Party Mode: the group drinking game that runs your party

Party Mode is the loudest game in Cold Ones. One phone, everyone plays at once, and the app fires off cards, votes, ticking bombs and mini-games until the whole room is in on it. Somebody always ends up standing on one leg. That's the point.

It lives inside Cold Ones, the free party game app for iOS and Android, with hundreds of Party Mode cards in three flavors. No ads, no login, just press play.

What is Party Mode?

Party Mode is a group game where the phone does the talking. Put it in the middle (or pass it around) and read each card out loud. Some cards call out losers on the spot, some start a vote, some set a rule that haunts the room for the next ten minutes, and the bomb cards make you name things like car brands or fast-food chains until the timer blows up in someone's hands.

Losing is the fun part: the loser takes the penalty, classically a sip of their drink, and the next card is already loading. It scales too. Three friends on a couch or fifteen people at a pregame, everyone is playing all the time.

Rules: how to play Party Mode

The format works even without the app (the app just does the heavy lifting for you):

1. Sit where everyone can hear one reader. Phone in the middle, or one host reads.
2. Draw a card and read it out loud, dramatically. Drama is mandatory.
3. Do what it says: vote, name brands, hold your breath, or check who the card calls out.
4. Whoever loses takes the penalty. The classic is a sip of your drink, and alcohol-free works exactly the same with water, soda or push-ups.
5. Rule cards stay active until the game says otherwise. Yes, even the no-names rule.
6. Keep going until the glasses are empty or your cheeks hurt from laughing.

Why play it in Cold Ones

Cold Ones ships Party Mode in three modes: Classic for every group, Hot & Spicy when the room can handle it, and Crazy when nobody is driving home. On top of that:

• Free, with hundreds of Party Mode cards (3,000+ questions across all 8 games)
• No ads interrupting the round, no account, no login
• Works offline: basement, beach, cabin, festival
• Fully localized in English, German, Spanish and French

Tips to keep it fun

Start with Classic and let the room warm up before switching modes. Make the penalty fit the crowd: sips, silly dares or jumping jacks all work. And enforce rule cards ruthlessly, because half the fun is catching someone saying a forbidden name.

One more thing: drink water, look after each other, and never pressure anyone to drink. Losers can always pay in push-ups.

Example cards from the app

• Name phone brands and pass the phone around, the person holding the phone while it explodes loses
• The next person to lose can invent a new rule
• Vote the smartest person in the room; the winner loses
• THE FLOOR IS LAVA The last person touching the floor loses
• You cannot talk to each other using your names, the person who slips up loses
• Stand on one leg and hold your breath for 30 seconds, who falls loses
• Check who has the lowest phone battery, that person loses
• If your birthday is this month, Happy Birthday. Also, you lose
• Pepsi or Coke? Vote simultaneously, losing group gets punished
• Time to get serious. Next person who smiles loses

Get Cold Ones free and start Party Mode tonight.