Never Have I Ever: Official Rules

Find out what everyone at the table has done, one confession at a time.

Three or more players sit in a circle with their drinks. Choose a first player.

Rule 1. The statement

Rule 1.1. On their turn, a player says something they have never done, beginning with "Never have I ever." For example: "Never have I ever been to Canada."

Rule 1.2. The statement must be true for the player making it.

Rule 2. Drinking

Rule 2.1. Every player who has done it drinks.

Rule 2.2. If nobody drinks, the player who made the statement drinks. A statement must catch somebody.

Rule 2.3. Play passes to the left.

Rule 3. Fair play

Rule 3.1. A statement must apply to the world, not to one player. "Never have I ever been to Canada" is a statement. "Never have I ever been to Canada with my ex, Dave" is a target, and the Official may disallow it.

Rule 3.2. A player may drink without explaining. The table may ask. The player may decline. That is the custom.

Ten Fingers. Every player holds up ten fingers. Instead of drinking when they've done it, a player puts down a finger and drinks. The first player with no fingers left drinks again and the game ends.

• Ten Fingers as the main game. Approved.
• Themed rounds (travel, food, work). Approved.
• Players who lie about not having done something. Prohibited, obviously, and impossible to enforce, also obviously. The Commission relies on the table's memory.

Does it count if a player has almost done it? No. Almost is not done. A player who has almost been to Canada has not been to Canada.

A player made a statement that is false for them. What happens? They drink twice: once for the statement, and once for the table finding out.

• Statement disallowed (targeting). Signal: warning (Provision 7.1).
• Nobody drinks. Signal: the Official points back at the player who made the statement.

Never Have I Ever is the oldest confession booth in the party game tradition, and the only game in this book in which the losing player learns the most. The Commission's archive holds no rulings about specific statements. Some things are kept at the table.

Play with any non-alcoholic drink, or play Ten Fingers with fingers only. The confessions are the game.