Game nights can bring out our most competitive side and allow for seriously fun evenings, but what happens when you're in separate houses, the last game was a tie and you need to clench a victory? (Everybody likes to win, OK?) Even figuring out how to play old-school board or card games over video chat can be a difficult situation. Thanks to a little virtual digging, though, we discovered 21 different games you can play both online and with your friends. Forget the computer-generated opponent — Now you can easily have a virtual game night with your BFFs. Conversely, rural teens who play networked games are more likely than suburban teens to play with friends that they only know online.
A full 70% of rural teens play games online with friends they know only online, while just half (51%) of suburban teens play online with online-only friends. Networked gamer teens from all types of communities are equally likely to play online games with people they don't know and don't consider friends. Many teens play games with pals as a part of in-person friendships. But teens also play with people they know only online. Among boys and girls who play games with others over a network, 90% of networked-gaming boys and 85% of girls are playing these games with friends they know in person (for a total of 89% of all teens).
While 40% of girls who play with others online play with friends they know only online, 59% of boys say they play with online-only friends, and that number rises to 62% of boys ages 15 to 17. There are plenty of single-player games available online you can pass the time with, but it can get tricky when you want to play something with a group. It's easy to gather everyone for a game night in person, but it gets a little tougher when you can't get together IRL. If you're looking for a way to make it work, here are 15 online games to play with friends for a virtual hangout.
Whether on headsets or in person, teens who play networked games talk with their friends while they play. Nearly three-quarters of teens who play online video games say they've talked with friends while they played together. Nearly nine-in-ten online video-gaming boys (88%) say they talk with their friends while playing, while about half (52%) of online gaming girls do.
Networked online gameplay becomes a vehicle for friendship, interaction and trash talk when the players connect with each other by voice as well as through the mechanics of the game. Nearly six-in-ten teens who play games online with others use a voice connection – through the console, the game or a separate platform (e.g. Skype). Older boys drive this finding, with 75% of boys 15 to 17 who play networked games with others using a voice connection when they play online.
Over the past two decades, video game and internet technology have shifted, eliminating the need to be in the same room as a requirement for playing games with friends and others. Innovations in game design and platforms have increased the opportunities to interact and socialize while playing. These changes have enabled teen gamers to play games both with others in person (83%) and online (75%).
Teen gamers also play games with different types of people – they play with friends they know in person (89%), friends they know only online (54%), and online with others who are not friends (52%). These capabilities have enhanced teens' opportunities to interact and spend time with friends and others in meaningful ways while gaming. These are games that you can play online with friends.
You can play even when you're not in the same location, simply by sharing a link, or by inviting your friends into the game. They include many multiplayer games to play with friends, such as board games, shooting games, and .io games. This is one of the most popular game apps to play with friends. You'll get 400 game cards with four charades titles in a wide range of categories. You've got to guess the word on the card that's on your head from your friends' clues before you run out of time.
This game is a simple classic but somehow never ceases to drum up some entertainment amongst a crowd. Whether it's a family get together, or a work night out, a game of charades is always a safe bet. Girls, by contrast, report substantially lower frequencies, with 5% of girls who play networked games talking with friends every day while they play and 9% talking while playing every few days.
Codenames is another easily adapted board game to play via Zoom. A new success in the world of board games, it involves teams trying to guess which words belong to the opposing team. All you'll need is for one person to have the game, then they communicate with the rest of the players. Players can chat with their own teams via text or the Codenames app. Right at the top of our list is Gartic Phone, probably our favourite free online game to play with friends this year. You might be familiar with the Telephone Game or Chinese Whispers, a popular kids' party game that many of us played growing up.
Inspired by the Telephone Game, the creators of Gartic Phone decided to give the classic game a modern, digital twist that you'll surely enjoy. Pour yourself a potent cocktail and prepare to get cheeky with Cards Against Humanity—the digital version. Thanks to PlayingCards.io, which took this popular adult-only card game and made it virtual, you can now play via your phone or video chat. Though it's technically called 'Remote Insensitivity,' the idea is the same, and to get started, you message everyone a link to a personal, private game room. Even before the pandemic, many groups were enjoying Jackbox's plethora of activities.
But now, fans are even more grateful for this virtual game option that is cleverly designed and easy to use. Though one person of your friend or family group does need to purchase a party pack or a single game, the whole group doesn't have to fork over change. To join, the host starts a game and all players go to Jackbox.tv to enter the four-letter code. Whether you play Drawful, an adult version of Pictionary, or Fibbage, where you detect lies, you can expect to have a fun and creative time.
Codenames is a challenging puzzle game you can play with your friends online for free. It's based on the board game, and plays pretty much the same way. The goal is to work in a team to figure out the codenames of the other secret agents through clues before the other team does.
To play with your friends, you'll need to create a room and then share the URL with them to join the game. You can easily play it while using audio or video chat, too. Among Us is a major hit with gamers and non-gamers alike. It's easy to play with friends online, and works similarly to the game Mafia. The goal is to work together to figure out who the "imposter" is before the regular players get killed.
To start, you'll need to download the app for free from the Google Play store or the App Store. Next, you will select "Online" and host a game by selecting "Private." Then, share the online game code with your friends (they'll also need the app). The best place to start is figuring out what type of online games you'd like to play with your friends. Multiplayer games can span from strategy games to puzzle games or games that are more about making each other laugh. There are also plenty of classic games that'll bring some major nostalgia to your game night, such as UNO and Scattergories.
Video games are not simply entertaining media; they also serve as a potent opportunity for socializing for teens with new friends and old. Fully 83% of American teens who play games say they play video games with others in the same room, with 91% of boys and 72% of girls doing so. Drilling down, 16% of boys play games this way every day or almost every day, compared with just 5% of girls.
A third (35%) of boys say they play together with others on a weekly basis, compared with 15% of girls who report in-person group play this often. Indeed, more than a quarter (27%) of girls who play video games say they never play with other people who are in the same room, while just 8% of boys say this. The game has been there in the form of card game for quite some time now and the digital version also has the same feature, rules just like the physical game. Also, the game has tournaments and several other modes to choose from. The game also comes with 2v2 multiplayer mode so that players can team up and play the game together.
Online gaming proved to be a haven for those affected by lockdowns, which was most people. The pandemic meant that people had to stay indoors to protect others, but this proved to be a fatiguing and lonely experience. Or it would have been for those people who did not have access to the internet and a video game console.
Now that the pandemic is showing signs of ending, most people will be wanting to continue their online experience, and they may do so from some of the suggestions mentioned here. If you've never played a battle royale game before, it involves each player being dropped into a map, each at random spawn points, with the goal to be the last player standing. PUBG is one of the best games to play with friends on the phone or the computer if you enjoy shooters, so it might not be the best for casual gamers. To play with friends, add each other to your friends' lists in the game, then invite them to play a game with you. Sure, it won't be quite as fun to gloat your "UNO" over FaceTime as it is IRL, but we've gotta make sacrifices here, people.
And the classic card game's virtual app has all kinds of cool twists. You can play with friends from anywhere, team up for 2v2 mode, compete in tournaments, and more. Team up with your friends and see how well your communication with each other is. Codenames is a brilliant word-based party game that requires a minimum of four people to play.
Awarded as one of the best board games in 2016, Codenames now has a free online version for you to play! You and your friends will be split into two teams - red and blue - with at least one guesser and one 'spymaster' on each side. The goal is for the guesser to select all of their team's colour words before the other team does it first. Using Jackbox Games' stand-alone party game, Fibbage XL, you can challenge up to seven other friends at a time, for a total of eight players. It's a classic bluffing-style game, sort of like Balderdash, and it will keep you laughing the entire time, as you try to sift through all of the lies. You can play this online game with friends remotely via Zoom by sharing your computer screen as one person streams the game.
Mario Kart Tour is available for free on the App Store and Google Play. While there are options to make in-app purchases, the standard version is completely free. To get started, download the app and create a Nintendo account.
Next, make sure your friends are registered on your friends list and challenge them to an online game. The app version isn't the same as it is on a console, but it's a fun way to race against up to seven of your friends at a time. Choose from a number of categories in which each player makes up fake answers to real trivia questions and your pals will have to guess what's real and what's not. You'll score points for guessing the right answer and also for 'psyching' your friends into choosing yours. The perfect game app for playing by the pool or pre-party.
Teens from the lowest-income homes are the most likely to say they feel connected to people they are not friends with when they play online games with others. Networked gameplay is less effective at connecting online-gaming teens with those who are not yet their friends. Just about half (52%) of teens say playing networked games helps them feel connected to the people they aren't otherwise connected to. Once again, boys are more likely to report ever feeling this way than girls, with 56% saying they feel more connected to other players, and 43% of girls reporting such feelings.
Not only are boys more likely than girls to play games with others over a network, they do so with much greater frequency. While a third (34%) of boys play video games with others over a network daily or almost every day, only 8% of girls do. Another third of boys (33%) play with others over a network weekly, while 10% of girls report playing this way. Girls who play games, on the other hand, are most likely to report that they play networked games with others less often than monthly (27%) or that they never play in such a manner (47%).
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are excellent machines for playing with and against remote friends. Things are a bit more complicated on Nintendo Switch which requires you to download a mobile phone app in order to chat with friends, but even then only a minority of games support the feature. So all our recommendations are primarily based on Xbox and PlayStation. Taboo is kind of like a fast-paced, verbal version of charades. To play, you need enough family members or friends to divide into two teams with two or more people each. Once you're on teams, you pick a card from the deck that says a word or phrase and you have to try to get your team to guess what it is.
The challenge is you are under a strict time limit and can't give any obvious clues. Whichever team guesses the most words correctly wins. Since board games and video games aren't for everyone, we made sure to include something for those who prefer a more "academic" game. So for all you scholars and soon to be professors out there, we're here to let you know that chess is available online to play with friends. The app also includes free lessons if you're looking for some help to show off your superior strategy skills. Get everyone in your online party to download Psych, and let the fun begin.
Each player makes up fake answers to real trivia questions, and it's your job to find out the real answer. You'll be able to play over your phone for this one, so don't worry if your Zoom connection is lacking. With the game app Psych you can get on your phone and play with your friends while also video chatting.
You and your BFFs make up fake answers to trivia questions, and then let one player try and guess which answer is actually true. If you want to get personal, too, there's an option that allows you to make up answers to questions about your friends—so you can see who really knows you. A digital version of Villagers is available for free with a basic Tabletopia account. Creating a Tabletopia account is free, but accessing certain games requires a premium subscription. Some games are free to play with a limited number of users but need a subscription to bump up the number of players.
If you've ever played Balderdash, you'll get the gist. Join the game remotely with your friends, choose from a number of categories, and start making up fake answers. Basically, you'll fabricate fake answers to real trivia questions and your pals will have to guess what's real. The objective is to trick them into choosing yours. You'll score points for guessing the right answer and for psyching your friends into guessing yours. Houseparty is a video chat app owned by Fortnite developer Epic Games that lets you play popular games online like trivia, Heads Up and Uno with friends.
