St. Pattys, Cinco De Mayo, 4th of July: there’s a surprising number of holidays that revolve primarily (or even entirely) around getting your drink on.
If green beer, shots of tequila, and an endless supply of Bud Light aren’t your thing, then you may want to spice up your holiday celebrations with drinks drawn from the deep well of video game history.
Unfortunately, not all gamers are lucky enough to live near arcade/bar mashups like Ground Kontrol or Battle & Brew, so for those who have to mix up their own drinks, we’re looking out for you with a list of game-inspired alcoholic beverages to try out.
Mixed Drinks
Traditionally when someone says “video games,” cans of Mountain Dew and energy drinks come to mind, but there’s actually a decent number of boozy drinks specifically catered to those of us of the gaming persuasion. These are the best of the best we found while culling through hundreds of game-themed mixed cocktails.
Gummy Vodka Pokeballs
Source: Imgur User BigEatsBen
This one’s a lot of work for a relatively small amount of alcohol, but you can’t beat the theme here if you happen to have a Pokemon obsessed friend who likes to party. These are ingeniously made by melting down two different colored gummy candies, mixing with your preferred vodka, and molding them together using greased half-circle trays.
Rainbow Road
Source: Nintendrunk Tumblr
I can unequivocally say that the more shots you’ve had, the more fun each successive round of co-op Mario Kart becomes — so long as your opponent is keeping up, anyway!
This colorful mixed drink draws its inspiration from the classic Rainbow Road level that has appeared in a whole lot of Mario titles, and is made by combining layers of:
- 4 oz. orange juice
- ½ oz. gin
- â…“ oz. grenadine
- â…“ oz. rum
- 3 oz. vodka
- Two splashes blue curaçao
For the nostalgia factor, here’s a video showcasing the evolution of Rainbow Road throughout Mario history.
House Baratheon
Source: Geek And Sundry Vlogs
OK, I recognize that A Song Of Ice And Fire is a book first, a T.V. show second (although that’s about to flip this year…), and a gaming franchise third, but it still absolutely counts as a gaming franchise – both of the tabletop and electronic varieties.
For those who worship at the rotund throne of the usurper, this one’s for you! Meant to be taken as a shot rather than a full mixed drink, pour together equal parts:
- Crown Royal whiskey
- Red Stag Cinnamon
- Mead
Blue Materia
Source: Cristina Viseu’s YouTube Page
Did you know there’s a Square Enix restaurant/bar called Artnia? Of course they have a host of Final Fantasy-themed drinks, from the Potion to the Ifrit.
If you aren’t heading to Japan anytime soon, Cristina Viseu shows you how to recreate the Blue Materia mixed drink in the clip below, featuring a frozen ball of blue curaçao. You’ll need:
- 1 ½ oz. blue curaçao
- 2 oz. gin
- ½ oz. lime juice
-
¼ oz. simple syrup
- Sphere mold and water
Dirt Block
Source: The Drunken Moogle
You can already make everything else in Minecraft, so why not booze as well? A gamed up version of a mudslide, you should obviously serve this one in a square glass. The Dirt Block consists of:
- 1 ½ oz. french vanilla Kahlua
- 1 ½ oz. amaretto
- 3 oz. chocolate milk
- Oreo cookie crumbs
True, Lie, Stout
Source: The Guardian / Loading owner James Dance
While its unlikely you’ll get better at discerning truth from lie after downing a few of these, LA Noire is still a good time with a strong, dark drink in hand. This simple mix consists of equal parts vodka and Kahlua topped with Guinness, so it ends up pitch black.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Source: The Drunken Moogle
I feel like giving either Sonic or Tails any amount of hard liquor would only end in high-speed disaster, but gamers who can still remember playing the original Genesis titles should have a nostalgic good time with this layered drink. Mix together:
- 1 part grenadine
- 2 parts Menthomint Schnapps
- 4 parts Blue Curacao
The Golden Chocobo
Source: The Drunken Moogle
You probably better load up FF7 and hit the chocobo races in gold saucer while imbibing this cocktail. The fizzy and sweet Golden Chocobo is made by pouring together:
- ½ shot of Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur
- ½ shot of Wild Turkey’s American Honey
- 1 Can of Ginger Ale
Beer
Lest we leave our beer-drinking readers thirsty…yes, there are even some gaming-themed brews out there worth trying as well!
Critical Hit
Source: Ninkasi Brewing
Ninkasi is known for brutally punishing IPAs with absurd levels of hoppiness, but they also have some really interesting themed drinks. This is a great one to down with some hearty stew while rolling d20s with your friends on a Sunday afternoon.
You won’t need too many of them though, because at 10-11% ABV, this has about double the amount of alcohol of as your typical American brew.
Mega Milk
Source: Arcade Brewery
OK, I’m a little weirded out by the naming convention, but this Mega Man-themed oatmeal stout is still kind of genius. Although this dark stout is only 5.3% ABV (on the low side for my tastes), I’d still love to give this a try while running through some classic Mega Man X.
Let us know if you end up trying any of these this weekend, and be sure to recommend any gaming themed drinks we missed in the comments below!
