21: Official Rules

Count to twenty-one without being the one who says it.

Three or more players sit in a circle. The first player chooses a direction.

Rule 1. The count

Rule 1.1. The first player says "one," or "one, two," or "one, two, three." Each player on their turn continues the count with one, two or three numbers.

Rule 1.2. The number of numbers sets what happens next:

Numbers said	Next
One	Play passes to the next player
Two	Play reverses direction
Three	Play skips the next player

Rule 2. Twenty-one

Rule 2.1. The player who says "twenty-one" finishes their drink.

Rule 2.2. They then make a rule, as in Cheers to the Governor (Rule 3.1 there), and start the next count.

Rule 3. Mistakes

Rule 3.1. A player drinks for saying a wrong number, going out of turn, hesitating too long or breaking a rule. The count starts again at one, from them.

• Four numbers: reverse and skip. Approved.
• No more than three single numbers in a row. Approved. It stops the table drifting.
• Roman numerals, after the third rule. Commissioner's Discretion. The Commission does not recommend it, and has seen it done.

Is this the same game as Cheers to the Governor? No. Here each player may say up to three numbers and the direction changes; the player who says twenty-one finishes their drink alone. In Cheers to the Governor, everyone says one number and the whole table toasts.

A player says two numbers but keeps the direction. Mistake? Yes. Two numbers reverses. The table must move the other way, and so must the player's attention.

• Twenty-one. Penalty: finish your drink. Signal: the Official holds up two fingers, then one.
• Wrong number or direction. Penalty: one drink. Signal: drink (Provision 7.1).

21 is a counting game that is mostly about strategy, since a player who can count backward from twenty-one can usually force someone else to say it. The Commission has reviewed several players who could do this. It has asked them, politely, to stop.

Play with any non-alcoholic drink. The strategy is unaffected.