I just got an email from Carrie Oakley, who writes a rather interesting “general fun stuff” blog. (Remember, Rule 1 of successful blogging is to point out your good stuff to other bloggers… relentlessly if needed.) It worked here, since I thought I could get a good post out of her tip. (Rule 2 is to link other bloggers as much a possible. Karma will reward you.)

I’ve written my own drinking game, of course, but Carrie has scoured the web looking for a very special subset, and gives us her list of the 25 Geekiest Drinking Games Ever Played. She has found a really very interesting group of games, each suffused with that geek commandment, “When doing things that ordinary people do, be sure to do it in a fashion more complex or esoteric than reason should allow.” And a perusal of her list will remind you how rich and varied are the collected worlds of geekdom out there. There are Fan Geeks, Computer Geeks, Social Media Geeks, D&D Geeks, and yes, Drinking Geeks.

These are more than just regular drinking games themed for a particular flavor of geek, though there are a few of those too. Many are pretty cool, though you wouldn’t catch me trying them.

In keeping with the meta nature of my introduction to this post, I’ll point out the value of Internet Lists to bloggers. I can list several of Carrie’s finds in my own post (that would be this one for those who got a head start on their drinking game before finding this), while still driving you to her site to see the rest of the good stuff. I also can encourage you to visit a few of the sites that originated the ideas, and you may want to visit some of the ones I don’t mention here when you visit Carrie’s. It’s a way to prime the Internet pump. In fact, it’s exactly like the Stimulus Plan, only it cost a trillion dollars less, and has the added benefit of actually working!

Here are some of my favorite Geek Drinking Games:

• The Eduwonk Drinking Game. A buzzword drinking game for our educational establishment. Drink when you hear any of the listed phrases, such as, “Rubric”, “Standards-based”, or “Dead White Guys”. You can tell a lot about how our teaching establishment has lost track of its core mission from this, my favorite entry: “Best practices (Mandatory group hugs, however, around anyone who uses the vernacular “stuff that works pretty good.”)”
• Over the Bar is not so much a drinking game, as much as it is an actual RPG, where drinking replaces dice in the game mechanics…
• The last one I’ll share here is one for the Hipster Douchebags Geeks. Wizard’s Staff is a drinking game whereby you increase your “level” by duct taping together your defeated Pabst Blue Ribbon cans into your “staff of power”. There is nothing stupid or phallic at all about this game. Nosirreebob. And I shudder to think how often we’d have played it in college, had it been invented back then.

This is intended to be the first in a new series of television series-based drinking games. This one is too perfect, we’ll see if any others end up working as well.

ABC’s Castle, starring Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, is among Maggi’s and my favorite shows. If you are not watching it, you owe it to civilization to start. Actual intelligent, well-written television on the big networks desperately needs to be rewarded. The alternative is more of this.
I won’t go into the nature of the show much here, except to set up the game. Castle is what we like to call, a writer’s show, for a whole host of reasons. It is a mystery series about a writer. It features some fairly educated plotting and dialog. Even when the lead character is being infantile (which is often) he does it in an educated manner. And most importantly, Castle and his cohorts are always having fun with language.
Here’s the game, with comments.
In keeping with Castle’s character, players will equip themselves with a good single-malt scotch and sipping glasses.

• Whenever Castle makes a grammar related quip, take one sip.
• Whenever another character uses incorrect grammar, all players who notice it will lay a finger along their nose. Those who miss it must take a sip. (The bad grammar on the show is a little too obvious and too pervasive for a show written by good-natured Grammar Nazis. It has to be an inside joke.)
• Whenever Castle starts talking about “The Story”, take one sip.
• Whenever Castle gets people caught up in a story he’s telling, take a sip. You’ll probably hear dramatic or creepy music.
• Take two, if anyone actually believes him. You’ll definitely hear dramatic or creepy music.
• Every time Castle makes a pun, take a sip. Use it to drown out the groans.
• Whenever someone employs a form of the word “irony”, finish your drink.
• If Castle says that they used it correctly, refill and drink that too.

All of that group are language and grammar related. Here’s a supplemental list for some other drink-worthy Castle tropes you can add for a full Castle drinking game experience:

• Whenever Becket complains of Castle’s immaturity, take one sip.
• Whenever Ryan and Esposito start putting one over on Castle, take a sip.
• Whenever Castle is happy that someone has been brutally murdered, take a sip. If he claps his hands, take two.
• Each time Beckett uses sex to torment Castle, finish your drink.

In case you haven’t seen Castle yet, here’s a taste.

My last attempt at a drinking game would likely have left you passed out until about now. If that’s the case, and you are just now sobering up… may I suggest a drink?

UPDATE: Here is a whole Castle Drinking Game thread on a Castle fan site.
Most are good fan touches, but either don’t fit with my game’s theme, or just don’t work for a drinking game in general. But some are gold.
CastleTV.net language-related drinking game contributions:

• Every time Castle turns something innocent into innuendo, take one sip.
• Whenever you see Castle actually working on a book, take one sip.
• Whenever Martha is drinking, join her.

Other CastleTV.net gold:

• If Castle says, Bam said the lady, take one sip.
• If Alexis gives parental advice to Castle, take one sip. If Castle actually give parental advice to his daughter, take three.