Best games to play over Zoom (or another equivalent program)?

The Game Room
#1

I’m meeting with a group of people next week and the thing I’m kind of in charge of is coming up with a game to play for 15-20 minutes or so. We know each other, but are not very close.

What games are fun to play while video conferencing over the web?

  1. Minimal to no supplies for most people. I can ask them to bring paper-pencil, but no games that require everyone to have something more specific or customized.

  2. Party games, nothing serious. This is just a goofy get together type thing, not a gamer club.

What would work?

#2

How many people, and are web-based games alright? The online version of Just One (max 7) is a crowd-pleaser.

#3

Jackbox Games has a series of quirky party games which are well-suited for playing over Zoom, though most of them do require the participants to use smartphones to participate.

(Note: some of their games are a bit spicier or grosser than others, so know your audience.)

#4

Do you have a copy of Codenames? You could take a good picture of the setup, and email it out to everyone beforehand, with the master at your end.

#5

I do, but I think Codenames is too complicated to do over zoom.

#6

There’s a real nice web implementation of Code Names: https://codenames.game/

#7

I did a scavenger hunt with five coworkers on Zoom and it was fun. One person names a thing or category, like “an unusual article of clothing” or “something you should throw away but you just can’t” or “an elephant”. The other people then have 1 minute to go find that object and bring it back. Then take turns talking about your objects; this part is fun for getting to know each other. If you don’t have the exact thing, that’s the fun of it. You might have a mug with a picture of an elephant on it. You might bring back a stuffed hippopotamus and claim it’s close enough. Everyone who found such an object gets a point. If it’s questionable then take a vote. Take turns being the host.

#8

Just One?
Wits and Wagers with teams

Brian

#9

How many participants?

I’ll second, third, and fourth Jackbox. But you don’t strictly need a smartphone - you can play over a web browser, but that might be cumbersome since you’d have to switch between the browser and the conference app.

The beauty of the Jackbox games are that each individual’s phone/browser is strictly for input. Everything else happens on the main game screen, which would be shared by the host.

Just pay attention to the numbers of users for each game included in any given pack. In my experience, the best Jackbox games are the ones that max out around 8 players.

#10

I play jackbox, codenames, and cards against humanity with my buddies every Friday night. Though we use discord for voice chat and , for jackbox, sharing the hosts screen.

#11

There are some online multiplayer Pictionary-style games. One I’ve seen is https://skribbl.io. Rounds are quick and the concept is familiar to most.

#12

Here’s a Cards Against Humanity clone that you can play online:

#13

Here is BGG’s guide to distant gaming. The earlier categories more fit your use case.

Brian