Free · Play online · No sign-up
Power hour: the sip-sized version
Sixty songs, sixty minutes, a beep every minute. Power hour (also called the hour of power) is a music game: change the song at every beep and take a drink. The classic version asks for far too much, so ours is sip-sized, with water rounds and a free timer that keeps the screen awake.
- 👥 2–30 players
- ⏱ 30 to 120 minutes
- 🎒 A playlist, a speaker and this timer
Power Hour: play online
Sip-sized power hour
A beep every minute: change the song and take a small sip. Water rounds are built in, and you choose the length and the pace. Put your playlist on shuffle and keep this screen open.
Choose 30 or 60 rounds, the pace, and how often water rounds come round. The timer beeps each round, pauses for toilet breaks and resumes if the phone locks.
Power Hour: quick rules
Start a playlist on shuffle and the timer above. Every time it beeps (every minute by default), change the song and everyone takes a small sip. Every 5th round is a water round. Keep going to 60, or stop at 30 for a “half hour of power”.
How to play power hour
Build the playlist
About 60 songs everyone knows (or one per guest, chosen in advance). Shuffle on.
Start the timer
Press start above. The first round starts at once; after that, it beeps every minute.
Beep: change and sip
At every beep, skip to the next song and everyone takes one small sip: a mouthful, not a shot.
Water rounds
Every 5th round (you choose) is a water round: everyone drinks water instead.
Finish
Make it to round 60 (or 30) and you’ve completed the hour. Food and water for everyone after.
Why we make power hour sip-sized
The traditional power hour is a shot of beer every minute for 60 minutes. That adds up to about 90 fl oz (2.7 litres) of beer, roughly 7 or 8 standard drinks in one hour: far above what anyone’s body can process in that time, and exactly the kind of binge drinking that sends people to hospital. The “centurion” (100 shots in 100 minutes) is even worse. We don’t recommend either.
Our version keeps what makes power hour fun (the music, the countdown, the group shouting at each beep) and shrinks the drink: one small sip per round, a water round every few minutes, and the option of 90-second or 2-minute rounds. With 60 rounds and water every 5th, that’s 48 small sips over an hour: much closer to one or two drinks. Read more on our drink responsibly page.
Power hour playlist ideas
- Decade hour: 10 songs from each decade, from the 60s to the 2010s.
- Guest picks: each guest adds 3–5 songs in advance; guess whose song is playing.
- Throwback hour: only songs from the year you all finished school.
- Guilty pleasures: songs nobody admits to loving. Everyone sings anyway.
- One-hit wonders: 60 artists with exactly one big hit.
- Theme hours: movie soundtracks, musicals, road-trip songs or Christmas songs.
Play the first minute of each song, or skip to the chorus for maximum shouting. Most streaming apps have ready-made “power hour” playlists that cut songs to 60 seconds.
Extra rules to add
- Sing-along: everyone who knows the first line of the new song sings it; anyone who gets the words wrong takes an extra sip.
- Name that tune: first to name the song hands out a sip.
- DJ penalty: if everyone groans at a song, whoever added it takes a sip.
- Dance round: every 10th round, everyone dances for the whole minute instead of drinking.
Power Hour variations
- Half hour of power
- 30 rounds, same rules. A good first try.
- Slow power hour
- A round every 2 minutes for 60 rounds: two hours of music with half the pace.
- No-alcohol power hour
- Every beep is a song change and a mini challenge (dance, sing, pose). Choose No alcohol above.
- Movie power hour
- Swap songs for 1-minute clips of famous film scenes; guess the film.
Tips for a good game
- Eat before you start.
- Use small glasses so a sip really is a sip.
- Keep a water jug on the table and use the water rounds.
- Nobody drives afterwards.
Play it safe: every game here works with sips of any drink, or none at all. Only adults of legal drinking age should drink alcohol, alternate with water, and never drink and drive. [How to drink responsibly](/drink-responsibly/)
Power Hour: FAQ
How do you play power hour?
Play a song-shuffled playlist and a timer that beeps every minute. At each beep, change the song and everyone takes a small sip. Keep going for 60 rounds. Our version adds water rounds and keeps drinks sip-sized.
What is the hour of power drinking game?
Another name for power hour: a drink every minute for an hour, usually with a song change at every beep.
How much do you drink in power hour?
The traditional version (a shot of beer every minute) is about 90 fl oz of beer in one hour, which is dangerous binge drinking. Our version uses small sips and water rounds: about 48 sips over the hour.
What is a centurion drinking game?
A 100-minute version of power hour with 100 shots of beer. It is far too much alcohol for one sitting and we don’t recommend it.
What songs are good for power hour?
Songs everyone knows: throwbacks, sing-along anthems, decade mixes or one song chosen by each guest.
More drinking games to try
- Large-group games Team games and party games for 8 to 30+ players.
- Drinking bingo Party, bar, wedding and bachelorette bingo cards.
- Games without cards Buffalo, Categories, Fuzzy Duck, Buzz, 21 and more.