Camping Drinking Games: Card & Dice Games for the Tent

When you're camping, the tent is more than just a place to sleep — on a rainy night or once it gets dark, it becomes the cosy base camp for the whole group. And to stop things getting boring in a cramped tent, you need the right camping drinking games. Inside the tent, what works best is compact card and dice games that work sitting down on a sleeping mat and barely take up any room. Here you'll find the perfect camping drinking games with full rules included — the ideal rainy-day programme for your camping trip.

What makes a good camping drinking game for the tent? A game that works sitting down in the tightest of spaces — usually a card or dice game that needs little kit and no throwing or running around. Perfect for when you're sitting together in the tent during a rainy spell or in the evening, and still want to have fun.

💡 By the way: that's exactly why we built the wooden Miniski — add a shot glass and a binding and you've got the original wearable ski. More on that further down ↓

Camping Drinking Games: Card Games for the Sleeping Mat

Card games are the first choice in a tent: a deck weighs nothing, needs no table and still works when four people are sitting cross-legged on two sleeping mats. All five games below run on a single standard deck.

Cheat

A card game where bluffing is part of the rules: players take turns laying cards face down in ascending order and announcing what they're playing — and they're allowed to lie. If someone doesn't believe you, they call "Cheat!" and flip the cards over. If the accusation was wrong, the accuser drinks; if you really were cheating, you drink and pick up the whole pile. All you need is one deck of cards, and it's a perfect fit for the tent.

Best with 3–6 players, no fixed length. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first wins. Cheat works so well in a tent because it needs almost no movement — you play, you stare at each other, you argue. When the light is low, put the pile on a flat surface in the middle so it doesn't disappear into the creases of the sleeping mat.

I Don't Believe You

Similar, but faster: one player makes a claim about themselves ("I've been to Norway before"), and everyone else decides whether they believe it. Whoever guesses wrong — believing a lie or doubting the truth — drinks. A quiet bluffing game that keeps the group guessing in a cramped tent.

The fun starts after two rounds, when you begin reading everyone else's faces — and in a tent you're sitting close enough for that to actually work. It needs zero kit, so it still runs when the deck of cards has already gone damp.

Higher or Lower

A deck of cards, stacked face down. Taking turns, each player guesses whether the next card will be higher or lower than the current one. Whoever's wrong takes a sip, then it's the next person's turn. Simple, fast and ideal when you're short on light and space.

Variant for longer nights: guess right three times in a row and you get to hand out a sip instead of taking one. That keeps the players on a lucky streak involved too.

Ride the Bus (tent edition)

The classic, shrunk to tent size: everyone gets four cards face down in front of them. Going round, you're asked — red or black? higher or lower? inside or outside? which suit? — and every wrong guess costs a sip. Whoever collected the most mistakes "rides the bus": they turn over a pyramid of five cards and drink their way through it. Takes about ten minutes and half a square metre of sleeping mat.

Thirty-One

Everyone holds three cards and tries to get as close as possible to 31 points in a single suit. Taking turns, you swap one card for one from the face-up middle. Whoever has the lowest hand when someone knocks loses a life and drinks. Lose all three lives and you're "swimming" — one more loss and you're out. Thirty-One is the quietest game on this list and still works when half the group is already in their sleeping bags.

Good to know: the wooden Miniski only really come into their own with a shot glass and a binding — that's what turns them into the original wearable ski.

Dice Games for a Small Group

Dice need even less room than cards — two dice and a cup fit in any jacket pocket. The one catch in a tent: on a soft sleeping mat, dice love to roll away. A flat lid, a small board or an upturned cup as a rolling surface solves it.

Yahtzee (drinking version)

The dice classic with a drinking rule: play as normal, but anyone who has to cross out a category (scoring zero) takes a sip. Roll a Yahtzee — five of a kind — and you get to hand out three sips. All you need is a dice cup and a scorepad, and it will carry a quiet tent session for hours.

Chicago

A fast dice game: with two dice, players take turns trying to roll the number combinations from 2 to 12 in order. Miss your number and you take a sip, then it's the next person's turn. A game with plenty of luck in it that works brilliantly in a cramped tent.

Liar's Dice

Two dice under a cup and plenty of bluffing: you roll in secret and always announce a higher number to the next player than the one before — lying if you have to. If they don't believe you, they lift the cup; whoever is wrong drinks. Perfect for the tent, because all you need is one cup and two dice.

Sevens Out

Players take turns rolling two dice and the pips are added up as you go. Push the total past 21 and you drink, and the count restarts. Roll a seven and you hand out a sip immediately — hence the name. A round rarely lasts longer than two minutes, which makes it the ideal nightcap when the rain eases off and everyone is getting sleepy.

Ten Thousand

Six dice, played for points: ones and fives score, three of a kind gives you the big jump. After every roll you decide whether to keep going or bank your points. Push your luck too far and you lose the lot — and take a sip. The game lives off the question "one more roll or stop?", and that's exactly why it works in a tent: everything happens in your head, not in the room.

Tent Drinking Games for Two

Not every camping trip is a group of ten — often it's just the two of you in the tent, waiting for the rain to stop. Most drinking games need a bigger circle. These three work with exactly two people.

Higher or lower, head to head: You take turns guessing. First to five mistakes loses the round. Short, simple, needs nothing but a deck.

Liar's Dice for two: The bluffing gets sharper, because there's only one opponent to read. After a few rounds you know their tells — and that's exactly when it starts to get really good.

Two truths, one lie: Each of you gives three statements about yourself, one of them invented. Guess wrong and you drink. Needs no kit at all and is surprisingly good at pulling new stories out of someone even after years.

If you'd rather let chance pick than take turns: a Miniski Roulette handles the drawing of lots and needs no power.

Quiet Games: Being a Good Neighbour on the Campsite

On most campsites quiet hours run from 10pm to 7am — and tent walls block roughly nothing. Bellow in your tent at midnight and the site warden will be at your zip sooner than you'd like. The good news: the best tent games are the quiet ones anyway.

Bluffing games like Cheat, Liar's Dice or "I don't believe you" live off looks and half-whispered claims, not shouting. Thirty-One and Yahtzee work at practically a whisper. What's off the table after 10pm: anything with clapping, shouting or clinking glasses — and anything you have to stand up for.

Two extra tricks help: agree that wins get a thumbs-up instead of a cheer. And put the drinks outside the walkways, so nobody kicks over a cup mid-round and swears at half a sleeping mat.

Packing List: What to Put in Your Rucksack for the Tent Night

A good tent night hangs on remarkably little kit. This whole list fits in a side pocket:

• One deck of cards — ideally plastic or coated, because cardboard cards pull in moisture and go wavy within a single night in a tent.
• Two to six dice plus a cup — covers Liar's Dice, Chicago, Yahtzee and Ten Thousand.
• An LED lantern with a hook, so it hangs from the tent roof instead of shining in someone's face.
• Shatterproof cups in plastic, enamel or wood — glass has no business on a sleeping mat.
• A flat board or a hardback cover as a rolling and resting surface.
• One bottle of water per person — the most important ingredient, see below.
• A bin bag for bottle caps and empty cups, so nothing ends up in a sleeping bag by morning.

As a compact gadget, the wooden Miniski fit in the rucksack too — they weigh next to nothing and give the group an instant mountain theme.

Safe & Cosy Partying in the Tent

A rainy evening in the tent can be the cosiest part of the whole camping trip — as long as you keep a few things in mind. The most important one is open flames and light: candles, gas stoves and naked flames have no place in a tent, because tent fabric catches fire easily and ventilation is tight. Go for battery or rechargeable LED lanterns instead — they give plenty of light for a card game and are completely safe. Make sure there's enough ventilation too, especially with several people sitting inside. Shatterproof cups in plastic or wood are a must here, because glass on a sleeping mat is a needless risk. And since you're often hiking on or packing up the next morning: don't overdo it and drink water in between. With that mix of card games, LED light and a bit of care, the tent night becomes the cosy highlight of the trip — whatever the weather is doing outside.

Two things get overlooked easily. First, temperature: a tent cools down at night far more than it feels like while you're playing, and alcohol makes that worse because it widens your blood vessels. So put on one layer more than you think you need. Second, the way out: leave your head torch and shoes where everyone can find them in the dark — nighttime trips to the washblock are guaranteed after a games night, and pegs and guy lines are the most common trip hazard on the whole site.

Common Mistakes on a Tent Night

Most tent nights don't fall apart because of the games, but because of four fairly predictable things:

Games that are too big for the tent. Beer pong, flunkyball and anything involving throwing or running belong outside by the campfire — in a tent it ends with a hole in the groundsheet or a bent pole. For the outdoor version we've collected the camping drinking games .

Drinks with no fixed spot. No cup stands steady on a sleeping mat. If you don't agree on a fixed surface — porch, rucksack lid, shoebox — something will go over, guaranteed. And a wet sleeping bag doesn't ruin the evening, it ruins the night that follows.

No time limit. If there's a pack-up, a drive or a hike the next day, it pays to agree on a finishing time first. A game like Yahtzee will happily run until three in the morning otherwise.

Nobody thinks about water. The simplest rule of all: one bottle of water per person next to the sleeping mat before the first game starts. That decides more about the next morning than anything else on this page.

Playing Alcohol-Free

Every game on this page works exactly the same with spritzer, juice, soft drinks or water — the rules don't change one bit, only what's in the cup. That matters more when camping than almost anywhere else: there's nearly always someone who's driving in the morning, heading up the mountain early, or simply doesn't fancy alcohol.

If you like, drop the drinking entirely and play for chores instead: the loser fetches the next round of water, does the washing-up in the morning or takes on the tent pack-down. Two versions that go down well: a tally where the loser serves breakfast at the end, or a points account running across the whole camping trip. That keeps the competition alive without anyone being left out or drinking more than they want to.

Tips for Your Tent Night

• No open flames in the tent: LED lanterns only, no candles or gas stoves.
• Keep it ventilated: Make sure there's fresh air, especially with several people inside.
• Compact games: Card and dice games rather than active games — they fit on a sleeping mat.
• Shatterproof kit: Cups and gadgets in plastic or wood, no glass in the tent.
• Respect quiet hours: From 10pm, quiet bluffing and card games rather than loud rounds.
• A fixed spot for drinks: The porch or a board rather than straight onto the sleeping mat.
• Put water out: One bottle per person before the first game starts.
• Play alcohol-free: Every game works with spritzer or juice too, so everyone can join in.

As table decoration, the Miniski work on their own as well: four in a set, and the table has an instant mountain theme.

Even More Drinking Game Inspiration

You'll find more rules over at the drinking games without kit and the best drinking games. For the campfire outside, the camping drinking gamesare the ones you want, and for a festival the festival drinking games.

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Related articles:
Drinking games without kit · Camping drinking games · Festival drinking games