Around the World is a simple game. All you need is a deck of cards, a group of people willing to play it, and the alcohol of everyone's choice (preferably a mixed drink or beer. It can get dangerous with wine, and downright deadly with spirits).

Shuffle a deck of cards, with the jokers removed. Then spread it around the table or center area in a circle with a blank area in the middle. Then, simply take turns going around the table clockwise drawing cards. Every card has a particular action associated with it.

• 2-Two nominations. You get to deal out two drinks to the people of your choice (including yourself).
• 3-Three nominations. You get to deal out three drinks to the people of your choice (including yourself).
• 4-Four nominations. You get to deal out four drinks to the people of your choice (including yourself).
• 5-The person to your left drinks once.
• 6-Thumb card. You keep this card face down until the time of your choice. When you choose, you flip the card over and then put your hand on the table giving a thumbs-up gesture. Everyone who sees this must do the same. The last person to catch on has to drink.
• 7-Fizz Buzz. A number's game. Going counter-clockwise, you have to count up. Every multiple of five, though, the person must say 'fizz' instead of 'five', and every multiple of seven or number with seven in it, the person must say 'buzz' instead of 'seven.' So it goes like: 1, 2, 3, 4, fizz, 6, buzz, 8, 9, fizz, 11, 12, 13, buzz, fizz, 16, buzz, 18, 19, fizz, buzz, 22, etc. 35 = fizz buzz. Whoever screws up first, drinks. This is harder than it sounds, especially later in the evening.
• 8-The toilet card. You can't leave the table to go to the toilet unless you have a toilet card. If you go without a toilet card, it is up to the table to choose an appropriate punishment (skulling/chugging an entire beer is usually an appropriate punishment). This is without a doubt the most valuable card in the game, and if you get one and don't need it, you can often peddle it for free booze.
• 9-Question card. Like the thumb card, you can use this any time you want. You simply need to ask someone a question. If they answer it, they have to drink. Can only be used once, though you don't need to announce that you're using it to use it. So just keep asking questions until someone answers, then make them drink.
• 10-Rule card. Make up a rule. Any rule. See this page for popular drinking game rules.
• Jack-A Ship Came Into the Harbor. This is a categories game. Say, 'A ship came into the harbor carrying a shipment of [a certain category].' Then, going in a counter-clockwise fashion everyone needs to name something from that category. So, the category could be something like 'brands of beer.' Which is a bad idea since everyone knows a million brands of beer, if they're alcoholics (and only alcoholics play drinking games, of course).
• Queen-Waterfall. Simply deadly. 'The Waterfall' is a nasty social drinking event. Everyone starts drinking at the same time. The person who drew the card is the only one who can stop drinking on their own. Once they set their drink down, the person to their left can stop, then the person to that person's left, and so on. This goes all the way around the circle. The rule to remember is, you can't stop until the person to your right stops. This usually provokes a lot of profanity.
• King-If you draw a king, put it in the center of the ring of cards. There is no consequence if you draw the first, second, or third king. But once the last king is drawn, the game is over (meaning everyone can go to the toilet if they need to), and the person who drew the king must fill out their last will and testament, and play the king game.
• Ace-Social. Everyone toasts and drinks a healthy swig of their beverage in the spirit of friendship and alcoholism.

The King Game
The loser (the person drawing the fourth king) must play the king game. First, gather up all the cards, and remove the twos, threes, and fours from the deck. Shuffle thoroughly, then deal them out in a diamond shape, with five levels. One in the first level, two in the second, three in the third level, two in the fourth, and one final card in the fifth.

The loser has to start at one end, and get to the other side. Every time a face card or an ace is turned up, they have to take a drink, and start over (i.e., cards from the deck are placed on top of cards previously turned face up.

Also, you can only go to the two cards directly above the card you are chosing. So if, on the second row, you chose the right card, you can only choose the center card or the right card from the third row. And only the center card from the third row can choose either the right or the left card in the fourth row.

Further, if the deck runs out before the person successfully makes it all the way across, the cards are reshuffled (putting in the fours this time) and you must start over. If you fail again, the threes are put in, and if you fail a fourth time, the twos are put back in.

It sounds deceptively easy, but by the time you get to the fourth reshuffle and you still haven't made it all the way across, you've most likely consumed far more alcohol than you believed possible.

Last updated on 18 June, 2002. But obviously not finished. Keep checking daily for updates. It won't do any good, but it'll give you something to occupy your meaningless existence until you die.