Drinking game for big groups: quiz with a wheel

By Roy de Bie · Updated August 20, 2026 · 7 min read

Why most drinking games fall apart above eight people

A drinking game that is great with six often turns into a slog with twenty. That is not the drink, that is the format. Three things go wrong as soon as the group grows:

• Turns take too long. In a card game or a dice game one person is up at a time. With twenty people that means nineteen people waiting, and after two laps half the room is outside.
• The game doesn't fit around the table.Beer pong, liar's dice and ring of fire all need a center everyone has to reach. Above eight people there is always an outer ring that can't see a thing.
• There is no standing. Without a score there is nothing building toward the end. It stays a series of separate moments, and nobody knows who is actually winning.

A quiz solves all three. Everyone answers at the same time on their own phone, so there is no turn to wait for. The center is a screen everyone can see, so you can sit as far from the table as you like. And because points get counted, a storyline runs all night: who is scrapping over last place, who comes out of nowhere, and who is up at the wheel next.

Where do you want to go?

• The rules
• 15 penalties for the wheel
• Rules for the whole night
• What you need
• Keeping it fun

The rules: a quiz as a drinking game

The basics are simple: you play a pub quiz, and whoever scores worst spins a wheel of penalties. That gives you a drinking game that carries the whole night without anyone having to explain the rules twice.

1. Pick solo or teams. With a small group everyone plays for themselves. From about six people it gets more fun in teams of three or four, with one phone per team. Nobody goes quiet staring at their own screen, and huddling over the answer becomes part of the game. The penalty then also becomes a team penalty, which saves drink.
2. Set how many players spin.In Kwishetwel you pick one to ten players, or let it scale with the group automatically. With a big group two or three works nicely: there is something to watch every question without half the room drinking. That setting doesn't apply to multiple choice and open questions, where everyone who got it wrong spins.
3. Put penalties on the wheel, as many as you like.The number doesn't matter: a 50/50 with two options works just as well as a wheel with twenty different penalties. Do include one pardon, because nearly getting away with it is funnier than always landing it.
4. Decide how often the wheel spins. With the penalty wheel switched on in Kwishetwel it spins after every question. If you want it calmer there are two ways: turn the wheel on for one round and off again afterwards, or play a tile-board or word-association round, because those wrap up in one go and so spin once per round.
5. Agree on a closing penalty.A house rule, not a game rule: whoever is bottom of the final standings takes the wheel one more time, and then it's done. A drinking game without a clear ending always overruns.

Fifteen drinking penalties for the wheel

Fifteen penalties in three kinds. They are written short for a reason: on a wheel the text has to be readable at a glance, and in Kwishetwel each penalty fits sixty characters. Mix them together and the wheel stays interesting.

Small and frequent

These are the backbone. Half of a good wheel is small penalties, otherwise the night is over after three rounds.

• One sip.
• Two sips.
• Hand out three sips.
• Toast the person on your left, both take a sip.
• A sip for everyone who made the same mistake.

Heavier

One or two of these on the wheel is plenty. Only add them if the group wants them, and keep the servings small.

• A shot.
• Finish what's in your glass.
• Three sips in a row.
• The group picks your next drink.
• You and the round's winner both drink.

Bringing in the whole table

These are the penalties that turn a drinking game into a group game: the loser drags the rest of the table along.

• Everyone drinks, you drink twice.
• Pick someone to drink along with you.
• Choose a banned word; whoever says it drinks.
• Pardon, you drink nothing.
• Name a category; whoever stalls drinks.

Eight drink rules that run all night

Alongside the wheel you can agree on a few rules that hold from start to finish. Those create the small moments between rounds. Pick two or three; nobody remembers all eight.

• Wrong hand. You may only pick up your glass with your non-dominant hand. Forget and you drink. This is the rule with the best return per second of explaining.
• Nicknames.Everyone picks a nickname at the start, and it doubles as their player name on the scoreboard. Use someone's real name and you drink.
• First answer. Answer first and get it wrong, you drink. Answer first and get it right, you hand out.
• Zero or full marks. Zero points in a round? Drink. Everything right? Hand out.
• The leader is a target.The moment someone takes first place, they take a sip. Keeps the standings tight for longer than you'd expect.
• Banned word.Pick one word that is guaranteed to come up, like "quiz" or "answer". Whoever says it drinks.
• Phones are for the quiz. Your phone is there to answer with. Pick it up for anything else and get caught, you drink.
• Bathroom run. Anyone going between rounds takes the orders along. Forgetting costs a sip.

What you need

• One screen everyone can see. A TV, a projector or a laptop on a stack of books. This is the center of the room; the bigger it is, the better it works with a big group.
• A phone per player or per team. Nothing else: no app, no printer, no answer sheets.
• Drinks and at least as much water. Put the water on the table before you start, not halfway through. Whatever is on the table gets drunk.
• Something to eat. Boring advice, but it is the difference between a good night and a short one.

Keeping it fun

• Adults only, in moderation. As host you choose what goes on the wheel and you are responsible for your group. That line is in the app itself for a reason.
• Passing is always allowed, without explaining. One person feeling uncomfortable ruins a night faster than a skipped penalty.
• Sort out the designated driver first. Whoever is driving plays the alcohol-free version of every penalty. That is not an exception, that is just playing.
• Keep the servings small. A sip is a sip, not half a bottle. The fun is in losing in front of everyone, not in the volume.
• Wind down toward the end. Put the heaviest penalties in rounds two and three, not in the last one. Then the night ends on the standings instead of on a low point.

Is someone playing who doesn't drink? That is the rule rather than the exception, and it doesn't have to change the game. A drinking game without alcohol has thirty dares that take the place of a sip, so the consequence stays the same for the whole table.

The penalty wheel in Kwishetwel

Kwishetwel is a pub quiz where you host on the big screen and everyone plays along on their own phone. The penalty wheel is built in: you type in your own penalties (sixty characters each), and after every question the players who did worst spin the wheel themselves on their phone, with the animation up on the big screen. Who that is depends on the round type. On a multiple-choice question or an open question, everyone with a wrong answer spins. On an estimation, map, ranking or top-list question it is the worst guessers, plus anyone who left it blank. On a tile board or word association it goes by the lowest score of the whole round, so the wheel spins once per round there.

You set how many players spin, from one to ten, or let it scale with the group automatically. And the wheel can simply be switched off: if the group isn't in the mood that night, you play the quiz without it. Want penalties without drink? Take a look at fun penalties for the penalty wheel, which has thirty-five of them, from harmless to daring.

Further reading: fun penalties for the penalty wheel, 100+ pub quiz questions with answers and how to make your own pub quiz.