Popular South Korean Drinking Games

One aspect of South Korean culture becomes very apparent after a few days in the country: the drinking culture is pretty developed. Alcohol made in South Korea is cheaply available in most convenient stores, and drinking establishments are open late at night/until early morning. South Koreans use alcohol to socialize and have developed many drinking games to do so. These games are especially popular among college students and in the army.

All the South Korean drinking games below play clockwise or counter-clockwise; just agree with other players before starting.

Soju bottle, white background

안녕클레오파트라 – Annyeong Cleopatra (Hello Cleopatra)

This simpler game consists of taking turns repeating the same song with a higher pitch than the previous player. The song is as follows:

(Korean)
안녕, 클레오파트라
세상에서 제일 가는
포테이토 칩

(Pronunciation)
Annyeong Ku-le-o-pa-teu-ra
Sesang-eso Je-il Ga-neun
Pote-ito Chip

(Translation)
Hello, Cleopatra
The greatest potato chip
In the world.

KPOP group Wanna One demonstrate the game 안녕클레오파트라 (Hello Cleopatra) in the video below.

삼육구 게임 – Sam-nyuk-gu Game (3-6-9 Game)

In this game, players take turns counting numbers, starting with 1; the catch is every time a player lands on a number that contains a 3, 6, or 9, the player must clap and must not say the number. The number of claps is based on the number of 3, 6, 9; for example, for 29 or 30 the player has to clap only once, but for 33 the player has to clap twice! The first player who messes up loses.

While this game sounds simple, it can get confusing really fast:

  • some players clap on multiples of 3 instead of numbers containing 3, 6, 9,
  • a lot of players forget that they cannot say anything between 29 and 39 (all these numbers contain a 3 or a 9!)
  • similarly, some players lose track of the current count between 29 and 39 and thus clap instead of saying 40.

A simple song is sung before the game:

(Korean)
삼육구 삼육구
삼육구 삼육구

(Pronunciation)
Sam-nyuk-gu Sam-nyuk-gu
Sam-nyuk-gu Sam-nyuk-gu

(Translation)
Three Six Nine, Three Six Nine
Three Six Nine, Three Six Nine

Watch the video for an example of 삼육구게임 (3-6-9 Game) explained by KPOP girl group APRIL.

딸기게임 – Ddalgi Game (Strawberry Game)

After singing the intro song, everybody claps and move their hands in a specific pattern; at the same time, each player successively has to say 딸기 (ddalgi) a specific number of times based on the previous players' turns.

The pattern for clapping and moving hands that everybody has to follow at all times:

  1. Clap both hands on the table.
  2. Clap hands together.
  3. Stick your right thumb and bend your right arm to the right of your head.
  4. Stick your left thumb and bend your left arm to the left of your head.

Everybody has to repeat a -> b -> c -> d -> a -> b -> c -> d etc. as long as nobody loses. Because the game is rather complex to explain, an example is provided below.

Example of a round of 딸기게임 (Ddalgi Game)

The example below is for three players, but this game can be played regardless of the number of players. Each round starts with a song:

Intro Song for 딸기게임 (Ddalgi Game)

(Korean)
딸기가 좋아!
딸기가 좋아!
좋아!
좋아, 좋아, 좋아!

(Pronunciation)
Ddalgiga Joh-a!
Ddalgiga Joh-a!
Joh-a!
Joh-a, Joh-a, Joh-a!

(Translation)
I like strawberries!
I like strawberries!
Like!
Like, Like, Like!

Everybody then starts clapping in the game's pattern:

Player Step
1 a → b → c → d + screams "딸기"
2 a → b → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
3 a → b + screams "딸기" → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
1 a + screams "딸기" → b + screams "딸기" → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
2 a → b + screams "딸기" → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
3 a → b → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
1 a → b → c → d + screams 딸기
2 a → b → c + screams "딸기" → d + screams 딸기
... etc.

Note: there is a variant of this game with 8 steps instead of 4. The video below shows both the standard 4-step version of the game and the 8-step version.

버니게임 – Bunny Game

This game needs at least five players to be enjoyable. Like most games, each round starts with a song:

Intro song for 버니게임 (Bunny Game)

(Korean)
하늘에서 내려온
토끼가 하는 말
움치치 움치치
움치치 움치치

(Pronunciation)
Haneul-eso neryeo-on
Tokki-ga ha-neun mal
Um-chi-chi Um-chi-chi
Um-chi-chi Um-chi-chi

(Translation)
A rabbit came down from the sky
And said these words
Oom-chee-chee Oom-chee-chee
Oom-chee-chee Oom-chee-chee

After everybody sings the intro song, the first player says "Bunny Bunny" while touching their thumbs with their other fingers in front of their mouth twice, and then says "Bunny Bunny" again while doing the same gesture and pointing to another player.

The receiving player needs to then say "Bunny Bunny" four times, the first two times doing the hand gesture twice while pointing toward their mouth, the last two times while pointing toward another player.

While the receiving player says "Bunny Bunny" the first two times, the two players sitting on both sides of the receiving players need to move their arms up and down while saying "당근 당근" (Dangeun Dangeun - Carrot Carrot).

The game continues until one player (either the receiving player or the players on both sides) messes up.

Watch the video below for an illustrated example of the game.

Song to Sing When a Player Loses

When a player loses, the other players usually sing a song before the losing player drinks a shot of soju.

One of the most common songs goes as follow:

(Korean)
마셔라 마셔라
마셔라 마셔라
술이 들어간다
쭉 쭉쭉쭉쭉
쭉 쭉쭉쭉쭉
언제까지 어깨춤을 추게할거야
내어깨를 봐!
탈골됐잖아!
탈골! 탈골 탈골 탈골!

(Pronunciation)
Mashyeora Mashyeora
Mashyeora Mashyeora
Sul-i deureoganda
jjuk jjukjjuk jjukjjuk
jjuk jjukjjuk jjukjjuk
Eonje-ggaji eoggae-chum-eul chugehal-geoya
Nae eogge-rul bwa!
Tal-gol dwaet-janh-a!
Tal-gol! Tal-gol Tal-gol Tal-gol!

(Translation)
Drink drink, drink drink!
The alcohol goes in
Jjuk jjukjjuk
(Sound of alcohol going down)
Until when are we going to do
The dance of the shoulders
Look at my shoulders
They're dislocated!
Dislocated! Dislocated dislocated dislocated!

You can listen to this song in the video below, along with other songs commonly sung while drinking during games.

See also