A Case of Beer - The Finger Game - [a case of the summer]

Alright, alright, get your mind out of the gutter.

This is a game we used to play in my hometown during our college years.  I haven't seen it played anywhere else, and nobody outside of the people I've played with has ever heard of it.  I don't know who invented it or where it came from, but it's a pretty easy game to play.

Basically you fill up a glass with beer, and all of the participants put one finger on the lip of the cup.  So, let's say five people are playing.  The first person will say any number between zero and five.  At the exact moment that the person is saying the number, everybody either lifts their finger or leaves it there.  If the number the person says is the same as the number of fingers on the cup, that person is out (the purpose of the game is to "guess" how many fingers will be on the cup).

This process continues, with each person around the table trying to guess.  The last person standing, as you might have guessed, has to drink the beer.

When I explain this game the inevitable question is "why don't you just keep/raise your finger based on what the person is saying?"  As in, just cheat.  Well, the problem is two-fold:  For one, I'm not kidding when I say this is simultaneous.  As the person speaks, you really do have to raise or leave your finger (any obviously late move is disqualified (as in, if you're late to raise, your finger is counted as "down").  And secondly, you have no idea what everybody else is going to do.  So, even if you "know" that the person is going to say "three," you don't know if the other players are going to lift or raise their fingers.  Making your efforts to cheat somewhat moot.

Oh, and you also have your typical complaint about people's fingers being where your lips are going to touch.  I don't know what to tell you about that one.  It's a drinking game....they're all terribly unsanitary.

And actually, as people begin to drink and panic (believe it or not, it actually gets quite intense when you get to the final two), you hear some very funny actions.  Like, for example, saying "zero" but then forgetting to lift your own finger.  Or the genuine and surprising excitement that occurs when somebody guesses right after several rounds of unsuccessful turns.

It's a unique game.  Give it a shot.