Guide · In the room
KTV drinking games in Singapore — dice, fingers and room rules
Updated
Singapore KTV rooms run on dice: the felt-lined cup of five dice on your table is for chui niu — liar’s dice — the bluffing game played in nearly every nightlife KTV here. Around it sit the finger game 5-10-15, in-between, 789, and a handful of card and phone games that work at a low table in a dark room. Here’s how each one goes, and how to run a games night without wrecking anyone.
The games at a glance
| Game | Players | Gear | A round ends when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chui niu (liar’s dice) | 2–6 | one dice cup each | someone calls “open” and the count settles it |
| 5-10-15 | 2, winner stays on | hands | one player calls the finger total right |
| In-between | any | one cup, three dice | the third die lands in — or out |
| 789 | 3+ | two dice, one small glass | someone rolls a 9 |
| Heart attack | 4+ | one deck of cards | the pile gets slapped |
| Charades apps | 4+ | one phone | the timer runs out |
Chui niu — the table game of Singapore nightlife
Everyone shakes a cup of five dice, slams it down, and peeks at their own roll. Play goes in a circle: each player calls how many dice of one face are on the table across all cups — “four 3s” — and the next player must raise the call or challenge it. Ones are wild and count as any face until somebody bids on 1s directly, which locks them for the rest of the round. Challenge by calling “open”: everyone lifts their cup, the dice get counted, and whoever was wrong takes a sip.
That’s the whole game. It’s fast, it’s one-handed, and the bluffing gets better as the night goes on — which is exactly why the cups live on the table.
The rest of the rotation
5-10-15. Two players face off. On the same beat, each throws out a hand showing zero or five fingers while shouting a multiple of five. Call the total shown and the other player sips; both right or both wrong, go again. It’s the loudest game on this list — good, because you booked a private room.
In-between. Roll two dice, then bet whether a third lands strictly between them. Land on a boundary and the sip is yours. Table rules vary on re-rolls, so agree before round one.
789. Two dice pass around the circle. Roll a 7, top up the centre glass. An 8, drink half. A 9, the glass is yours. Pour it forfeit-sized — the game is the passing, not the glass.
Cards and phones. Heart attack (slap the matching pile) survives a small table and thrives on noise. One-phone charades apps work because nobody outside can hear your team screaming clues. And the KTV-native forfeit beats all of them: the loser queues and sings the next song, solo.
House rules that keep the night good
Noise is fine — a private room is the entire point, so shout your bids. The corridor is shared, so the game stays inside. Don’t slam the cup on a glass tabletop; the felt base exists for a reason. Keep the mic queue rotating — a game that stalls the singing is a bad game. And the forfeit is a sip, not a glass: locals forfeit with tea or a mixer all the time, and the cup doesn’t care what’s in it. The maths is simple — the game only works while everyone’s still in it.
What a games night costs
A small room with a one-tower minimum is the natural games-night booking: split a tower into small glasses and it covers forfeits for hours. Gala KTV in Jalan Besar starts small rooms at a single tower, from $78. Ume KTV in Novena runs on $40 towers — the cheapest we track. If the dice are still rolling at 3am, Supreme KTV on Orchard runs a morning session to 6am with towers from $68. For how minimums and towers work in full, read KTV prices, explained — or if this is your first room, start with the first-timer’s guide.
