If there’s one thing the pandemic is teaching us, it is to strengthen bonds with our loved ones, virtually. There’s nothing like continuing to have a great time although you are only physically away.
Be it tea time with the fam, a drinking session with your buddies, or even some quality time with your SO; these Zoom and FaceTime games are an amazing way to have an amazing time.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games With Your Best Friend
The safe and comfortable space of being around a best friend is always the most relaxed. You could get goofy, stupid or even gross, no one cares. Here are the 10 best games you could play with your best friend(s) during the pandemic.
Never Have I Ever
Besides pop-culture, this is a funny and exciting game to play with your besties. Although you could go vanilla with this game, it’s always better with some alcohol and legal drinking age.
How to Play
Ensure all of you have a glass of any drink of your choice. One of you would begin with something that you’ve never done. So it would go like “Never have I ever cut my own hair” or something like that, and anyone who’s done it would have to take a sip of their drink. (Which is why we mentioned its better with alcohol)
Read My Lips – For BFFs
This is the most appropriate way of getting back at your best friend for stealing your lipstick. You could say something and mean something entirely different. The catch is, they’d never hear it.
How to Play
Switch your call onto ‘Mute’ and say something to them. It could be a sentence, a word, or anything, but keep it short. Your friends would have to figure out what you’re saying. That’s it!
Two Truths and One Lie Just Between Friends
Come on, you know everything about your best friends and they, about you. So what’s the twist here? It can get gloriously embarrassing.
How to Play
One of the players would have to begin by stating 2 facts and a lie about themselves. The rest would have to figure out which one is the lie. An endearing part about this game is that you get to bring out your inner caveman and say the most horrendous stuff that might seem like a lie, but is indeed a fact.
Clown Charades With Your Friends
This iconic childhood game wins the crown for every get-together. But, given some free Zoom and FaceTime with your best friends, its time to get some clowns on-board.
How to Play
Pretty simple. You think of a broader theme first, it can be movies, personalities, favourite shoe brands, anything. One would have to act out a particular thing of the theme, and the rest would have to guess what the ‘Dumb Charade’ is saying. Remember, no talking. Only actions and mutually-agreed signs.
The Best-Friend Edition of Ugly Pictionary
The uglier it gets, the better.
How to Play
Quite similar to playing a dumb charade, one of the players would have to think of something and draw it out. The rest would have to guess what the person has drawn. It’s best to have a time limit of about a minute or so. No one wants to wait for that ‘Michelangelo Moment’ that errrybody knows would not come true.
Guess the Song
You got it. This can be a singing or even a dancing game. If you wish for it to be a dancing game, please bring in some iconic moves and not your shower ones.
How to Play
One of the players would have to either hum a song (no words, please. Just hum). You could clap, snap, whistle, anything, just no words. The others would have to guess the song.
If you want to dance to the game, break a signature dance move, and the rest would have to guess the song that choreographed that dance (hence, the basic requirement of “Iconic” or “Signature” dance moves).
Would You Rather – The Best Friend Version
This is rather a game that can soon lose its lustre. But, the first few sessions would be hilarious. You could play this game especially when you’re free for a very short time.
How to Play
You would have to pose a dilemma to your best friend. Complicated? Nah. It’s two of the funniest and maybe even disgusting things that you could put together. A simple example of this would be, “Would you rather eat raw fish or raw eggs”.
Word Building
Would you rather run out of words, or win over your bestie? The Zoom and FaceTime version of Word Building is all the more fun, a merge of the classic word building and dumb charades. This is also a great way to un-hoard your cupboard!
How to Play
One of you would have to begin with a word. To make things better on video, you would have to point out to an object. The next player would have to think of a word that begins with the last letter of the object you showed. For example, if you point to the table, your friend would say a word that begins with ‘E’. Take turns to look equally silly, silly.
20 Questions With Your Friends
This is a great way to kill longer time. One of you would have think of something, someone, and the other person would have to guess it. Bleh, how does this work?
How to Play
You’d have to think of something, and your buddy would ask 20 questions in the quest of that word in your head. But, you can only answer in single words (finally), ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. So, the other player too, must coordinate and only ask questions that would either get a yes or a no for an answer. And guess the word on your mind with 20 questions!
Bingo!
Bingo is a favourite high school game. Rekindle that lost flame of mindlessness with your best friends. You’d need a book and a pencil for this. Fine, a pen will do too.
How to Play
All players would have to draw (yaas, drawing, it is) a table of 5 horizontal and vertical lines. Let loose, there are no perfect or imperfect lines. Ensure you have 25 separate boxes in the table now. Randomly arrange numbers 1 to 25 in all these boxes.
Remember, it has to be random, not in series. Each of you will keep calling out a number and cutting off those numbers on your respective bingo tables. As you strike out a line, you would cross out a letter in the word ‘Bingo’. The one who crosses five complete lines, thus striking out the entire word, would scream ‘BINGO’! yes, that’s it.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Your Family
Zoom and Facetime games are an awesome way to bond with your family if you are living away. But, hey, in all the hassle, don’t forget fam rules. Keep it nice and clean.
Pictionary With Your Family
This all-inclusive game is our top pick for a memorable virtual time with your family.
How to Play
One of the players would have to think of something and draw it out on paper. The others would have to try and guess what is drawn. Quite simple. But, remember to not use any words. Just your imperfectly perfect drawings (its bound to get better the worse you draw!).
Fam-Jam With 20 Questions
Are you planning on a long fam-jam, online? With some drinks and great food going on? Then 20 Questions is a great game to keep you guys engaged for a longer time!
How to Play
Pick a broader theme to begin with. It can be movie actors, singers, movies, travel destinations, anything. One person would have to think of something and the rest would have to guess what’s in that person’s mind with 20 questions. You are only allowed to answer in ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Its easier said than done, yes. But, what’s better than getting a. little silly with the fam?
Hangman
Nostaligiax, yet? Hangman is one of the best old school board games! It’s a little extra exciting to have a board or any other writing surface that would be visible to everybody. This sure would better the vibe. It’s a great game for some virtual evening family time.
How to Play
Similar to 20 Questions, you would have to decide on a theme/topic. Then, draw a hanging stickman on the board. Think of a word from the theme and write it next to the stick figure. However, you can write only some letters of that word and leave the rest blank. For example, _ _ RR _ _ T G_ _ P (it’s Forrest Gump).
The others would have to keep guessing the word(s) by saying a letter out loud. And for every wrong letter, you would have to keep erasing or removing a part of the stick figure that you have drawn. The last part of the ‘Hangman’ would be the last time your guests could try their luck with a letter, thus guessing the word.
Dumb Charades – With the Family
I’m sure your parents and your grands are well-versed with this ancient game. Let loose and have some memorable online time with your family.
How to Play
Have a full-fam discussion on a common topic and think of something from that topic. Act out what you’ve thought about, and your family would have to guess what’s on your mind! You could intensify the game by splitting into groups if you’re a little-above-average tech-savvy.
Virtual Mafia
Mafia is by far the best game to play on vacation. Why not twist it a little and make it exciting for some online fam-time?
Virtual Mafia hones the same rules and the same characters as Mafia, but with a liiitle extra effort. However, this game is great and mostly recommended if your video call involves a massive clan and not just a nuclear household.
How to Play
If yours is a huge family video call, say about 10 to 15 people, then you would have to allocate a character to each person. The extra rule here would be to have a signature hand movement for each character which can be shown on the video call. Please proceed with this game only if your dear fam is up for the complexity.
The Characters:
One Narrator – Who narrates and instructs each character
One Doctor – Who has the power to save a life
One Detective – To pose their doubts on someone to be the mafia
Civilians/ common public – Would be randomly throwing accusations to figure out the mafia
The Mafia – The ones who kill, aka the bad bois
The Mafia gang here would be either 3 to 5 people depending on the size of your team. Once all of you are on Zoom or Facetime, you’re good to go.
City Go to Sleep
The Narrator would first send the entire city (which includes all of you) to sleep (means, you all close your eyes, it might be weird, but it gets fun).
The Awakening of the Mafia
The Mafia would be woken up by the Narrator who says ‘Mafia, wake up’. All those gangstas would open their eyes and recognise each other. This would happen on the first night of being in the Virtual Mafia City.
Accusations and Suspicions
Then the Narrator says ‘Mafia, go to sleep’ and they shut their eyes. (No one should know who the mafia is). The next morning, the Narrator wakes the city up with ‘City, wake up’. Everybody opens their eyes and begins shooting virtual darts at whom they suspect to be the mafia (basically, that’s the whole game. Either the city figures out who the mafia is, or the mafia kills all the civilians). You could raise silly, observant or even random accusations to get someone guilty of being the mafia (or maybe even not).
Someone’s dead
The city goes back to sleep. The Narrator opens with, ‘The city wakes up to find so&so dead.’ How did this happen? When the city goes to sleep, the mafia wakes up and they choose a person to evict (now that its virtual, it has to be with signs, no speaking at all).
Now, the civilians would have to figure out who killed that person. (whoever is killed please go back to your daily chores and DO NOT stay on video). The catch is, the mafia too needs to act like a civilian so that they are not called out.
Doctor not so strange
The Narrator can ask the city to go back to sleep anytime, (while the mafia do their thing) only this time, the Doctor is woken up. This person can point out to anyone with a hand movement (the one we mentioned before) as to whom they’d like to save after the Narrator says “Doctor, who’d you like to save?”. Now this saved person can gain a defence if they were chosen to be killed by the mafia in the first place.
Detective Homes (pun intended)
The city wakes up the next morning to find someone/no one dead. The city goes back to sleep, and the Detective is woken up. Now, this player would have to act out who they suspect to be the killer. If found guilty when the city wakes up, then its one killer down. The game goes on until either the Civilians or the Mafia wins.
Guess the Song – With Your Family
Finally, your dad gets to hum as loud as he can! Guess the song is a relaxing game to play with your family, especially if you guys are passionate about music.
How to Play
One person would have to hum a song, it can involve snapping, clapping, anything but words. The rest would have to figure out which song they’re referring to.
Simon Says
Oh, sure you all know this game. Simon Says is even better if you have grandparents joining you in the game. Make it funny, make it silly and make it happy.
How to Play
The oldest can be Simon (please don’t Cowell out), who can demand anything. For example, if your grandad says ‘Simon says, bring me something red’, the rest would have to bring something him something red. Please, remember, to loosen up. It always gets better.
String Up a Story
This game is a lot like Chinese Whisper, the only difference being, you’re not whispering.
How to Play
Each member would have to say a random word and the last person would have a vividly random story to tell from their memory. Example, it can begin with ‘How’ and the next person can say ‘I’, then ‘Found’, it goes on (please keep it as random as possible). The last person should be able to remember what the other teammates said, and string up a story!
What Am I?
An all-time favourite riddler game.
How to Play
One person would have to think of something and pose a question in the most un-obvious way for the rest to find out what it is. For example, if you’re thinking of a television, you can ask something like ‘I’m square and I talk with pictures. What am I?’. And the rest of the family would have to guess it.
Build a Tongue Twister
Who said you couldn’t make a tongue twister of your own? What’s better than inventing one with the family?
How to Play
Like String Up a Story, teammates would have to said random words and the last person would have to say them all out together. But, here’s the twist. Twist your choice of words a little to make it difficult for the last person.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Your S.O.
Recreate a date night with these virtual games and some laughs and great memories going on. Doesn’t matter if you’ve just started dating during or before the pandemic, if you’ve been in love for a long time or if you believe it to be a fault in the stars, there’s something here for everyone! Because come on, love is love even during corona times.
Two Truths and a Lie – For New Couples
If you’ve just started knowing each other, then this is a great ice breaker. Besides breaking your personally held opinions about the other person, you’d also be learning a lot about them. (This is a boring game if you’ve been together for a long time).
How to Play
One of you would have to begin with 3 things about yourself, one of which is a lie and the other two, absolute facts. The other person would have to figure out which one is a lie. (Please lie responsibly).
How Well Do You Know Me
Now, this is a fantastic game for couples who’ve been together for a very long time. Bonus, you get to decide on one question each, and have as many questions as you want.
How to Play
Once you’ve planned out your questionnaire, ensure that you both have it. Take some time off, and write down the answers both for you and your partner. After that, tally your answers with each other and see who knows better about whom. (clarification – you’ll be reading out your girl/guy’s answers, the ones you have written are for you to crosscheck the other person’s replies).
This or That
The couples’ version of this game can intensify on many levels. Get grosser, uglier or even juicier!
How to Play
Ask your partner two different things, and they’d have to choose one. It can be boring, only if you think it to be boring. Remember, it has to be quick! An easy example would be ‘Lace or Satin’. Get to know more about your S.O! It’s the little things that matter.
Who’d You Rather
The Ellen DeGeneres’ version of would you rather. Firstly, play this game ONLY if both of you are open to fantasies. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing real about this game. It’s just for a funny and silly time together.
How to Play
Ask your partner who would they rather, and put together two celebrities, CEOs, fruits, bricks, anything. Like, ‘My favourite jam or Marilyn Manson’. Interesting, right? It gets better.
Truth or Drink
If you are the best buddy gang of couples, this is the perfect game. Get some drinks going, and anything else, that you’re legally allowed.
How to Play
You guessed it, ask your partner anything and he/she would have to respond with the truth and the truth alone. If his/her friend or even you deny it, your partner would have to drink. Simple. It’s the simple things in life that can get you in trouble. So play wisely.
Simon Says
You got the idea already. Kindly uphold cyber equality and trueness in the process, and please change ‘Simon’ to your own names, it just gets weird otherwise.
How to Play
Ask your partner to do anything for you with this game! Go crazy. A beautiful example would be ‘Simon says, go do the dishes.’
Read My Lips – With Your Partner
This is a hilarious game, quite similar to the one in the ‘Best Friends’ section of this listicle. But, its on a whole new level.
How to Play
Either turn off your phone to mute or just don’t use words and say stuff to your partner. They will have to figure out what you’re trying to say. It can be something hot, something cold, or nothing at all. Get silly!
20 Questions – For the New Dates
This is another amazing ice breaker to get to know someone new. If this is your first online date together fret not. Twenty Questions has got you covered.
How to Play
You guessed it. You ask the other person 20 questions to get to know them. But, here’s the catch, they can answer only in ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Happy ice-breaking! Go on, ask anything you want.
Compatibility Test
Haven’t we aalll wanted to do this test? Well, guess what, it’s not as complicated as we thought it to be.
How to Play
Ask your partner something about yourself and listen to their reply. If it’s anywhere close to your answer, then voilà! They know you well! Take turns to test out your compatibility.
Memory Game
This is an age-old primary school game. Spice it up with some extra cosiness and some unforgettable words.
How to Play
Decide on a broader theme first, it can be anything. Then say a word out loud, your partner would have to say another word, but only after saying the one you said. Keep building this memory chain, to see who snaps first. For example, you say ‘Coffee’, and he would say ‘Coffee, Ice’, then you’d said ‘Coffee, Ice, Cream’ and the cycle goes on.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Your Colleagues
Now that everyone, especially employees and employers are working from home, some recreation would be relieving. However, remember the golden letters during, after or before any game, NSFW.
Pictionary With Your Colleagues
We told you, this is a classic. You’d find it everywhere as it is the aptest activity for any virtual gathering!
How to Play
Think of a word and draw it out, your colleagues would have to guess what you’re drawing. You can get uglier, but remember, you also need to get back to work. So keep the professionality going, while having a great time.
Connect
The nostalgia might hit once you know what this game is about. A pretty straightforward game, players would have to say words that have some connection to them.
How to Play
One of you would have to begin with a word, and the next person should say out another word that is somehow connected to the previous one. For example, if you start with ‘Chair’, the next word would be ‘Wood’, and then maybe ‘Tree’ or something like that. Make it more fun by picking up words from your everyday work-life as a team.
What’s in Your Phone
Ensure to have an NSFW-proof questionnaire before you begin.
How to Play
One of you could be the host and make a list of questions and the number of points for a set of questions. Everyone who has a particular item on their phone gets points and the one who with the most points has to do something the team asks.
For example, make a section of ‘Five points if’, ‘Four points if’ and so on. List down a set of questions like ‘You have an unread text’ or (make it worse) ‘You have an unread text from work’ under each section. You can make as many questions as you like under each division. The ones who have what’s asked on their phones get the points that are allocated to those specific sections from which the questions are asked. Please adhere to your respective work rules in all the jolliness.
Never Have I Ever – The Work Edition
Never have I ever is a fun game regardless of your surroundings. Now that its work atmosphere, have drinks on your virtual table (only if everyone’s fine with it) and begin!
How to Play
One of you would state something that you have never done. The one who have done it must take a sip of their drink. Make it funny and add some work-related stuff too. Drink and behave responsibly, because your offices are bound to open once the lockdown ends.
Figure the Theme
This game is quite a counter playoff to the rest of our games here. The chosen participant would have to figure out, yep you guessed it, the theme. So how does this work?
How to Play
If yours is a huge work video call, then one person is removed briefly from the group call. During this time, the rest of you should decide on a theme. Once the person is back on the call, say random things that refer to the theme you chose. Now, this participant who was removed initially needs to figure out the theme the rest of you are talking in.
For example, if you think of ‘Schengen Countries’ as your theme, start listing out each of the countries one by one. The isolated participant who got back on call should solve the theme and say it out loud.
Letter Building
Letter Building is a little different from word building. Here, players would have to string together letters to keep making a new word.
How to Play
One person would have to begin by saying a letter out loud. The next should add a new letter either at the beginning or at the end of the previous letter. The cycle goes on until someone cannot come up with a letter to make a new word.
For example, if one begins with ‘O’, the next person says ‘Go’, then ‘Got’, it goes on. Remember to take it letter by letter.
Word Building – With Your Colleagues
Word building is another great game for a relaxed happy hour in between or after working hours. This game can go on for as long as you like.
How to Play
Pick a broad theme first and then get on with the game. One of the players would begin with a word. The next player would say another word that begins with the last letter of the previous word within 10 to 15 seconds. For example, if you say ‘Mouse’, then the next person says ‘Eagle’ and then, ‘Elephant’ and it goes on. Remember not to repeat the same words.
Emoji Hunt
This is a modern-day game that can be exciting and oh-so mindless at the same time. But, a great way to have some silly time with your work folks, nonetheless!
How to Play
Emoji Hunt is playable if you’re using any video conferencing app including Zoom, Slack, Whatsapp, Skype, anything. Ensure to have a common group, including all of you.
The first person would send an emoji on that group, and the rest would have to quickly find and send back the same emoji on the group chat. Whoever does it first gets a point. Each player would keep track of their own scores. (Please, be truthful, it’s your work crowd). The one with the most points gets a brownie! (Please bake it yourself).
Emoji Charades
You guessed it! Dumb charades, but the millennial style. If yours is a young workforce, this game could be super fun. The older ones may take time to get the hang of it.
How to Play
Firstly, fix a theme or a topic. One player would then think of something based on that topic and describe it BUT with emojis alone. So make sure you have a common group or a channel with all of you in it.
You could bring in additional rules like – a space between the emojis would mean the word ‘And’, numbers are allowed/not allowed, stuff like that. Have an interesting discussion regarding the ground rules before kicking off with this crazy activity!
The Mid-Word Crisis
This is a hilarious game that gets as twisted, silly and funny as they come. All of you would need an open chat with autocorrect for this game
How to Play
One of the teammates would have to read out half a sentence, and everyone else would have to type it out. The second half of the sentence would be individually filled by using the middle words that appear on your autocorrect box. Keep adding words until it makes a sentence, and read it out loud once you’re done.
For example, the sentence begins with ‘I had such a heavy’. Which for me, completed with ‘I had such a heavy duty to advise you to the same to you ALWAYS DOES THAAATT you have any questions or concerns please visit the plug-in settings’. Hilarious, right? It doesn’t have to be politically correct, polite or even meaningful. Just keep adding words to make a sentence so that you and your colleagues can have a good laugh and some good beer together, virtually!
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Your Kids
Virtual games with children are the most heartwarming of all FaceTime games. If you are a parent living away from your child, or a preschool teacher looking for ways to make Zoom calls with your class more interesting, then these Zoom and FaceTime games have got you!
Find Me Something
This is precisely Scavenger Hunt, but a subtler and cuter version.
How to Play
Firstly, describe something that’s on your mind and ask your child to find that thing. For example, if you are thinking of a pencil, pose clues like ‘Its something long, has a sharp end and can write!’ Your child would go around thinking about the clues and bring you the best of what he/she understood.
Action Songs!
Aren’t these the best? These exciting little activities are sure to let you and your kids have a great sing&dance time, online!
How to Play
Stand a little away from the camera and make a song for your kids. You could sing anything that you’ve known as a child or learn a new song and present it to your kids.
But, remember all these songs ought to have body movements that you could teach your children on Zoom or FaceTime (hence, they’re called action songs). The best example here would be the classic ‘If you’re happy and you know it’. Dance and sing along together!
Simon Says
In fact, Simon Says was initially made for tiny tots. We just made newer and adult-er versions of it. So, go back to your roots and play this virtual game with your kids.
How to Play
Say something to your kids and they would have to fulfil it. It could be something like, ‘Simon says, jump as high as you can’ and then ‘Simon says, jump as high as you can while touching your nose’, it can be anything. And trust us, they’ll love it.
Read Together
Aww, isn’t this the cutest? Such beautiful memories of bedtime stories and snuggles while you two were together. You could still recreate the same warmth virtually as well.
How to Play
This is more of an activity than a game. Read a book or pick something from the internet if you don’t have a book around. You could also teach your children how to read and have them learn and read something back to you the next day.
Virtual Puppet Shows
Puppet shows are sure to grab any kid’s attention. Ensure to have some flawless internet connection for this activity. If not, it can get exhausting and the kids might get restless too.
How to Play
Get your puppets on. It can be gloves or stick figures or anything that you feel is great. Present a drama with these puppets to your children. Make it as interactive as possible and remember to have funny names. This is a wonderful evening time that you and your child could share.
Memory Game With Your Kids
Children love a challenge. If your friends have been miserably bugging you each time you play this game, your kids would not let you down.
How to Play
Choose a theme first. Begin with a word from the chosen topic, and your child would have to repeat the word you said and then add a word of their own. For example, if you decided on a fruits theme and you begin with ‘Apple’, your child would have to say ‘Apple, Mango’, and then you say ‘Apple, Mango, Strawberry’ and this chain goes on. Its good fun to play with a larger group of kids too!
Build Words With Your Kids
Similar to the other versions, but keep small-worded, basically, please don’t shower your Shakespearean vibes onto them. Let your children take the lead. Teach them new words along the way too!
How to Play
Begin with a word, and your child/children would have to continue by saying a word with the last letter of the previous word. For example, if you say ‘Egg’, the next player would say ‘Glue’ and then, ‘Eagle’ and so on. But, do not repeat the same words.
Build Sentences!
This is a great game to teach your kids to make sentences of their own.
How to Play
You would have to give a set of five random letters to your kid(s) and they would have to make a sentence with the letters you’ve given them. Suppose you say letters like ‘AGTVH’, they can come up with a sentence like ‘A Girl Took Vocal Horses’. It can get silly and funny. There’s no right or wrong. Your children are sure to go bonkers trying to make sentences and laughing at them when they see you laugh.
The Laughter Challenge
It’s as simple as it sounds. This is the perfect game if you’re face-timing with one child at a time.
How to Play
Face your kid on the video call. The challenge is, who makes whom laugh first. You can make funny faces, funny actions, just no words. The one who laughs first loses and the other person gets a point. Keep a score table and the one with the highest score gets to decide the next game you’ll be playing!
How Many Can You Name
This game is applicable to kids of any age, even adults! It’s an edge-of-the-seat kind of game.
How to Play
You would have to pick a category and give your child a ten-second timer to name as many things from that category. For example, if you say ‘Colours’, then your kid would have to quickly list as many colours as they can in a span of ten seconds. You can increase the difficulty level depending on the age-group you’re playing with.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Older People
Older people, meaning your parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, the previous generation, basically. Yes, we get it, they don’t understand advanced technology and it can be quite a task to teach them all over again. But, guess what, you can bridge that painful ‘generation gap’ with these fun Zoom and FaceTime games while you are away from your loving oldies.
Taboo
The online version of this might get a little weird and need some extra thought process, but trust us, once you get the hang of it, it’s really good!
How to Play
Pick a theme and one of you would have to think of something. You would have to explain what you’re thinking without using the actual word or any other word that can have near a similarity to it.
For example, if you’re thinking of an ‘Apple’, you cannot use ‘Fruit, Red and Orchard’. Instead, you would have to come up with interesting references to have your teammates guess what you’re thinking. Like ‘Eve’ (smart? yep).
Aircrash
This is a brilliant game to play and explain to older people! Its even better if you’re playing with more than 5 elders.
How to Play
If yours is a team of say 7 people, one of you would be the pilot and the rest would be different famous people on board. You would be given personalities of movie stars, musicians, sportspeople, presidents, any popular category, basically.
Now, the plane you guys are on is about to crash, and the pilot can only save himself/herself and one of the passengers. So, each of you would have to explain why you (meaning, your character) stands a better chance to win the pilot’s parachute. Once all of you (except the pilot, of course) have explained your reasons, the pilot can choose (absolutely unbiased, please) whom they’d like to save.
Oh, I Have
This is a wonderful game to get to know your oldies even better. If you’ve not guessed it yet, it’s the very opposite of the famous game, ‘Never Have I Ever’. Since the older people would outnumber the younger ones here, there would be something amazing for the elders to share and laugh about while you try to fit in.
How to Play
One of the elders would begin with something that they have done in their lifetime, and the ones who have done the same would take a sip of their drink (you could drink too, although there isn’t much you could relate to).
For example, if your grandmum says ‘I’ve lived through WW2’, then your grandad and the other elders would sip their drink (or anything else, biscuits?). Now, what’s in it for the youngsters here? Memories! Ask them about it, get to know how they did what they did, their emotions back then, the societal situations etc. It’s a great time to bond with older people, talking about such incredible memories, which might not have been spoken about otherwise.
Talk to Your Younger/Older Self
Now, this is more of some quality time together rather than just a game. Also, this activity would mostly involve the elders, making it all the more endearing.
How to Play
One person would begin by asking another what they would say to their younger or older self. Example, you could ask your dad what’s the biggest self-calming rule that he’d like to tell his older self.
Or, you could ask your grand mum what’s the biggest value to look for in a life partner that she would want to tell her younger self. Each of you could take turns in asking such questions. Get talking, get some laughter around and have some beautiful memories to cherish during the pandemic!
Scavenger Hunt
Come on, why should the young ones have all the fun? We’re sure the older peeps too want to have some silly and challenging time together.
How to Play
Make things a little extra exciting by having a theme, like a colour code. All of you can take turns in asking the rest of the team to hunt for something. For example, ‘Bring me something small and blue’ or ‘Bring me something black that has words on it’, it can be anything.
Fast Five
This game can be played with any age group.
How to Play
Think of a theme, it gets better when the topic here is niche. Pick a theme that all the generations on your video call are comfortable with and have fair knowledge about. The first person would have to quickly name 5 words from that theme. However, each word gets only 10 seconds, so the player would have to have 5 words within 50 seconds.
Skip the Number
This is another exciting game to play with elders on a video call. Stock up on some snacks before beginning! (Please don’t panic buy, though)
How to Play
Decide on a single-digit number first and ensure to skip its multiples. Now, as each person would begin to individually recite numbers from 1, the multiples of the decided number ought to be ignored. If a player accidentally says a multiple of that number, then they’re out of the game. For example, if you decide on 5, then you would be skipping 5, 10, 15, 20, and so on.
ABC
Nope, not kiddish. Its fun, irrespective of your age! Plus, what’s better than nurturing the child in you?
How to Play
Decide on a broad theme/topic. Each player would take turns in saying out a word from the chosen topic. However, this series would begin with A and end with Z. For example, if you chose travel destinations as your topic then the series could be something like ‘Amsterdam, Bangkok, Canada, Darjeeling’ and so on. (psst, don’t google stuff!)
The Rhyme Game
The game is as straightforward as its name. However, begin with short words.
How to Play
One of you would begin with a word and the next player needs to say a word that’s rhyming to the previous one. Suppose, you begin with ‘Hi’, the next person says ‘Bye’ and then ‘Sigh’ and so on. Let the cycle go on for as long as it can.
20 Questions With Older People
This is an all-rounder, ain’t it? The game is indeed a great fit with any age group.
How to Play
Pick a topic and the first person would have to think of something from that theme. The rest would have to ask 20 questions in total to figure out what the player is thinking. Remember, the answers would only be in ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Best Zoom and FaceTime Games to Play With Anybody
What if you’re face timing with someone who does not fit into any of the above categories? And you have run out of things to talk about, but still want to keep the call going? Panic not, this list has got you covered.
Truth or Dare
This is a classic game regardless of what your relationship with the other person is. However, keep the questions a little less personal so that it doesn’t get awkward (totally depends on your comfort levels, though).
How to Play
One player would be asked to choose between ‘Truth’ or ‘Dare’. If the person chooses truth, then they would be posed with a question and they would have to reply with the truth.
If a dare is the person’s choice, then they would be asked to do something and it ought to be executed. Given that this is a virtual scenario, keep things more accustomed to that platform to have a great time.
This or That – With Anyone
If you’re on a video call with someone you’d really like to know, then this one is a great way forward.
How to Play
The first player asks the other to choose between two things (this or that, exactly). For example, ‘Bacon or Sausages’, it can be as simple as that, but it can tell you so much more about a person! Take turns and pose some interesting dilemmas.
Would You Rather
Would you rather is a lot similar to This or That, the difference is that this game would involve sentences and not just words.
How to Play
Ask a player what would they pick between two given situations. It can get funny and interesting as it goes (the lesser you know the person you’re playing with, the better!). For example, you could begin with something like ‘Would you rather buy a house or live in every luxurious apartment in the city for a year’.
Riddle Me
You got it! This is an engaging riddling game and the best part, you’d be making all the riddles.
How to Play
Think of something and state 3 riddles to get the rest of your Zoom/FaceTime participants guessing what’s on your mind. You can make it as intriguing as you want, but ensure that the whole team is on the same page.
7 Up!
Quite similar to the ‘Skip a Number’ game, but here, you’d only be skipping the number 7. And no, it has nothing to do with the beverage.
How to Play
There can be as many players for this game. The first person begins with the number 1, and the series continues, but when it comes to the number 7, the player needs to say ‘7 Up!’ (yes, with the exclamation). Repeat the same cycle again from 1 to 7, but this time, faster. The faster the series goes, the more maddening it can get.
Memory Game – With Anyone
Test your opponent’s memory with this game. Make it more engaging by having specific themes that are common among all of you.
How to Play
The first player begins with a word(s) from the theme. The next person says the previous word and then adds another word to it, and the game continues.
For example, if you’ve thought of music bands as your theme and you begin with ‘Guns and Roses’, then the next person would say ‘Guns and Roses, Pearl Jam, then, ‘Guns and Roses, Pearl Jam, Megadeth’ and the list can go on. See who snaps the memory card first!
20 Questions – With Anyone
This is similar to the version with the new dates. It’s a great way to start a conversation or to bridge awkward silence with anyone (with consent, of course).
How to Play
Begin by posing questions to the other player, however, the latter can only reply with a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’. These questions can be anything (it could also be an impressive way to shoot your shot). Remember not to bring in any uncomfortable questions, you might not want this to be your last video call together.
Build Words – With Anyone
Word building is the best and the simplest game to play on a video call.
How to Play
Decide on a common theme and say out a word from that theme. The next person would have to say another word beginning from the last letter of the previous word. Have a time limit of 20 seconds for each player to think of a word.
Make a Word
Make a word is the contradicting game of word building. Players here would have to deduce words from a long one. Mmm, how would that work?
How to Play
Player number 1 would begin with a long word (the longer, the better). The rest of the players would have to come up with words using the letters of the first word. But, within a minute.
For example, if the long word is ‘Scrumptious’, the other words that can be deduced from this word would include ‘Crump’, ‘Trump’ (of course), ‘Rum’, ‘Soup’ and so on. Each player would get only 60 seconds to make their words and no repetitions of the same word.
Connect – With Anyone
Connect is yet another engaging game that’s hard to put down! Ensure to bring this game into a group call that functions at the same wavelength as you to make it better.
How to Play
One player would begin with a word or words, it can be anything. The next person would say something that’s connected to the previous one. Now, this connection needs to be of a relevant basis.
For example, if you begin with ‘Game of Thrones’ and the next person says ‘Khal Drogo’, then it can be ‘Aquaman’ and so on. It’s amazing to watch how a tiny connection can lead each word to a whole new scene.
Hope this exhaustive list of Zoom and FaceTime games to play with your loved ones is helpful! Remember, the pandemic is only a matter of time when you’re physically away from the ones you love. Take this period to enhance your bond with your special ones.
Member discussion