When in-person visits aren’t possible, FaceTime offers a convenient alternative. However, when chatting gets boring, finding activities that work with the video format can be challenging. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the most entertaining FaceTime games!
Playing games with your loved ones offers great benefits to your mental and physical well being, as well as bonding you closer together in your relationship. These are the best games for FaceTime because they are entertaining, teach you about the other person, and offer a range of competitiveness!
Games to Play Over FaceTime
The following are games that you would typically play in person, but they can also be played over a video call. These games can also be played on other video calling platforms like Zoom, in case you don’t have an iPhone to get on FaceTime.
1. Never Have I Ever
If you’re curious to learn random facts about your friends, this game is for you! To play “Never Have I Ever”, everyone holds up ten fingers and takes turns saying “Never have I ever…” followed by something they’ve never done. If other players have done that thing, they put a finger down. The first person to put all ten fingers down loses (or wins, you can choose!).
This game is great to play over FaceTime because it can be played with any amount of people, doesn’t require props or touching through the screen, and helps you learn surprising things that your friends have (or haven’t!) done.
2. Playing “This or That” on FaceTime
As clearly hinted by its name, this game is about choosing between “this or that!” Each player takes turns giving two options of random categories, and the other players pick which of the two they’d personally prefer. Any number of players can be involved, and no one “wins,” so it’s great for noncompetitive people.
The video call format works great for this game because it can be started at any time, can continue as long as you’d choose, and can include any categories or topics. It also doesn’t technically require vision, so you can play it when your screens freeze up! This also sparks some interesting discussions about why each person chose the option that they did, and it can tell you a lot about each others’ personalities.
3. Truth or Dare on Facetime
While the “dares” may have to be toned down for a virtual setting, Truth or Dare is always a great option for a FaceTime game! Whether you’re spilling your secrets over Truths or doing crazy challenges over Dares, this game is an entertaining way to bond and learn about your loved ones.
If you’re unfamiliar, each player chooses picking between “truth” (answering a question) or “dare” (completing a challenge). The question or challenge is then decided by the other person/people in the game. Make sure to keep it fun and respectful; no dares should be dangerous or humiliating!
4. Would You Rather Questions
If you have a great imagination, Would You Rather would be the best FaceTime game for you to play! Pick two of the most random options for a topic of your choice, and ask the other player(s) which one they’d choose. You can get really crazy with this one. “Would you rather only be able to eat yogurt or peanut butter?” Think outside the box!
Though witnessing the reactions of your friends might be fun, this game doesn’t require anything more than audio. It can be played indefinitely, so long as you don’t run out of ideas!
5. Read My Lips
This game is quite simple; you mouth a word and see if your partner can guess what you’re saying. It’s perfect to play as a FaceTime game, because you can make it simple by muting your audio! As many words may be mouthed with similar shapes, watching your partner try and guess incorrect words is super funny. This game can be played with multiple people, and can be played for however long you’d like.
If you’d like to make it a bit more challenging, you could try a word generator to learn some rarer words to use. This might be considered cheating, though!
6. Charades
This classic game is great to play over FaceTime because it’s entertaining and easy. You pick a person, thing, place, or action to enact, and watch the other person try to guess. Whoever gets the most points wins!
Charades usually ends with laughs and creates a great bonding memory for you and your loved ones. It was always super fun to play when I was a kid; watching my friends and family look silly as they acted out their keywords! You can change rules or categories to fit best with your groups’ wishes, and you can play as many rounds as you like.
7. Pictionary FaceTime Game Edition
Pictionary is similar to Charades, only instead of acting, you and your teammates try to guess each others’ drawings. You can use a random word generator for this, or just make them up on the spot. The more random the word, the harder to guess! To play pictionary on FaceTime, you can get everyone to grab a piece of paper and a marker. When it is someone’s turn, they must draw the picture on the piece of paper while everyone guesses what it is. You only get 60 seconds to create the drawing. You can also change the amount of time to give the game a twist!
8. Simon Says
As a kid, this was one of my favorite games, because I felt really smart when I won! If you’re unfamiliar with Simon Says, one player is “Simon” and the others have to follow their instructions. However, there’s a catch: the other players only follow directions that are preceded by “Simon Says,” ignoring any other instructions.
Naturally, Simon usually gives their instructions really fast to confuse the other players! This is a great game to play over FaceTime because the actions are usually simple (Simon can say “touch your nose,” “close your eyes,” etc.) and it’s slightly competitive while still being fun for all players.
9. Build a Story
Though not as well-known as some of the other games on this list, Build a Story can be one of the funniest ones! To play, all you need is the other person’s audio. One player begins with a word, and each player takes turns adding a word until it makes a story. The stories can go in all sorts of directions, and usually they end in laughter.
Build a Story is perfect for FaceTime or Zoom calls because it only requires audio, so you can play it if you lose connection or the screen freezes. It’s also a great way to bond with your loved ones for those who dislike competitive games.
10. The Alphabet Game
This is one of the most simply, yet most fun, Facetime games! You and your teammates take turns picking a category, and another player attempts to name examples from each letter of that category. For example, if person A suggests the category “animals,” person B has to say “Armadillo, Bear, Cat…” until the letter Z. If you’re the type who prefers mental challenge, this FaceTime game would be perfect for you!
11. Guess the Celebrity
Have any friends who are clueless about songs and TV shows? This may be the perfect FaceTime game for them! Print out a bunch of headshots of various celebrities your partner(s) might not know. This could be sports players, international celebrities, movie stars from a genre you know they don’t watch, etc. Have them try to guess who they’re looking at, and have a laugh if they guess wrong!
The trick with this game is to have the faces printed already, or downloaded on your phone to share your screen (be sure to remove any names!). If your friends guess correctly, it might teach you a thing or two about what they happen to know!
12. Name a Song
Full disclosure, I learned this game from watching K-Pop idols play it on variety shows! I promise it’s super entertaining, and not a game a lot of people think to play. For this game, one player says a word, and the other players have to think of a song that has that word in the lyrics. It’s harder than you think!
I love this game because it teaches you a lot about what artists your fellow players listen to regularly. If you’re playing with different generations, it could also teach you the popular artists from their youth.
13. Storyteller
This game is similar to “Build-a-Story,” but might be more fun for those of you who love talking! Time each player for one minute, and let them tell a story. It can be a real or made up story, but it has to be one that the other players don’t know. As each player gets their turn, they add to the story that was told before, creating a giant mess of twists and turns as each plot point is added. Watching how insane the story becomes is super funny, and your fellow players’ responses may surprise you!
14. Last Letter
To begin playing Last Letter, all players agree on a category. Player one chooses an example of that category, and player two chooses another example that begins with the same letter the last example ended on. For example, if your category is “animals,” and player one says “panda,” player two could say “axolotl.” Then, player three could say “llama,” and the game would continue until someone can’t think of another example.
This may be challenging, but it definitely teaches you about the other players and how their minds work. I used to play this game on roadtrips with my family (long before I knew what “FaceTime” was!) because my dad didn’t have to take his eyes off the road.
15. Rhyme Time
Are you playing FaceTime games with a younger child? This game is perfect to help them learn in a fun way! It’s exactly what it sounds like: one player says a word, and the next player thinks of a word that rhymes within ten seconds. Super easy, and might be funny depending on what words you choose!
You don’t have to play this game with kids. It could be equally as fun for a group of adults, though it probably won’t be educational!
16. Yahtzee
If you don’t have a Yahtzee score sheet, that’s perfectly fine! You can use an online score sheet, and even an online dice roller. If you’ve never played Yahtzee before, you roll five dice and try to meet combinations on a scorecard. The game is played for thirteen rounds, and the player with the highest ending score wins.
While Yahtzee isn’t a game you’d think to play over FaceTime, it’s a creative idea to get a little competitive with your loved ones. It’s also good to learn, since board games are falling out of popularity!
17. Playing Trivial Pursuit over FaceTime
This is another game you wouldn’t think to play on FaceTime, but trust me, it’s super fun! Only one player needs the board, and you each take turns rolling a die (again, it can be an online dice roll) and moving around the board. The color your piece lands on corresponds to a category of question you have to answer.
If you’re a classic board game enjoyer or a curious person who likes learning random facts, this will be the game for you. It’s super satisfying getting across the trivia board, and getting a trivia question you know the answer to is rewarding!
18. Telepathy
Telepathy is basically charades, but both players act out the same word at the same time. At least four players are needed. The goal is to act out the word with the same motion. For example, if the action is brushing your teeth, the pair that “brushes their teeth” in the same way will get a point. The pair with the most points wins.
If you’ve got a larger group and you’re not sure what to play that will equally include all of you, this is a perfect choice. It also creates a hilarious division if the partners enact their words differently!
19. Two Truths and a Lie
If you’re curious to learn more about your loved ones, Two Truths and a Lie is one of the easiest ways to do it! Exactly as it sounds from the title, each player takes turns making three statements about themselves and their pasts. One of them is not true. These can be quite outlandish, like “1. I met Madonna when I was a child, 2. I caught Scarlet Fever once, 3. I have a pet bearded dragon.” Whoever guesses the most Lies at the end of all the rounds wins. I remember over-exaggerating even the truthful statements as a kid to trip up my teammates.
When you’re on a FaceTime call, this is a great game to play because it works with the call format, can be played indefinitely, and makes you think creatively about outlandish things that have happened in your own life while also learning more about your friends and family.
20. Drawing Relay
Last but not least, this FaceTime game requires each member to have a piece of paper or a whiteboard. The way it works is each member gets the same word, and you all have a certain amount of time to draw the word in your own way. Once the timer is up, the person with the most realistic/accurate drawing wins that round. Feel free to play as many rounds as you want; this game is sure to be hilarious, especially for those who can’t draw!
Conclusion
Whether you’re long distance, quarantining, or just not in the mood to text, FaceTime and Zoom are great alternatives to keep in touch with your loved ones. Though it may be challenging to not be with each other in person, it’s important to remember that personal connections can also be strengthened with long-distance bonding. Hopefully, this list of the best games to play over FaceTime helped you spice up your video chats, and have some laughs along the way!