What You'll Need
- A cluster of plastic cups for the middle of the table
- Two extra empty cups for the starting players
- Two ping pong balls
- Beer to put a splash in every middle cup
- Six or more players standing around the table
Setup
Cluster the cups in the middle of the table and put a splash of beer in each one. Then pick two players standing across from each other. Each of them starts with an empty cup and a ball. Everyone else stands in the circle and waits, because the cups are coming to them.
How to Play
Bouncing In
Bounce your ball into your own cup. The moment you sink it, the cup and the ball pass to the player on your left, and it becomes their problem.
The First-Try Bonus
Sink it on the very first try and you do not have to pass left. You can hand the cup and ball to anyone at the table. That is the only targeting in the game, and it is how you keep pressure on whoever you are trying to catch.
The Slap
Here is the part the game is named for. If the player next to you is still bouncing when you sink yours, you slap their cup flying across the room. The two cups are effectively racing around the table, and getting caught is how you get slapped.
Getting Slapped
Get slapped and you grab a cup from the middle, chug it, and keep bouncing with that one. You do not get a break; you just get a fuller cup.
Winning
Every slap pulls a cup out of the middle, so the middle keeps shrinking. When the last cup is gone, the game is over. There is no winner in the traditional sense, only the two or three people who never got caught.
Tips and Strategy
- Bounce low and close. Height is what costs people the race. A short bounce right in front of the cup goes in faster.
- Look left before you bounce. Knowing whether the cup is one seat away or five decides whether you are rushing or breathing.
- Spend the first-try bonus on the fast players. Handing it to whoever bounces best is the only real defence in the game.
- Watch the middle shrink. When the cups get low, the game is nearly over, and a slap in the last round is worth more than any before it.
Make It a Party Night
Slap Cup burns through cups fast, so buy more than you think you need. More printable rules, scorecards and dare decks are in the Party Pack, and the free Party Starter Pack gets you going tonight.
Variations
No-Slap Slap Cup
Playing somewhere the cups cannot fly? Replace the slap with taking the caught player's cup and passing it on. Same race, less cleanup.
Bigger Middle
Start with more cups in the middle for a longer game. The middle cluster is the clock, so its size sets the length of the night.
This game involves alcohol. Please drink responsibly. Intended for adults 21 and older in the United States.
