Sportsup vs King's Cup: which fits your party?

King's Cup is not a single app but a name shared by several independent developers who have digitized the classic card game, also known as Ring of Fire, Circle of Death or Kings. The core idea is the same everywhere: the app acts as a virtual deck, you draw a card and follow a rule tied to its value. Kings pour into a communal cup (whoever draws the fourth King finishes it), Aces are often a waterfall, and most apps let you customize or add your own rules.

That is exactly where King's Cup shines: it is simple, instant to start and endlessly flexible. No questions to answer, no knowledge required, just cards and rules you already know or invent on the spot. The most visible iOS app, King's Cup - Drinking Game by Ben Toscano, is free and ad-supported with a one-time in-app purchase to remove ads (USD 1.99). It is rated 18+ in the Card category. There is also a separate open-source version by Delacrix Morgan that is free with no in-app purchases and no ads, and supports 15+ languages.

One thing worth knowing: the Ben Toscano iOS app is English-only, and as of mid-2026 it shows no aggregate star rating because it states it has not received enough ratings to display an overview. None of that matters much for a card-rule game, but it does mean the app itself is not localized.

Sportsup is not a card game but a sports quiz built for 2–10 players in the same room. Instead of drawing cards, you answer multiple-choice questions with three options (1/X/2) across football, hockey, MMA, esports, golf and the Olympics. Right answers score points. Wrong answers earn a penalty your group defines: a sip, push-ups, a dare, whatever you agree on. The penalty mechanic needs no alcohol, and there is a drink-free option.

The big difference from King's Cup is that the outcome is not down to luck. In Ring of Fire the deck decides what happens. In Sportsup, what you actually know about the Premier League, the NHL or last summer's Olympics decides. For a group of sports fans, that is the difference between a decent way to pass time and a night where having a clue genuinely counts.

Sportsup also puts weight on the questions holding up. There are thousands of fact-checked questions, and every answer carries both a written explanation and a source link, so the argument at the table can be settled on the spot. The app is fully bilingual (Swedish by default and English), works offline after the first download, and has no accounts, no logins, no tracking and no ads. If you want the most obvious starting point, there is a dedicated football quiz to try.

It is worth placing a third familiar name here: Picolo. Picolo is a well-built, well-rated party game (around 4.7 out of 5 from roughly 45,000 App Store ratings) that runs as a pass-the-phone game with dares, challenges and opinion cards. The difference from Sportsup is not about quality but category: Picolo centers on randomized dares and challenges for a broad party crowd, while Sportsup is a sports quiz where right and wrong answers drive scoring and the penalty. Picolo monetizes through paid packs and a subscription, whereas Sportsup uses one-time in-app purchases and has no accounts, tracking or ads. If you want the full breakdown, see our Sportsup vs Picolo comparison.

Put simply: King's Cup is pure card-rule luck, Picolo is dares and challenges, Sportsup is knowledge. All three are party games, but they test entirely different things.

Pick King's Cup if: you want the timeless card drinking game you already know, you enjoy inventing your own rules, you want something completely free (the open-source version), or you just want a simple virtual deck where luck runs the show and nobody needs to know anything.

Pick Sportsup if: you are sports fans who want knowledge to decide, you want fact-checked questions with an explanation and a source, you play 2–10 people in person, and you would rather skip accounts, ads and tracking. The Sportsup app is free to download, and it works just as well at the pre-party as it does on a quiet night in front of the match.

If you want to see where Sportsup lands among the wider field, read our roundup of the best drinking game apps.