Games to play on a video call: FaceTime, Zoom and Discord

How to play games on a video call with Letternerd

Letternerd does not have a call of its own. It does not need one: you already have FaceTime, Zoom, Discord, WhatsApp or whatever your group uses. The call is for talking and laughing. Letternerd is the game everyone plays on their own screen at the same time.

1. Start the call as usual.
2. One person picks a game and hosts a live room.
3. They paste the link into the call’s chat, or read out the room code so people can enter it on the join page.
4. Everyone opens it in a browser, on their phone or in another tab. No download and no account.
5. Play live with countdowns, and react to the answers out loud on the call.

Because every player has the game on their own screen, nobody needs to share their screen, and everyone sees the question clearly however bad the connection is.

Games to play on FaceTime with friends

FaceTime calls tend to be small: a few close friends, or family. Pick games that are about each other.

• Never have I ever: own up all at once. Standing alone is worth the most, and the faces on the call are the best part.
• Guess who: one friend answers, and everyone else guesses what they said.
• Would you rather: two impossible choices. Pick a side and defend it out loud.
• Sketch guess: everyone draws the same thing, then works out whose masterpiece is whose.
• Caption this: one scene, everyone captions it, and the funniest one takes the round.

FaceTime is made for Apple devices, but Letternerd runs in any browser, so the game itself works on any phone or computer in the group.

Zoom games for friends and bigger groups

Zoom and Google Meet calls are often bigger, with ten or fifteen faces in a grid. With that many people, you want games where everyone answers at once rather than one at a time.

• Team showdown: two teams, ten questions, from four to sixteen players. Split the call down the middle.
• Ballpark: wild numbers, smart estimates, for up to twenty players. Closest wins, so nobody needs to be a quiz expert.
• Great Minds: answer at the same time and score only if you side with the crowd.
• Best Answer: one-line answers, and a rotating judge crowns the best.
• One Clue: everyone writes a one-word clue for the guesser, and matching clues cancel out.

Running something for work? Our virtual team building games guide picks games that suit colleagues. For a full quiz night, see how to host an online quiz night.

Discord games to play with friends

On Discord, post the room link in a text channel and play while you are in voice. Nobody needs a bot or any setup on the server; it is just a link. Discord groups tend to like games with a bit of strategy and some competition:

• Word Race: everyone guesses the same hidden word, six tries each with letter hints. Fewest tries wins.
• Quad Race: four hidden words, one guess at a time, nine tries to find them all.
• Category Clash: one letter, six categories, ninety seconds. Only answers nobody else thought of score.
• Going Once: sealed-bid auctions for lots worth different amounts. Spend your purse where it buys the most.
• Bank or Bust: push for a bigger pot or bank it, and a bust catches everyone who pushed.

Between rounds, the Arcade has solo score games with a daily board you can compare with friends, which suits a server that likes a leaderboard.

• Letter WebArcade · 1 player · daily boardDrag through touching letters to spell words before the clock runs out.
• SweepArcade · 1 player · daily boardClear a minefield you can always solve without guessing.
• UnjamArcade · 1 player · daily boardSlide the blocks out of the way to free the red one, in as few moves as you can.

Video call games for couples

Two people on a call can play anything built for pairs. In Sync scores you only when you both pick the same thing, Know Your Person has you predict what they said about themselves, and Date Night Dilemmas is would you rather for couples. When the call gets more serious, The Deep End asks questions that skip the small talk. Couples who live apart will find more in our long distance relationship games guide.

Which video call game for which call

• Great Minds3–12 players · 9 minAnswer at the same time. Score only if you side with the crowd.
• Best Answer3–10 players · 12 minAnswer the prompt in one line. A rotating judge crowns the best.
• Never have I ever3–16 players · 8 minOwn up all at once. Standing alone is worth the most.
• Team showdown4–16 players · 10 minTwo teams, ten questions. Every right answer scores for your side.
• Ballpark2–20 players · 9 minWild numbers, smart estimates. Get closest—or land it exactly.
• Word Race1–12 players · 8 minEveryone guesses the same hidden word. Six tries each, with letter-by-letter hints. Fewest tries wins.

Tips for a smoother call game night

• One host. Agree who starts each room, so you do not end up with three links in the chat.
• Pick three games, not ten. Forty-five minutes is a good length before people drift off.
• Start with something quick. It gives late joiners time to arrive before the main game.
• Fill empty seats. If a game needs more players than you have, the host can add AI players, paid for with in-game Gold earned by playing.
• Settle arguments fast. Settle It is one throw of rock paper scissors to decide who goes first or picks next.

If you miss Houseparty

Houseparty put video chat and games in one app, and it closed in 2021. The closest thing now is to use whichever call app your friends already have, and play a browser game alongside it. Our Houseparty alternative page explains how. If you have played Jackbox Party Pack on a call, where one person runs the game and shares their screen, see the Jackbox alternative page: on Letternerd, nobody has to share a screen because every player has the game on their own phone.

Play the games from this post

Free in your browser. Share the room code and everyone joins from their own phone, no signup.

• Great Minds3–12 players · 9 minAnswer at the same time. Score only if you side with the crowd.
• Best Answer3–10 players · 12 minAnswer the prompt in one line. A rotating judge crowns the best.
• Never have I ever3–16 players · 8 minOwn up all at once. Standing alone is worth the most.
• Team showdown4–16 players · 10 minTwo teams, ten questions. Every right answer scores for your side.
• Ballpark2–20 players · 9 minWild numbers, smart estimates. Get closest—or land it exactly.
• Sketch guess3–12 players · 12 minEveryone draws the same thing. Whose masterpiece is whose?
• In Sync2–8 players · 8 minAnswer at the same time. Score only when you both pick the same thing.
• Word Race1–12 players · 8 minEveryone guesses the same hidden word. Six tries each, with letter-by-letter hints. Fewest tries wins.

More games like these

• Party games
• Team and remote icebreakers
• Word games
• Games for couples