Games to play over FaceTime and video calls

A video call is a strange place to spend an evening. You can see each other, but there is nothing to do with your hands. Add a game and the call stops being an interview and starts being a hangout. This guide covers games to play over FaceTime, and almost all of them work just as well on WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Meet or Discord.

There are three ways to do it: games that need nothing but the call, games built into the call, and games you open on a second screen while the call keeps running. Facts about apps and games are checked and sourced at the bottom; which ones we like is our opinion.

No app needed: just the call

These are free, need no download and work with two people or ten.

• Twenty questions. Think of a person, place or thing; the other side gets twenty yes-or-no questions.
• Would you rather. Take turns inventing impossible choices. “Would you rather sit in Lagos traffic for three hours or explain your job to every aunty at the wedding?”
• Show and tell, fast. Thirty seconds to find something in your room that fits a prompt: something blue, something older than you, something you should have thrown away.
• Charades on camera. Act out a film, a song or a Nollywood scene; no sound allowed.
• Finish the story. One sentence each, building a story until somebody laughs too hard to continue.
• Quiz each other. Ten questions about yourselves. You will learn exactly how closely your partner, cousin or best friend has been listening.

Games inside FaceTime with SharePlay

On Apple devices, FaceTime’s SharePlay can run some games for everyone on the call. Apple’s guide describes it: set up Game Center, add your friends, download a supported multiplayer Game Center game, then start it with SharePlay during the call. Everyone needs the game installed, and not every game supports it, so check the App Store listing first.

FaceTime can also share your screen, which turns any game into a spectator sport: one of you plays, the other shouts advice.

Open a game beside the call

The most flexible way: keep the video call on one device, or in one window, and open a game on another. All of these are free and run in the browser unless noted.

skribbl.io

Draw, guess, laugh. Create a private room, send the link in the chat, and add your own words. Rooms take up to 20 players.

Lichess

Free chess with no adverts. Set up a game and send the link. Talking trash on camera is optional but encouraged.

WorldGuessr

Guess where in the world a Street View image was taken. Free, with parties for friends. Shouting “that’s definitely Abuja” at a road in Kenya is part of the experience.

Codenames Online

Czech Games Edition’s official online version at codenames.game lets you create a room and share its link. Codenames is played in two teams, so it needs four or more people: one for the family call, not the couple’s one.

AJ Cities

Our own game, so weigh this accordingly. AJ Cities is a free open-world game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, and it runs in the browser on a phone or a computer. In party mode you each make a character, pick the same world and explore together while the call carries your voices. You can walk June 12 Street, try to talk your way past the gate police, catch Joe-Izzy at Prizm from 9 pm Lagos time, or stand by a radio that plays the same song at the same moment for everybody.

It was built with calls in mind in one small way: if you pause the game, you stay in the world as “away” for up to ten minutes, as if on a phone call. Honest notes: the estate is shared with other real players, up to 60 at a time; the party and club are virtual, inside the game, with no real venue or ticket; and it is 18+. Most guests who ask at the gate are let in free; optional tickets start at ₦250 (every price).

Jackbox: the classic video-call game night

Jackbox Games makes paid party packs built for this. One person owns the game, starts it on a laptop and shares the screen on the call; everyone else plays from their own phone by going to jackbox.tv in the browser. Jackbox suggests turning on the longer timers for remote players. Best with three or more people.

Which game for which call

• Ten minutes before bed with your partner: twenty questions, or one game of chess.
• A long Sunday call with someone far away: a walk round the estate in AJ Cities, or a few rounds of WorldGuessr.
• The family call, with Grandma on the tablet: charades, then skribbl.io once the cousins take over.
• Friday with the group chat: Jackbox or Codenames, with somebody keeping score.

Tips for a smooth game night on a call

1. Use two screens if you can. The call on the phone, the game on the laptop, or the other way round.
2. Turn the game’s sound down so you can hear each other.
3. Agree the game before you call. Sending links back and forth for ten minutes kills the mood.
4. Charge your phone. A video call and a 3D game together are hungry.
5. Keep one game on standby that needs no app, for when somebody’s connection drops.

Looking for something for two? Try our picks of online games to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Got a group? See games to play with friends on a call.

What games can you play over FaceTime?

Talking games like twenty questions and charades, supported Game Center games through SharePlay, and any browser game you open beside the call, such as skribbl.io, Lichess, WorldGuessr or AJ Cities.

Do these games work on WhatsApp or Zoom calls?

Yes, apart from SharePlay, which is FaceTime only. Talking games and browser games work alongside any video call.

Can you play Jackbox over a video call?

Yes. One person owns the game and shares their screen; everyone else plays on their phone at jackbox.tv.