As promised, here are the rules I used for King’s Cup: ESL edition. :)
Obviously, there is no booze involved here, so the game works by earning and/or losing points. I usually keep score on a piece of paper in front of me, so all the players can see everyone’s scores at any time in the game.
Ace – Make up your own rule! This new rule must be followed for the entire round. For example, one of my students created the “Turn your head to the left” rule, which was equal parts torturous and funny. Every time someone picked up an ace card, they had to keep their head turned to the left for the entire round, until it was their turn again. Guaranteed laughs.
2 – Ask a question in present continuous tense. If the player forms the question incorrectly, subtract five points.
For higher level students, give them only five seconds to ask the question.
3 – Adjectives! The player who draws a three must describe him/herself with three adjectives.
For higher level students, it might be better to require five adjectives instead of three. Or, specify what type of adjectives they should name. For example, abstract or concrete? Internal or external qualities? Etc.
4 – “Floor!” Everyone must touch the floor, and the last person to do so loses five points!
5 – Never Have I Ever (the classy version). Some people are shocked that I use this, but honestly, the students are completely unaware of the… shall we say, promiscuous (?)… nature of “Never Have I Ever.” Anyway, it’s a fun way to get to know the students and they must practice the present perfect! I have my students use only five fingers, otherwise it’s too long of a round. The person with the fewest fingers up at the end of the round will lose five points.
6 – Would You Rather. The person who draws a 6 must ask a question using “Would You Rather.” For example, “Would you rather have a time machine that can only go to the past, or a time machine that can only go to the future?” This is another fun way to get to know students, and it requires the players to think creatively.
7 – “Heaven!” This is a typical King’s rule. The last person to point up to the sky loses five points.
8 – Categories. This is a typical King’s rule. The person who draws a four must name a category and everyone must take turns naming an item in the chosen category. For example, if “cars” is the category, then one might say “Fiat,” “Ford,” “Kia,” etc. Again, for higher level students, add a time limit of five seconds. The person who cannot name an item loses five points.
9 – Rhyme. The person who draws a 9 must give a simple word such as “cat,” which each player must rhyme. This continues around the circle until someone cannot think of a word, and that player loses five points.
10 – “What I did this weekend…” Everyone must go around the circle and use past tense to communicate one thing they did over the last weekend. The trick is, no activity can be repeated. For example, if the first person says “This weekend, I went to the cinema”, the third person cannot repeat this, even if they did go to the cinema. Everyone must name something different.
With my higher level students, this was too easy, so I added a time limit. Each person had five seconds to make a sentence about what they did over the weekend. If they cannot think and speak fast enough, they lose five points.
Jack – Rock, Paper, Scissors. The player who draws this card must face any other player in Rock, Paper, Scissors. The loser loses five points and the winner earns five points.
Queen – Question. The player who draws a queen gets the opportunity to ask another player one question.
King – Two Truths and a Lie. The player who draws a king must give three sentences, two truths and one lie. If another player successfully guesses the lie, that player earns five points. If a player incorrectly guesses the lie, they lose five points.
Joker – This player can choose if they want to give themselves 10 points OR subtract 10 points from another player.
That’s about all. Hope this is useful to someone out there.
