Quarters
Encyclopedia
Quarters is a popular drinking game
Drinking game
Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages. These games vary widely in scope and complexity, although the purpose of most is to become intoxicated as quickly as possible...

 which involves players bouncing a quarter off a table in an attempt to have the quarter land in a certain place, usually into a shotglass (or cup) on that table. The game is popular at parties, especially in college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

s and universities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, as well as in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is also played in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, where its called "monedita", Spanish for little coin.

The player bouncing the quarter is referred to as the "shooter." In some variations the glass is empty and each player has a separate glass to drink from, while in other variations the glass that the shooter is aiming for contains an alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

.

The quarter is customarily bounced on the face whether heads or tails. Some games may allow a player to bounce the quarter on the edge, particularly by rolling it down their nose.

Gameplay

  1. Each round starts off with a glass filled with beer in the middle of the table and two people on opposite ends of the table having a quarter and a glass. Each player shoots his or her quarter at his/her glass until he makes it in, then the player passes the glass to the player to his left. If the player to his left still has a glass as well, the player taps that glass with his, and the player who has been tapped must drink the glass of beer in the middle of the table, refill it, then make the quarter into his or her glass before she gets tapped again, with play still going around the table. If a player makes his or her first shot, s/he can choose to pass the glass to any player who does not currently have a glass. If there are enough people at the table, the group can add more shot glasses and position them equally spaced around the outside of the circle.
  2. An alternative method of gameplay is that one glass is positioned in the center of the table. Participants take turns attempting to bounce the quarter into the glass. If the shooter succeeds, they pass the glass to anyone at the table, and that person must then chug the beverage and catch the quarter in their teeth. Play then passes to the person on the shooter's left. Should the shooter fail to make the shot, they have the option of passing the quarter to the left, or shooting a second time. If the shooter succeeds on his second shot, he passes the glass as usual. If the shooter fails on their second shot, they must drink the beverage. In either case, the person on their left becomes the next shooter.
  3. Another method involves various cups and one community cup. A community cup is first placed in the center of the table. Each player has their own individual cup, and these cups are placed around the community cup, forming a ring around the community cup (much like a flower pattern). Players fill their individual cups with a shot of their drink, and pour a small amount of their drink into the community cup (various drinks can be used to play, so the community cup may house a mixture of different drinks). A shooter begins by bouncing a quarter towards the cups. If the quarter lands in a player's cup, the player must drink his/her shot, refill the cup, and place it back with the rest. If the shooter lands the quarter in to the community cup, every player must reach into the center and drink their shot. The last player to finish their drink must then drink the community cup. If the shooter makes his/her shot on the first attempt, they may shoot again until they miss. If they miss on the first attempt, they must pass the quarter to the next player on their left.


Any shot where the shooter does not bounce the quarter off of the table at least once counts as a miss.

Beverages

The most common beverage used is beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, since it makes the continued drinking more filling, while diminishing the shooter's accuracy, thus increasing the difficulty further.

The players must determine beforehand how much is to be consumed each time a player is required to drink. This depends on the variation being played and the appetites of the players.

See also

  • Moose, another drinking game involving bouncing quarters into an ice tray
  • Chandeliers
    Chandeliers (game)
    Chandelier is a drinking game that is a spinoff of Quarters. It moves a lot faster than Quarters, since there are a lot more targets to hit. The game involves a lot of beer as it gets consumed very quickly.-Set up:...

    , a variation of quarters where one central glass is surrounded by one individual glass per player
  • Pitch penny
    Pitch penny
    Pitch penny is a pub game. It involves throwing coins across the room and into a hole carved in the seat of a wooden bench. Another version of the game is played in many western pubs...

    , a game involving throwing coins across the room and into a hole or next to a wall
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