Online birthday games for adults, and a virtual party to finish the night

Most online games work at a birthday. The trick is to make them about the birthday person. A drawing game is just a drawing game until every word is a memory of the guest of honour; then it is a roast, a toast and a game at once.

Here are six birthday rounds for adults, built on games that run online with friends wherever they live, and one way to finish the night. The games are our picks. Facts about each one were checked in October 2026 and are listed at the bottom; prices change, so check before you buy.

Round 1: The birthday Pictionary

Game: skribbl.io, a free online drawing and guessing game. A private room holds 2 to 20 players.

The birthday twist: skribbl.io lets the host add custom words, and even use only custom words. Before the party, collect ten from the guests: the birthday person’s first car, their favourite dish, the city they always talk about moving to, the nickname they hate. Then draw them. Guessing “that terrible holiday in 2019” from a stick figure is the best speech of the night.

Round 2: The telephone of truth

Game: Gartic Phone, the telephone game with drawings, free in a browser on phones, tablets and computers.

The birthday twist: everyone starts the chain with a sentence about the birthday person. By the time it has been drawn, guessed and drawn again, “Tola once got lost in IKEA for two hours” has become something much worse. Show the chains at the end and let the birthday person pick the best one.

Round 3: Captain Birthday

Game: Codenames Online, the free browser version from the board game’s publisher, Czech Games Edition. A session takes up to 64 players.

The birthday twist: the birthday person gives clues for one team all night. Their team has to read their mind; the other team gets to heckle. It shows quickly who really knows them.

Round 4: The quip-off

Game: a Jackbox pack, if someone in the group owns one. Only the host needs to buy it; everyone else joins on a phone at jackbox.tv with the room code from the host’s shared screen. Quiplash 3 takes 3 to 8 players and up to 10,000 audience members who vote.

The birthday twist: agree that every answer has to be about the birthday person. The audience mode means a big group can still take part: eight people write, everybody else votes.

Round 5: The board game they used to win

Game: Board Game Arena, free online board games in the browser since 2010, with some Premium titles. A Premium member can open a table and invite free players.

The birthday twist: find the board game the birthday person always used to win at family gatherings, and give everyone else one chance to finally beat them.

Round 6: The impostor

Game: Among Us, for 4 to 15 players online, with cross-platform play. It is an app: free on the App Store with in-app purchases, and a small price on Steam.

The birthday twist: the birthday person gets immunity from being voted out in the first round. They will not need it, but they will enjoy having it.

The finish: go out, virtually

After an hour of rounds, people want to stop competing and just be together. This is where AJ Cities comes in: our free open-world browser game, set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, with a party mode that works as a virtual night out for adults.

So nobody is confused: the party is inside the game. There is no real venue, no real date and no real ticket. It is a virtual estate, a virtual club and other real players, in your browser.

1. Send the party link in the group chat. It runs on a phone or a computer with nothing to install.
2. Everyone signs in with their email (18+) and picks the same world: always day, always night or real Lagos time. Same world, usually the same estate; each holds up to 60 players.
3. Change your look for free at the salon and clothes shop next to the main gate. Dress the birthday person up first.
4. Ask the police to let you in. Most nights about four in five guests who ask get in free.
5. Head to Prizm, where Joe-Izzy plays every night from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time (or any time, in the always-night world, where it is always 10 pm). Every ticket opens the ground floor, and the bouncers sometimes let a guest in without one.

If you want to treat the birthday person, a ticket opens more of the estate for 24 hours: ₦400 adds the beach party, and Prizm VIP tickets from ₦10,000 open the VIP entrance, with the pool deck, the rooftop garden and backstage at the higher tiers. It is optional. The tickets page has every price.

Picking the right rounds

Three rounds and the night out is plenty. For more on the rest of the evening, read virtual birthday party ideas.

What games can adults play online for a birthday?

Our picks: skribbl.io with custom words about the birthday person, Gartic Phone, Codenames Online, a Jackbox pack, Board Game Arena and Among Us, then a virtual night out in AJ Cities.

Can I add my own words to an online drawing game?

Yes. skribbl.io lets the host of a private room add custom words, or use custom words only.

Is the AJ Cities party a real place?

No. It is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, date or ticket.