beginning, you should know that this drinking game is a combination of both luck and logical skills, and it is followed by super easy instructions (especially when explained by us :))

Let’s ride the bus, people:

  • Setting up the game;
  • The first round;
  • The second round;
  • The third round;
  • The fourth (final) round;
  • Building the pyramid;
  • Riding the bus;
  • Takeaways;

Setting Up The Game

How could we start playing without knowing the basic information first? Here’s what you need:

  • A deck of cards (a standard 52 cards deck);
  • Any drinks you want;

No, we didn’t forget a thing. That’s all you need… The number of players is all up to you, starting from 2 (yes, it can also be a two-player game). As you assumed, the more the merrier! Since it is a drinking game, it is recommended for people over the age of 21!

One of you becomes the dealer. We’d recommend that the player who knows the game better is the dealer since it would be easier for you all if he/she knows how to play and explains the instructions to you… 

Next, all of you sit in a circle, using some cushions, or simply sit around the table, keeping drinks near you. If you’re also the host, you may use some hosting the game night tips as well! 

The objective of the game: After 4 rounds of the gameplay, there will be the unlucky (or not) player who must ‘ride the bus’. Does it end well? Hmm, that player may end up getting very drunk, but that’s what we call fun, right? Now, let’s dive into playing the game!

The First Round Of ‘Ride The Bus’

We didn’t deal with the cards yet, did we? Well, different from some other games, this time you won’t be dealt a bunch of cards at a time. The game goes fluently. The dealer starts first by asking every player, starting from the first person in their left ‘Red or black?’. Meaning, they should guess if the top card the dealer’s about to flip in front of them, will be red or black. 

If a player guesses right, they refuse or distribute a drink. If they’re incorrect, they should take a sip of their drink. This continues until each player has 1 card placed in front of them.

How to ride the bus drinking game

The Second Round

Similar to the first round, the dealer should once again ask a question. This time, the question is ‘Higher or lower?’, which in other words, means that each player should now guess if the next card is going to be higher or lower than the card in front of them. Just as in the previous round, whoever guesses incorrectly, should drink, otherwise, they’re safe. 

If the card is neither higher nor lower, so it is the same as the previous card, the dealer takes that card and places it in the deck, shuffles it, and asks that player the question again.

It’s important to know the cards’ rank: Aces are the highest and 2’s are low, so, cards go from A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.    

How to ride the bus drinking game

The Third Round

If you know how to play the first 2 rounds, it’s all easy now. This time, the question will be ‘In-between or outside?’. Wait, what does this mean? Simply, you have to tell the dealer if you think the next card will be somewhere in-between the range of the previous cards, or completely outside it. So, let’s say the cards in front of you are Ace and 7, a card in between would be a 4, while a card outside would be a 9. 

You already know that if you guess wrong, you should take another shot. If you’re lucky and give the right guess, you might make another player of your choice drink, or just pass the turn. 

The Fourth (Final) Round

People, let me announce the final round! This time, the dealer asks each player to pick a suit, one of the 4 possible: spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds. If the players guess correctly, they have rewarded 5 drinks, which means they can make 5 players in the room drink, or one single player drinks 5 sips. If they are incorrect, they must drink. 

When this round ends, each player has 4 cards in front of them. This also concludes the first phase of the game. Shall we continue with the second one?

Building The Pyramid

Did you know that you’ll also build up a pyramid while playing this game? Well, surprises never end… Dealer, sorry, but your job isn’t done yet! You have to take the remaining deck and create a pyramid on the table (or even the floor). 

The pyramid goes as follows: the first row has 5 cards, the second row has 4 cards, and so on, until the top row has only 1 card. Keep in mind that the cards should all be face-down. On the other hand, each player keeps the 4-cards they collected during the rounds private, so only they can see their cards. 

The value of drinks increases going up to the pyramid. So, a card in the first row (the 5-cards row) is worth one drink, while, in the last row, the top card, is worth 5 drinks. Of course, the game starts in the first row. Each card gets flipped, one card at a time. 

Every player who has a matching card with the flipped card, places it in top of the card in the pyramid, and gets drinks based on the card’s row, so, that means that that is the number of drinks you may punish another player(s) with. 

How to ride the bus drinking game

So, let’s say the dealer has flipped over an 8 on the third row, and you have an 8 in your hand, you lay that down and you now have the chance to punish any player for drinking 3 sips, or 3 players taking one sip. It’s all up to you. 

If you’re at the beginning of the game, and you think you want to save a card from higher rows, you may do that. But, be aware that if you end up with the most cards at the end of this phase, you gotta ride the bus!

The Final Phase: Riding The Bus

Well, the perfect ending would be y’all having no cards left. But, most of the time, if not all of you, some of the players have some remaining cards they couldn’t match within the pyramid. As I previously mentioned, the player who has the largest number of cards rides the bus. 

It’s that rider’s time to drink again… The dealer now should take 10 cards from the deck, facedown, and turn over 10 cards, one by one. If the cards are numbers, nothing happens. But… but! If the card is part of the Court or an Ace, the player has to drink: 

  • One drink if it’s a Jack;
  • Two drinks if it’s a Queen;
  • Three drinks if it’s a King;
  • Four drinks if it’s an Ace;

How to ride the bus drinking game

Wait, what happens if 2 or more players have the same number of cards? No worries, if that happens, the player with the highest cards’ rank, rides the bus. Not common, right?

Humans, that’s all about the rules… For one thing, we’re pretty sure: you’ll end up drunk, not only the player who rides the bus but all the people playing. Okay, excluding here if you’re extremely lucky and have a strong intuition.

Takeaways

  • ‘Ride The Bus’ is a drinking card game, made for 2+ players, ages 21 or older;
  • Generally, there are 3 phases of the gameplay;
  • The first phase contains 4 rounds, each of them followed by questions made by the dealer: Red or black?, Higher or lower?, In-between or outside? and Pick a suit;
  • In each round, if a player guesses correctly, nothing happens, or if they want, they may distribute drinks. Otherwise, if they guess incorrectly, they have to take a sip;
  • The second phase includes building the pyramid;
  • The pyramid contains 5 rows, 5 cards in the first row, and 1 card on top;
  • Cards’ row tells the number of drinks you may distribute to other players after you flip the cards over;
  • Whoever has the most number of cards at the end of phase two, should ride the bus;
  • The ‘chosen’ player has to drink for every Jack (1 drink), Queen (2 drinks), King (3 drinks), and Ace (4 drinks), between the 10 cards flipped over by the dealer.