By Shamus Sillar
Issue 89 - December 2009

As a university student in Australia, my favourite drinking game was Next. The rules of Next weren’t particularly challenging: one person would drink a full beverage and say “next”, at which point a second person would drink a full beverage and say “next”, and so on. Games of Next generally finished within an hour, with competitors passed out across couches and kitchen tiles.

I’m a bit older now and I don’t bounce back like I used to, so I felt nervous before visiting Players, “Singapore’s first and only drinking games bar”. Would the owners embroil me in a game of Next, leaving me to wake up at lunchtime the following day on a park bench under the Singapore Flyer?

I escaped relatively unharmed. Located across two floors of Game Haven, an e-gaming centre next to Clarke Quay MRT, this restaurant and bar with a stylish, loungey feel has been set up for party-goers who want more than light conversation in their evening. So, there’s a food menu, a drinks menu and a games menu.

The latter includes card games, dice games, board games and more: Beer Submarine, Drinking Jenga, Lightning Reaction, and the alarming-sounding Hardo-Gay Toy.

Beer Pong is Players’ most popular game. Americans will know it well; for other readers, it’s a cross between darts and ten-pin bowling (and drinking). The bar has special tables set up for teams to gather round and go to town.

Players might not appeal to everyone. But for boozy groups out for a night with a difference, it’s worth a look. At the very least, the owners deserve kudos for trying something different.

Plus, the signature cocktails are delicious – and strong. I opted for a concoction of absinthe, Cointreau and lemon juice which, in view of my university days spent playing Next, had the apt title of Checkered Past.

29 Carpenter Street, #01-01/#02-01, Game Haven. Visit www.players.com.sg or call +65 6532 5133.