How to Play the Fuzzy Duck Drinking Game: Rules, Variations & More

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Get the party started with this silly, tongue-twister drinking game

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: February 2, 2025 Fact Checked

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How to Play Fuzzy Duck

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Strategies & Tricks

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Variations

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Other Popular Drinking Games

Are you looking for a fun, easy drinking game to break the ice or spice things up? Fuzzy Duck might just be the game for you! It’s a simple game in which players take turns saying “Fuzzy duck” until someone randomly says, “Does he,” changing the direction of the gameplay and the phrase to “Ducky fuzz.” This fast-paced game often leads to mispronunciations, silly mistakes, and tons of laughter, so keep reading for our complete guide to playing Fuzzy Duck—and remember to drink responsibly!

Fuzzy Duck Rules at a Glance

To play Fuzzy Duck, sit in a circle and have someone start by saying, “Fuzzy duck.” Go clockwise around the group until someone says “Does he” randomly. Then, reverse and go counterclockwise, changing the phrase to “Ducky fuzz.” Any player who messes up must take a drink!

Section 1 of 4:

How to Play Fuzzy Duck

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1
Have every player sit or stand in a circle with a drink. For this game, ensure there are at least 3 or more players. Choose any player to begin the game; they must say, “Fuzzy duck.” Then, the player on their left must do the same, and so on. Go around the group clockwise, with everyone saying “Fuzzy duck” on their turn—until someone says “Does he” randomly.^{[1]
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- Any player after the first “fuzzy duck” can suddenly choose to say “does he” instead of “fuzzy duck.”
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Reverse the gameplay when someone says, “Does he.” The first time a player says “Does he,” switch directions and start going counterclockwise around the group, with each player now saying “Ducky fuzz” on their turn. Continue this until another player says “Does he” at random, then switch directions again (back to clockwise) and revert to “Fuzzy duck.”^{[2]
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- In the basic rules of the game, there aren’t any rules on who has to say “Does he” or when a player can or can’t say it.
- However, you could optionally implement a rule where no player can say the same phrase twice in a session—so if they said “Ducky fuzz” last turn and it’s still the same session, they must say “Does he” next turn.
- In this version of the game, sessions last until a player makes a mistake—so if one player says “Ducky fuzz” and another player makes a mistake after, that first player wouldn’t have to say “Does he” on their next turn.
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Players must take a drink when they make a mistake. In other words, continue the game until someone mispronounces the phrase or breaks the rhythm of the game by speaking out of turn; then, they must drink. This could be a drink from a cup or a shot, depending on what you choose to use. After a player takes a drink, keep playing from the person who last spoke.^{[3]
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- There’s no real winner or loser in Fuzzy Duck—just silly mistakes and mispronunciations, especially if the game speeds up.
- Regardless of how you play (or how long), remember to drink safely and responsibly. Always know your limits and keep track of your drinks.

Section 2 of 4:

Fuzzy Duck Strategies & Tricks

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while looking at the player that would be next originally. If you look over at the person who’s supposed to be going next but reverse the gameplay by saying, “Does he,” that person might assume you’re saying, “Fuzzy duck” (even though you’re not) and speak out of turn. Plus, the player whose turn it really is (since you’re changing the gameplay’s direction) might be fooled, too, and say nothing.^{[4]
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In the same vein as the last suggestion, you could make it seem like you’re about to say “does he” by turning to the player who last spoke—but still say “Fuzzy duck” or “Ducky fuzz” yourself. This can fool the players on either side of you into thinking the gameplay is getting reversed, even though it’s not.^{[5]
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Speed up the game to trip up other players. Although this might cause you to make a mistake as well, you could take a risk and simply play the game at a faster pace by seeing how quickly you can go around the group and each say “Fuzzy duck” or “Ducky fuzz.” The faster you go, the more likely it is that someone will mess up a word or miss a cue!
- Again, since there are no winners in Fuzzy Duck, these strategies won’t help you “win,” but they can definitely help you trick your fellow players!
- Since it can be pretty repetitive, most groups won’t play Fuzzy Duck for a long time, but it’s still a fun game to stir things up and produce plenty of laughs!

Section 3 of 4:

Variations of Fuzzy Duck

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Switch out the “fuzzy duck” phrase for something else. It’s easy to customize the rules of a simple game like Fuzzy Duck; some players shake things up by changing the phrase to “Fuzzy duckling” or “Ducky wucky.” And, if you think of another phrase yourself, you can use that, too!
- You could even add additional phrases to “Fuzzy duck” and “Ducky fuzz” and alternate between them all to complicate things.
- It’s also very possible to play Fuzzy Duck with non-alcoholic drinks for anyone who prefers not to drink alcohol—just give them water or soda instead.

Section 4 of 4:

Other Popular Drinking Games

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Never Have I Ever In this classic game, have everyone sit in a circle and pick one person to go first. They must say, “Never have I ever,” followed by a true statement about something they’ve never done. If any other player has done that thing, they must take a drink. Keep going around the group; statements can be silly, personal, or totally wild!^{[6]
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- For example:
  - “Never have I ever sleepwalked.”
  - “Never have I ever been to Peru.”
  - “Never have I ever started a rumor.”
- You could also implement a rule where all players hold up 5 or 10 fingers, putting down a finger each time they drink—and the last player with a finger left wins the game.
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The Name Game Have a group sit in a circle and let someone start by saying the name of a famous person. Then, the next player (going around the circle in the direction you choose) must say a name that starts with the first letter of the previous famous person’s last name. Change directions when a first and last name start with the same letter or the famous person has one name.^{[7]
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- For example, if you say “Taylor Swift,” the next player might say “Simone Biles,” and the next player after them might say “Beyoncé,”—which would cause the game to change directions.
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Beer Pong For this game, you’ll need 20 solo cups. Set 10 up in the shape of a pyramid at one end of a table and do the same again on the other end. Then, fill each cup about halfway with beer. Split evenly into two teams, one at each end of the table, and take turns trying to throw a ping-pong ball into a cup on the other end of the table.^{[8]
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- When one team gets a ball into the other team’s cup, that team must drink whatever is in the cup. The game ends when one team’s cups are totally empty!
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Drinking Jenga If you have Jenga on hand, you can turn it into a drinking game, too! Stack the Jenga blocks into a tower and play as usual, taking turns removing a block from the tower and placing it on top. A player who successfully moves a block can choose another player and tell them to take a drink—but a player who causes the tower to fall must down the entirety of their own drink.^{[9]
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- Alternatively, you could play a version of the game where someone who successfully moves a block can dare another player to do something, and they can either do it or take a drink instead.