How to Play a Power Hour (And Make Your Own Playlist)

What is the Power Hour drinking game?

Power Hour is a non-competitive drinking game where players take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. The only goal of the game is to take a standard 1.5 oz (44 mL) shot of beer or another light beverage of your choice every minute for the duration of the hour—there’s no real winning or strategy involved! Because of the simple rules, flexible number of players, and focus on fast drinking, Power Hour is often played as a pregame by large groups before heading out to a bar or party. Power Hour is considered an endurance game against yourself, and the only real goal is to finish all 60 shots. However, it can be made competitive if the players wish. A timer or themed playlist is used to measure each minute. When the timer goes off or the song changes, it’s time to drink.

How to Play the Power Hour Drinking Game

Get 1 shot glass and 6–7 beers per player, then gather in a large room with a speaker. Choose a space like a patio or living room where everyone can gather comfortably and hear the timer or speaker you’re going to use. Make sure each person has their own shot glass to drink from, and at least 6 beers (or about 72 oz (2.1 L) of a different beverage) to last them throughout the hour, assuming they’re able to drink each minute. Besides your drinking materials, you’ll also need a timer or playlist to mark the minutes and signal when it’s time to take a shot. Warning: You can technically play with whatever drink you want, but a light beer is best for endurance and for not making yourself sick. Shooting wine or liquor can get you very drunk very fast, so pour smaller shots or take shots less often if you opt for something stronger than beer.

Pour a shot of beer, start the playlist or timer, and take your first drink to start the game. Have everyone who’s playing fill up their shot glass. When everyone’s ready, start the playlist (or your timer) and have everyone take a shot together. This is drink 1 out of 60!

Use the following minute to refill your glass and prepare for the next shot. Pour a new shot once you’re done drinking so that you’re not scrambling to refill before the next drink in 1 minute (this especially helpful for beer, which will have some time to settle and de-foam). Other than that, you really don’t have any responsibilities during the minute; talk, hang out, take a sip of water, or zone out until you hear the song change or the timer go off. There’s no real competition or thought involved!

Keep taking a shot of beer each minute until the hour’s over (or you give up). Drinking at this rate means you’ll have about 1 beer every 10 minutes, so you may get full quickly. Keep taking beer shots every minute until the end if you can; if not, feel free to tap out early, start drinking every other minute, or take smaller sips each time. Since you’re not really competing, you can change your drinking strategy to suit you and your body. Remember that everyone’s alcohol tolerance and metabolism are different, so just because you feel great after 20 minutes of beer shots doesn’t mean everyone will. Respect someone’s choice to cut back or take a break if they need to.

Finish the game when 60 minutes have passed or no one is left standing. There’s no singular winner in a Power Hour; anyone who takes all 60 shots has completed the challenge! However, if only 1 person makes it all the way, you might consider them the de facto champion. Competitive variation: If you want to add some stakes to the Power Hour, consider giving a prize to whoever finishes the challenge or who lasts the longest. Prizes could be something tangible like a few dollars or a bottle of wine, or something mischievous and playful like the ability to “give a drink” to another player.

How much beer do you drink in a Power Hour?

You’ll drink about 7.5 beers if you take all sixty 1.5 oz (44 mL) shots. Assuming you take every shot and fill the glass all the way up, you’ll end up drinking about 90 ounces (2.6 liters) of beer. That means 7 and a half 12-oz cans of beer! However, if you sit out a few rounds or fill your shot glasses part way, you may end up drinking closer to 6 beers. Plan to have at least 6 beers on hand at minimum to get through a full hour. Remember, the total amount you drink is up to you and how much alcohol you can handle. There’s no shame in cutting back or taking a break; you have a whole night ahead of you after the game!

How to Make a Power Hour Playlist

Choose a genre or theme for your playlist and pick 60 songs to fill it. Your playlist doesn’t have to have a theme (it can have any songs you like!), but choosing something like “disco” or “2000’s hits” makes for a fun atmosphere and gives players something to listen to or enjoy between drinks. Once you’ve settled on a theme, choose 60 tracks for your playlist (1 song for each minute or round). Platforms like Spotify and YouTube are typically the easiest to use for a Power Hour playlist. Tip: If you don’t have time to make a playlist (or just don’t want to), there are a ton that already exist! Try searching YouTube or Spotify for “power hour playlists” and see what genres and themes they have to offer.

Use a power hour extension to switch tracks every minute on Spotify. These browser extensions control the music for you so you don’t have to keep resetting 1-minute timers and changing the song yourself. All you have to do is install or open the extension, sign into Spotify on a browser, and connect your account to the extension with the prompts on screen. Click “Start” to begin! Some extensions and sites you could use include Power Hour by Netlify, PowerHourProject.com, or Power Hour from the Chrome webstore.

Or, use the Powerd app to build a power hour playlist from YouTube. First, make a YouTube playlist of 60 videos with music you want in your power hour. Then, register for a free account with Powerd to import your playlist, arrange the song order, and select where you want each song to begin so you don’t have to hear intros-only for an hour. You can also browse other users’ power hour playlists and choose to make yours public for others to use, too!

Power Hour Variations

Centurion The Centurion (or Century Club) version of a Power Hour is played exactly the same way, just with one key difference: players take 100 shots of beer over 100 minutes! This variation is not for the faint of heart, since a hundred 1.5 oz (44 mL) shots of beer comes out to 12.5 cans of beer! We definitely recommend pouring small shots or taking breaks in this version. It’s about the marathon, not the sprint!

Playing in teams Split into teams of roughly equal numbers of players or of equal “drinking ability” (for example, 3 lightweights versus 2 people with high tolerances). Then, play Power Hour as normal; each person on each team tries to drink as many shots as they can. At the end of the hour, tally up which team was able to take the most shots. Whichever team had the most beer wins!

Using movie or TV clips instead of music Got a nice TV? Instead of a music playlist, try searching for a video playlist featuring short clips from movies or TV shows. There are tons of themed options from comedies, action movies, or even niche interests like intros from 90s kids shows. Play your visual playlist on a big screen where all players can watch for the most fun.

Staying Safe & Comfortable During a Power Hour

Drink at your own comfortable pace. A Power Hour is meant to give you a fun buzz early in the night, not ruin the rest of your evening! Slow down or switch to a non-alcoholic drink like water, juice, or soda for a couple rounds if you feel yourself feeling too full or too tipsy. You can also choose to take small sips throughout each round to avoid taking whole shots all at once. There’s also no shame in tapping out early. Better to get a good buzz and enjoy the rest of the pregame than to force yourself to play and get sick!

Have plenty of water and some snacks on hand to slow the absorption of alcohol. If you’re worried about the booze hitting you too fast (a fair concern in this type of game!), eat something beforehand or have some snacks available to munch on between shots. Food kick starts your digestive processes which closes the valve at the bottom of your stomach. This slows down how much alcohol can enter your small intestine and intoxicate you. High-protein and greasy or fatty foods are the best at blocking alcohol absorption. Think treats like chicken wings, cheese, pizza, fried foods, tacos, or nachos (AKA things you’d probably crave anyway after a few beers!). Have some water between shots, too. Staying hydrated and having water in your stomach will help you drink a bit less and prevent dehydration from alcohol (and help prevent a hangover, too).

Pour your shots early and take smooth sips to avoid swallowing air. Beer is carbonated and can make you feel really full really fast. To help, pour your next shot as soon as you finish your current one and let it sit for a minute. That way, any foam will go down and it’ll be slightly less carbonated. Then, take slow and controlled sips so you don’t accidentally gulp down some air with your shot.