Culture

You may have heard of the Chicken Chase, a daring drinking game involving a horde of bros and baes drinking their way along the rainbow (pubs) to find the pot of gold (a mate dressed as a chicken in an undisclosed pub, drinking their way through a collective tab). Critic Te Ārohi played our own version of this game at the Hyde Street Party, swapping the chicken for a cone and pubs for flats. If you’re curious to play yourself, here are the rules.

Step 1: Everyone shows up to the party and puts drinks/money into the
community drinking pot.

The actual amount may vary depending on how many people show up to the party. The more people who show, the less everyone has to put in. You may eventually get some of this returned to you in the form of alcohol at the bars/flats. Maybe not. We recommend anywhere between $10 and $20 or 1-2 drinks per person depending on the size of the group. The goal should be for the cone to have enough cash or drinks to not worry about buying any of their own drinks for at least a couple hours.

Step 2: Get drunk.

This part you should be familiar with.

Step 3: Decide who will don the cone costume.

The lucky person is now the centre of everyone’s universe for the night.

Step 4: Choose a designated “chase area.”

This is actually really important and should be done before people even show up for the party. You want to set a very specific designated area the cone is allowed to use to choose their bar or flat. We recommended doing some research before and finding an area that is 1) walkable for the group and 2) has enough bars/flats. You want to pick a region where there are enough bars/flats to keep things interesting but not so big no one will ever find the cone.

Step 5: The cone is given the money from the community drinking pot.

This can be a substantial amount, so for the love of God don’t lose it.

Step 6: The cone has 30 minutes to pick one bar/flat within the designated area where they will spend their evening drinking with everyone else’s money/drinks.

This area varies depending on where the chase is taking place and will be clearly established to everyone at the party beforehand (see Step 4). For example “any bar in the Mission between Street X and Street Y.”

Step 7: Once the cone leaves everyone else separates into teams.

The team sizes depend on the number of people at the party. Minimum of 2 people. Bring drinks with you.

Step 8: The teams depart 30 minutes after the cone has left, and try to find the cone.

The rest of the night is filled with trying to figure out what bar/flat the cone is at. There are additional rules listed below that will direct how you’re allowed to communicate with other  teams, and what happens if you do or don’t find the cone at the bar or flat you enter.

The Rules

1. The cone can’t move once they select a bar/flat.
2. The cone should be drinking with everyone’s money/drinks.
3. If your team finds the cone, you also get to start drinking with everyone else’s money/drinks until it runs out.
4. If your team is the last one to find the cone, you buy everyone a round of drinks.
5. If you get to a bar/flat and the cone is not there, you must order and finish a drink or finish a drink of your own before moving onto the next bar/flat.
6. Before you leave the bar/flat, you must have someone take a photo of you at said bar/flat.
7. You may not text or communicate to other teams saying where you are going next.
8. You may not text or communicate to other teams saying if you found the cone.
9. If by (pre-designated time) everyone has not found the cone, the cone will dispatch hints on their location so everyone can meet before closing time.