The LOST Drinking Game

A/N: This is not a story, it's a game I came up with the other night.Truth be told, I got the rules from an X-Files book, but I adapted the whole thing to LOST. By the time of writing this, three seasons have been finished, so these rules might have to be extended once the next season comes out. And of course beware of spoilers if you haven't seen season 3 yet!

Since I am not borrowing the characters this time, I don't even need a disclaimer… but THANKS to J.J. Abrams, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for hiding so many easter eggs in the show – without those this game would never work.

Here's the setup:

You need LOST DVDs and each of you needs something to drink, preferably a bottle. I'm going to give you a list of events, and according to how often they happen on the show, you are allowed to drink (less is more – the rarer something happens, the more you may drink). Instead of drinks, you may also use crackers, jelly bears or whatever you like. And here's the rules:

First of all, put your LOST episode in and start watching!

And here's the game part:

THIS HAPPENS A LOT, so…

Drink ONCE from your bottle (or take ONE jelly bean/cracker/whatever), if:

one or more of the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42 turns up

two or more castaways cross paths (directly or indirectly via someone else) off the island

Sawyer calls somebody else by a nickname

Sawyer says "Son of a bitch!"

Hurley says "Dude"

Desmond says "Brother"

Sawyer offends somebody, or someone is mad at him

someone needs medical attention

Shannon complains

THIS HAPPENS REGULARLY, BUT NOT TOO OFTEN, so…

Drink TWICE from your bottle if:

Rousseau turns up

the whispers can be heard

Juliet smiles or laughs

Locke uses his knife

someone cries

Charlie holds or plays his guitar

Sayid needs to fix something

Eko talks (not counting just "yes" or "no" etc.)

someone has a vision or hallucinates

Vincent plays a role

someone makes a discovery (e.g. Hatch, Black Rock, Four-Toed Statue)

one of the castaways kisses somebody (on or off the island)

Smokey manifests (as smoke or otherwise; this partly overlaps with the hallucination/vision part mentioned above)

someone gets into a fight

someone has their own agenda

the episode ends in a cliffhanger

previously unseen DHARMA equipment or places turn up(e.g. the van, Looking Glass station, sonic fence)

THIS HAPPENS RARELY, so…

Drink THREE TIMES from your bottle if:

Sawyer calls somebody by their real name

there's an on-island flashback (doesn't apply to "A Tale of Two Cities" and "The Other 48 Days", as there are no flashbacks as such; for these two episodes, just enjoy your drink and keep spotting the other events)

somebody on the island calls Sawyer "James" (extra big sips if that someone is neither Kate nor Locke or Ben)

a question or mystery from an earlier episode is (at least partly) answered or resolved (e.g. Rousseau's signal, the polar bear, Claire's abduction)

the outside world is perceptible on the island(e.g. Ben's TV, Penny's message)

one of Ben's plans fails or seems to fail (e.g. the operation)

two or more of the castaways recognize a direct or indirect connection between them from before the flight (e.g. Jack and Sawyer, Jack and Ana Lucia)

someone dies (on the island or in a flash forward)

a dead character returns (in a flashback or otherwise)

other castaways apart from the main cast are mentioned by name (not counting Rose and Bernard) (e.g. Arzt, "Scott or Steve", Neil)

THIS IS NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN SOON, so…

FINISH your drink if:

the castaways get off the island

essential questions are answered

Jack, Kate or Sawyer dies

The Others are defeated and leave the island

other people (DHARMA or otherwise) arrive on the island (not counting food drops etc.) (lucky you when you get to "Catch-22"!)

Penny finds the island

we learn more about Jacob

THIS MEANS THE SHOW IS OVER, so…

SMASH your bottle if:

everything is neatly wrapped up and explained, and the castaways go on to live happily ever after wherever they want to

aliens turn up

the island is destroyed

all castaways die

any of the theories earlier debunked by the writers turns out to be true after all (purgatory, dream, group hallucination etc.)

End Note: If you have any more ideas, send them to me or put them in your review (hint, hint) and I'll include them. All contributions credited, of course.