Zoom has emerged as one of the most popular video conferencing services in the past week or so due to the growing number of people that have started working from home due to the current COVID-19 crisis. Due to this social isolation, many people are looking for different ways to hang out with their friends and play games as usual.

Did you know that there are tons of games that you can play with your friends via Zoom? Follow our simple step-by-step guide at the end, that will help you get started in no time. Let’s help you find a game first for now.

3 games added [May 02]

Codenames

Codenames is a game of word association and guessing. The players must split into 2 teams and try and guess which words are closely associated with their team. Each team is given a ‘codename’. This word is the clue that must be used to associate with. Be careful not to uncover the opposing team’s words or you’ll add on to their points instead! And also watch out for the spy! If you uncover him by mistake, your team loses immediately.

You can set up a game of Codenames on horsepaste.com. Start a game, and send your friends the password. They enter the password and immediately join your game.

Wink assassin

Wink assassin is a game of guessing and acting. You do not need anything to play this game. The players must convince all the others that they are NOT the assassin in the group. One student is the assassin and must finish off as many students as they can, before getting caught. The assassin private messages the victim ‘wink’. When a user gets this message, they must tragically play-act die, and turn off their video feed. The remaining players then vote on who they believe the assassin to be. The player with the most votes gets kicked out.  The game continues until the assassin is caught.

20 Questions

All you can say is ‘YES’ or ‘NO’. Can your friends guess what’s in your head? Select a random item, but do not say it out loud. The other players have 20 guesses to figure out what it is. The twit is that all questions can only have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. For example, ‘is the object yellow in color?’ is a valid question, but ‘what color is the object?’ cannot be used. If they manage to guess the object within the 20 questions limit, you lose!

If the other players cannot guess the object by the end of the 20 questions, you get a point. You can also limit the number of guesses each player can make. Keep it on the lower side to make the game even tougher!

4 games added [April 17]

Scavenger Hunt

Who said you can’t hold scavenger hunts while social distancing? Simply pick a judge, make a list of common household items, and get started. Scavenger hunt works by calling out the name of a common household item and watching your friends scramble to find and get back the item to you in time.

The first one to get the item wins the round and gets to be the judge for the next one. This is a fun way to keep yourself active as well as entertained. You can spice things up by dividing the players into different teams and setting up time limits which shall increase the stakes to keep you all entertained. Here are a few more ideas to play the game.

Scattergories

Scattergories is the classic board game that has survived the ages thanks to its compelling gameplay and wacky nature. Scattergories works by dividing participants into two different teams and then pitching random categories to which the participants have filled up with 6 different items in under 15 seconds.

Instead of setting up the game yourself, you can use this online tool which will help you invite everyone and play in tandem. Simply ‘screen share’ the game using Zoom to your fellow participants and you all can get started while having a laugh at each other’s reactions to the game through Zoom.

Werewolf

Werewolf is another online game that you can play with your friends over Zoom. The goal is simple, one of you assumes the role of the werewolf, while it is up to the other participants to guess the identity of the werewolf. The catch is that if you guess wrong, the werewolf gets you and you’re out of the game. Werewolf is a game of deception and bluffing where you have to keep your intentions hidden while trying to find the culprit in the process.

Werewolf is mostly a game for adults that has a slightly steep learning curve during the initial phase, but once you are all on board, it turns into a whole lot of fun for all of your friends. Here is a detailed guide that will help you get started in no time. You get over 50 cards with the Werewolf deck, which means as many as 35 players can play the gamer, and even two simultaneous games. You can buy Werewolf (€15) here.

Guess Who

Guess Who is a fun game that will help you and your friends gel together while learning new things about each other in the process. The game starts off by each of you submitting at least 20 truths about yourself to the pool. The selected judge then starts by picking a truth from the pool and random while everyone gets a single chance to guess who the person is in question.

Each correct answer earns the player one point until the game finishes and you run of truths for each other. In case everyone is unable to guess the person at their first turn, they get to go at it again but this time guessing correctly would only earn you half the original points. You can spice things up by adding false truths in the bowl to throw people off as well.

If someone can point out a fake truth, they get double the points. This will keep the game interesting and make it easier for participants lagging behind to catch up.

Math games

The Pass On game

The Pass On game is a simple and fun math adventure that requires you to be spontaneous and witty at the same time. The game starts off by drawing a number at random, depending on the proficiency of your participants you can call for a 2 digit, 3 digits, or even a 4 digit number. Once the number is decided upon, the host starts by reciting a random number.

The next person then adds, multiplies, divides, or subtracts that number in order to get closer to the original number that you decided upon. This goes on until you reach the last person in your group and the goal is to reach your original number by this time using all the calculations.

You can either make it harder for the last person to win or help them depending on your liking. Keep in mind that the last member of your group will be the first one in the next round and will most likely decide on the next random number so it is probably a good idea to help them along the way.

Tip: If the game feels too easy, try imposing restrictions like no whole numbers, or no odd numbers. You can even use decimals and add fractions to your overall equation to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

Spill it or Solve it

This one is pretty simple. You can use the tons of available math riddles on the internet to create an interesting game for yourself. Simply start by creating a pool of uncomfortable questions for your friends that they will be inclined to avoid answering in a public setting. In case you are unable to come up with a good pool of questions, you can always search online. Try this list to get you started.

Once you have a pool setup you all simply start by pulling out random questions to answer. If any of you does not wish to divulge and answer the uncomfortable question then you can opt to solve the math riddle instead. You can time the math riddle in order to add an extra layer of competition to the game. On the other hand, if you are all adults and of drinking age, then you can simply replace the pool of questions with alcohol. Anyone unable to solve the math riddle at hand has to take a shot! It’s that simple. Here are some riddles that will help you keep the game going for a while.

101 and Out

Requirements: A pair of dies, Zoom free account, Even number of participants

How to play: It’s one of the more simple games out there, with a rather easy learning curve. You just divide the participants into two teams and ask a member of each team to throw the die. When the die lands on a number, the group gets the option of either taking the number on its face value or multiplying it by 10. The aim is to reach the number “101” without exceeding it. The first team to reach the number wins.

For example, if a member of Team A rolls 4, they could either take the number 4 or 40 — multiplied by 10. After Team A rolls and writes the number down, Team B gets to roll their die.

Sudoku

Sudoku is a great math game that requires you to have mental calculation skills along with hand-eye coordination. Although designed to be a single-player game, you can easily turn it into a competitive one that can be played with your friends. Simply have everyone print out the same sudoku sheet and start filling numbers in one by one using erasable markers or pencil.

For every correct placement you get a +1 and for every number that needs to be replaced as the game goes on you get -1. In the end, the score will be tallied and the person who has the most correct placements wins the game. You also end up solving sudoku puzzles in this process which is always a fun experience.

The host can keep a common sheet with a track of all the new placements so that it is easier for everyone to view the progress. Alternatively, you can also opt for online sudoku puzzles that can be screen shared with your Zoom meeting members. Here is an online sudoku puzzle collection to get you started.

Blackjack

Okay so this one is technically not a dedicated maths game but it requires a hefty amount of calculation and luck. Blackjack is a simple and easy to play the game that requires the use of only a set of playing cards. The host can start off by being the dealer while the rest of the players can place bets using money or gift cards, whatever you are comfortable with.

If you are all of the drinking age, then the bets can be placed in shots as well. This will significantly raise the stakes and prevent your friends from bluffing unnecessarily. The host will need a detachable webcam in order to share a full view of the blackjack table with everyone over Zoom.

Drinking games

Never Have I Ever


Never have I ever is one of the most popular drinking games ever made. You start by sitting in a circle, or in this case deciding the drinking order among your friends on Zoom. You then start the order by mentioning something that you have never done in your life, if one of your friends has committed that act in the past, then he/she will have to take a sip from their drink.

The circle keeps going on like this and trust me, you all will be drunk before you know it. Never have I ever is a fun game that does not require any setup and can help reveal things about your friends that you did not know before.

Most Likely To Drinking Game

Another drinking game that is popular for all ages is the ‘Most Likely To’ question game. This game will require you to use an online most likely to questions list like this one to get you started.

You can then take turns asking the most likely to question your friends and the rest of the group can then take a vote on who is most likely to do/be the thing in question and why. The person with the most votes at the end of each question has to take a big sip from their drink.

Truth or dare (drinking edition)

This is another fun trivial game that you can enjoy from the comfort of your home. Simply choose from the list of racy true and false questions below, create a Zoom meeting and share the screen with your friends! It’s that simple. Every time someone wishes not to answer a truth or perform a dare, they get to take a shot! Well, if you’re drinking wine then you can always force them to chug it.

You can then use the Zoom whiteboard annotations to keep track of everybody’s score and the player with the most correct answers at the end of each round wins the game. True & False is a fun battle of wits that does not require many resources but still helps you learn new things in the process.

Netflix Party

Netflix allows you to create a private room for you and your friends where you can watch tv shows and movies together. This allows you to catch up on shows together as well as try out new and upcoming movies. How do you turn a Netflix Party into a drinking game? Well, you take the old fashioned route!

Simply put on a cringy movie or a classic show and have everyone drink a shot every time a classic TV trope appears on the screen or something cringy happens. You can take this game a step further by introducing the prediction game!

Put on a new movie or Tv show that appeals to you and start predicting what’s going to happen next. The person who’s prediction comes true gets to decide who takes the next shot! Netflix Party will get you and your friends drunk in no time while helping you discover new and interesting shows and movies to watch together.

Battleship (drinking version)

If you haven’t heard of battleship before then it is a simple battleship sinking game that works on an 8×8 grid. You call out different places on the grid in an attempt to sink one of the 4 ships that range from sizes 1 to 4 blocks. It is a great game of anticipation that slowly builds up tension as you start ruling out all the empty blocks. And the drinking version is even more fun.

Instead of using imaginary ships or toys to emulate your battleship positions, you use shot glasses. For every block with your ship that gets taken down, you have to take a shot! Simply start a zoom meeting, draw a large 8×8 grid, place your shot glasses, and fire away! Make sure you make an extra grid to keep a track of all your failed shots.

Virtual/Online games

Keep talking and nobody explodes

Keep talking and nobody explodes is a full-fledged game that requires coordination and teamwork. One of the players can run the game on their desktop and then share the screen with all the Zoom meeting members.

Players can download the accompanying guide in .pdf form from the official ‘Keep talking and nobody explodes’ website to help you defuse the bomb.

Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 is one of the best and most popular PVP shooters that is available for free on Steam. You and your friends can choose from 9 different characters with different abilities and battle it out in battle modes like capture the flag and king of the hill.

Simply start a Zoom meeting, screen shares your game, and get started. This can give you a tactical in-game advantage as you will be able to see the exact location of all your teammates in real-time. Moreover, you can even spectate and help them out in case you are killed off early in the game.

Ludo King

Okay, this is an easy and fun version of the classic board game ludo that is available for all mobile devices. This gives you the ability to play a game with your friends without the need for a high powered PC or a fast network. In fact, only one of you needs to be accessing the game from a system while the others can simply join in on their mobile devices using the Zoom meeting invite.

If you are the host, you will need to download an Android emulator to run the game and share the screen with your Zoom meeting. We recommend Bluestacks as it is easy to use and set up and does not require any tweaking to work right out of the box.

Monopoly (digital version)

Did you know that there is a mobile version of Monopoly? Monopoly mobile is available for iOS and Android which virtually gives you the ability to join the game for anywhere you want to. You get to enjoy quirky animations and excellent graphics while trying to climb to the top and beating your friends.

The best part about the mobile Monopoly is that you do not need someone to act as the bank and nor do you need to worry about your best friend sneaking away extra money. To get started, simply get an Android emulator on your PC, install Monopoly and share the screen to a Zoom meeting and invite your friends.

1v1.lol

1v1.lol is another action shooter on our list that fortunately does not require you to have a dedicated graphics card and a lot of RAM. Simply fire up your browser, visit 1v1.lol, and get started! 1v1.lol gives you the ability to create private rooms and battle against your friends in different game modes.

You also get the ability to create complex structures just like Fortnite and even compete in leaderboard matches in a bid to become the best player. The best part about the game is that it can be played in any desktop-grade browser which means everyone can join in on the fun. To get started, simply fire up the game in your browser, create a zoom meeting, invite your friends and share the browser screen to your Zoom meeting.

Tip: If you are experiencing lags or frame rate drops then make sure hardware acceleration is enabled for your browser. We recommend using Chrome as it offers you the ability to turn hardware acceleration manually off or on.

Fun games

Trivia games

Become the quiz master to your friends! Put on your favorite suit and get hold of your favorite quiz to create your own game show. You can opt for various themes and create different rounds depending on your liking.

You have the option to choose from popular categories or simply use an online tool to help you generate trivia questions quickly. This will help you and your friends be engaged while learning something new in the process. If you are looking for trivia online, then we recommend this Random Trivia Generator.

This tool produces various questions at the single click of the button which helps you focus on the game rather than focusing all your attention at the source of your next question. Your friends can even opt for different categories depending on their preference.

Bingo


Just because you are stuck at home, it does not mean that you have to miss the Bingo Night! Simply design some simple bingo tickets using grids in your favorite photo editor and send them out to your friends. They can then print out and you can be the designated caller.

If you have a bingo set at your home you can use its existing chips to call out numbers at random. On the other hand, if you don’t have bingo chips then you can simply write down numbers on paper cards and shuffle them to call them out at random. You can and your friends can take turns being the caller which will ensure that nobody misses out on the fun.

Heads Up

Heads up is a great mobile game that can be played with friends and family. The game requires you to place your smartphone face-first on your forehead. It will then display random characters and events based on the category you chose along with a timer.

This will be visible to your friends on Zoom who can then try and help you guess the term or character in question by passing you hints. If you guess it correctly, you need to tilt the phone forwards or if you wish to skip the answer, you tilt it backward. You can choose from a wide variety of categories including movies, celebrities, popular trends, songs, artists and more.

Charades

Use Screen share to keep track of scores and share hints with only the person in question. Charades is a fairly easy and simple game to play on Zoom which can be enhanced by muting the person whose turn it is to act out.

You can even keep track of time in order to up the ante and pitch in to create a prize pool. This will raise the stakes of the game which will end up making it a lot more fun and challenging.

Tip: Considering that most of us should not be venturing outside our homes at this time while reducing social contact, it might be a good idea to keep something digital as the prize for the winner. It could be a gift card, a game pass, a digital copy of a game and a lot more.

Hold Cook-Offs

If you and your friends are a fan of cooking different food items and trying new cuisines then Cook-offs against each other. Simply decide a time limit, pick a recipe from YouTube and share the screen with your friends on Zoom.

You will then have to create the same dish using the same tutorial in the given time frame. The player who creates the best looking and tasting dish wins the game. You can have your friends and family taste the dish to provide an unbiased judgment on the competition.

You can even create online polls for your friends so that they can judge the presentation of your food item. Cook-offs are a fun way of learning new recipes while having fun with your friends remotely.

Jackbox Games

Drawful 2

Drawful 2 is another Pictionary alternative that gives you the ability to create specific game rooms and have your friends join in from their respective devices. Instead of using Zoom’s whiteboard feature, you simply run the game, share the invite URL or room ID with your Zoom friends and have them join in on the game.

You can share the applications window with your friends who can then collectively help guess the picture being drawn by you.

Once your turn is over, the next person can use their device to draw while the others can look at the Zoom Screen share and help guess the item at hand. Drawful 2 is currently available for free and you can use this link to avail of this offer.

Download: Drawful 2

Fibbage

Fibbage is a multiplayer game that comes with phone and tablet support. This allows you to use your smartphone as the controller of the game. The objective is quite simple, to bluff, avoid the lies of your friends and find the underlying truth.

The host in your friend group can run the game on their PC or Mac and then share the screen using Zoom. This will allow you each and everyone involved to share the same screen while using their smartphones as the controller.

Download: Fibbage

Word Spud

Word Spud is another Jackbox game that can be played with up to 7 different players excluding you. The premise of the game is quite simple, you take turns filling in the blanks with any word that you like while the other players come up with their own ideas. The goal is to create the weirdest word cloud possible.

Just like other Jackbox games, you get the ability to create a room ID that you can share with your friends which allows them to use their devices as a controller. You can then stream your screen to all your friends on Zoom which will allow you to play Word Spud in a cohesive manner.

Download: Word Spud

Quiplash

Quiplash is another offering by Jackbox games that is the best combination of wit and humor. The game requires you to simply complete the sentences and answer funny prompts that are randomly displayed on your screen. The best answer is then voted on by other players and the answer with the most votes wins the game.

What makes Quiplash special is that you can invite up to 10,000 audience members! Each of these members can vote in the entirety of the answers that are given by the contestants. This allows you to share and stream the game to your far off friends and family and have them participate in the game as well.

Download: Quiplash

Bomb Corp

Bomb Corp is another bomb defuser simulator that uses your smartphones as a controller for the game. Each player is given compartmentalized instructions on their smartphones which then needs to be collectively assembled by you in order to solve the puzzle and diffuse the bomb.

If you fail to do so, your characters will blow up and time. Bomb Corp is a Jackbox game which means that you can Screen share it to all your friends using Zoom and have them log-in to the game using your dedicated room ID.

Download: Bomb Corp

Word Games & Pictionary

Pictionary

Zoom lets you share whiteboards with your meeting participants in order to discuss important project goals and annotate important documents. But do you know what is a more fun way to use this feature? Play Pictionary with your friends. Follow this guide to share a Zoom whiteboard with your friends in order to get started with Pictionary.

Step 1: Start a Zoom meeting and invite all your friends that you want to play Pictionary with.

Step 2: Once everybody shows up, click on the ‘Share screen’ button in the calling bar at the bottom of your Zoom meeting window.

Step 3: You will now see a sub-menu with various options to share your screen. Select ‘Whiteboard’ and then click on ‘Share’.

Step 4: Now simply decide among your friends who will be keeping track of time for everyone. You can use the inbuilt stopwatch function on your computer or smartphone to do this.

Step 5: Use the annotation tools of the Whiteboard to start drawing.

You should now be able to play Pictionary with your friends. You can take turns sharing the whiteboard on the screen once your turn gets over. You can also dedicate another window of your desktop in order to keep track of scores.

Logo Quiz

Can you identify all the logos? The game is quite simple and trivial but gets increasingly complex as you progress through the levels. Although not a multiplayer game, you can still play it with your friends by keeping a track of each other’s scores. The person to guess the most logos in a given amount of time wins!

There are many logo quizzes that are currently available on the market. You can use a website version and share it with your friends by screen sharing your browser or download a dedicated application from the Windows Store or the Mac App Store.

Download: Logo Quiz

Crosswords

Playing crossword is quite a simple and fun trivial process via zoom. You choose a crossword app of your choice or use a website to display crosswords in a Window. And then the whole group simply joins in together to solve the puzzle.

You can use instant messaging services to share your answers or simply say them out loud if you are all video conferencing with each other. A good example of easy to find daily crossword puzzles is the webster dictionary website. You get access to tons of different crossword puzzles along with hints that make it easier for you and your friends to solve them.

Name, Place, Animal & Thing

This is quite an old pick that most of you might remember from your school days. If not, then this might be the perfect time to experience it first hand with your friends. All you need is a pen and paper. You start off by dividing your page into 4 different columns and label them Name, Place, Animal, and Thing. Then you pick someone to be the judge for the first game.

The judge will be responsible for picking out letters at random and deciding on the winner. The goal of the game is to come up with a name, place animal and thing from the letter your judge picks at a random as fast as you can. You will then be awarded points based on the number of players involved in the game. For example, if you have 4 participants playing the game then the first one to finish gets 4 points, the second one gets 3 points and so on.

You can play till you have run out of all 26 letters and then switch to make the winner the judge this time. Name, place, animal, and thing is a fun game that will help you improve your vocabulary while having tons of fun.

Questions only

Questions only is another game of wit that requires on the spot thinking and improvisation. This game does not require any setup and can be played directly by setting up a Zoom meeting. Once all your participants are ready, you need to assign a judge. The judge will be responsible for picking the next player and deciding when somebody makes a mistake.

The goal of the game is to converse only in questions that make sense depending on the context at hand. If someone fails to come up with a question in the first 3 seconds then it is the next person’s turn.

The player that manages to cycle through all of his/her opponents wins the round. You can increase or decrease the timer required to come up with a question depending on the abilities of your friends to keep the game fun and interesting.

Board Games

Dungeons & Dragons (Board Game)

This will require a bit more of a complicated setup but if you have an extra web camera then you can surely play dungeons and dragons together. The player with the actual board game at hand will obviously be the dungeon master while the other players can create a rudimentary hero card on their end using a simple pen and paper. The real hero cards can then be placed alongside the board along with the equipment cards to keep track of the heroes’ health and movement.

This is where the second web camera comes in. Use the second web camera to focus on the board area which can then be seen by the other players easily. Now simply start the game as you normally would and proceed according to your heroes’ will.

Card games

Uno

Just like Monopoly on our list, even Uno has a digital version that you can download on your smartphones using this link. Uno is a fun card trading game that allows you to have hours of fun with your friends. The motive of the game is simple, to get rid of all of your cards in hand.

You can do this by matching the color and number of cards thrown by your opponent. You even get access to special cards that will allow you to change the color to your advantage and even force your opponents to pick up additional cards.

To play via Zoom, the host will need to download an Android emulator and run the game on their desktop. You can use Bluestacks as it is easy to set up and runs right out of the box without the need for any configuration or special tweaks. Once the game has been set up you can share the screen with your friends via a Zoom meeting and invite everyone in Uno to get started.

Tip: Share your entire screen instead of just Bluestacks. This will allow you to run the app in fullscreen while giving you the advantage of covering your cards with a .jpeg so that they can not be seen by your opponents.

You might think that the recent COVID-19 might have restricted you from playing cards with your friends, but that is simply not the case. Try cardzmania, this free to use website allows you to create private rooms and compete in various card games against your friends.

You get access to over 17 different multiplayer games including the likes of rummy, crazy eights, durak and more. The host simply needs to screen share his browser to the Zoom meeting while the rest of the players can join in on the private room on cardzmania.

Note: We recommend sharing your desktop, running your browser in full-screen mode and covering your cards with a .jpeg to make sure none of the other players can see your cards. If you are having trouble hiding your cards then you can always join the game using a mobile device and the cardzmania room ID.

Scrabble

Scrabble is a fun word making game that does not require much effort to play via Zoom but will require the need for an extra camera. Simply set up your scrabble board, distribute the letters to your friends via Zoom and get started.

Your friends can use a pen and paper to keep a track of their letters while the host or in this case you can help them draw new letters from the bag. You can even increase the stakes by placing letter limits on words and by not allowing the easy 3 letter ones.

Monopoly

Playing Monopoly via Zoom might be easier than you might have thought. All you need is an extra webcam that you can focus on the board and somebody extra to act as the bank. On the other hand, if you have multiple boards at hand then you can simply switch the job of the bank to another player until a winner emerges.

Instead of using the in-game money, the bank and players can simply keep a track of their savings using a pen and paper. This will also help you verify your savings late in the game in case you think you are missing some money.

The Game of Life

Just like Monopoly, you can use an extra webcam to set up your Game of life board. The host can make moves for the participants and himself while everyone can roll their dice from the comfort of their homes. In case you do not have access to a pair of dice then you can use this online random dice roller to your convenience.

In case you do not have the board game, you can still play Game of life on your mobile devices. The host can download an Android emulator, install the app and share the screen in a dedicated Zoom meeting among your friends. You can then create a private room in the game and have everybody join in on the fun. This way you won’t have to use a random online dice roller nor will you have to rely on the host to do your spins for you.

Games for adults

Cards against humanity

Cards against humanity is a fun adult game that was first popularized in 2012 due to its weird and wacky nature. The game simply requires you to fill in the blanks with the cards that you have at hand to form the most absurd and funny statements and scenarios that you can come up with.

Its free online version on playingcards.io automates most of the card placement for you which makes the game easier for you to play. You can create a private room on the site for you and your friends and share the room ID to have them join in. The host can then screen share the game to your Zoom meeting which will make it easier for everyone to keep track of the cards and interact with each other.

Truth or dare (extreme edition)

Truth or dare is a fun game that everyone played in high school, but what if I told you that there was a racier edition that could end up making hanging out with your friends a lot more fun? This game is not for the faint-hearted and certainly does not have questions for first-time friends.

This is a game for your all-time buddies, your best friends and maybe even your significant other. Try the truth or dare extreme edition using this link and add some spice to your normal Zoom hangout

Likes and dislikes

Likes and dislikes is a simple game that requires nothing more than a Zoom meeting. Simply create a new Zoom meeting, invite your friends, grab some stationary and get started. The way this game works is that each of you takes turns writing down your dislikes and likes on a particular topic. This topic or theme can be randomly chosen or pulled from a lot of prewritten themes, the choice is yours.

Once everybody is done, you can take turns guessing each other’s likes and dislikes one by one. The person who gets the most correct answers wins the round. This is a fun game that can help you and your friends gel together and learn more about each other all while discovering each other’s likes and dislikes.

React and act

React and act is another fun game on the list that does not require any additional tools. All you need is some pen and paper. Everybody starts by writing the wackiest situations and circumstances that they can come up with on slips of paper. These slips are then folded and put into a hat. To get this working via Zoom, each of you can email your suggestions to the host who can then create slips and put them into a hat.

Once the game starts, each of you will draw a slip at random or in this case the host will draw it for you. Depending on what is written in your slip you will react to the situation and your friends will try to guess what was written in the slip. This is a fun game for drama enthusiasts and friends that generally like to play charades.

Two truths and a lie

Another game that requires only a pen and paper. Each of you will start by writing down two truths and one lie about themselves. There will be one person chosen at random for the first time and later you can continue taking turns in a circle. The chosen person will then be shown everyone’s paper on the Zoom meeting screen. The person will then have to try and guess the lie from the truths.

You can add the ability to ask for two or a maximum of three hints during the game to keep everything exciting in case you don’t know much about each other. This is a fun game that can be played while drinking too. And to add an extra layer of fun, you can even start by taking shots for every wrong guess, The possibilities are endless.

Games you can play with your family

Talent Show

What better way to spend your time with friends than a private talent show. Put on your best suit, turn on a swanky Zoom background, use a deep epic voice and get the talent show started right from the comfort of your choice.

One of your friends can act as the host while the others simply take turns showcasing their talents. You can even share the Zoom meeting URL with family and friends in order to get an audience for the talent show.

You can then use a free poll service like the poll-maker to get your audience to vote on the different talents in a bid to find who is the best among you and your friends for some extra bragging rights.

Karaoke

Similar to a talent show, you can use our guide to share your YouTube screen with the participants to get everybody to participate in a Karaoke contest. YouTube has free karaoke versions of almost every song that you can imagine alongside lyrics that will make it easier for you to sing unknown songs.

The host can then share a full-screen version of these songs with all the meeting participants and get a poll going among your audience members to find out who is the best. Zoom even lets you share your computer’s audio output with your meeting participants which ensures that there is little to no latency in your karaoke sessions. Here is a handy playlist that can get you started in no time.

Lip-sync battles

Lip-sync battles are not just for celebrity cameos on major television series, you can do them right at home. The concept is pretty similar, you pick a song and lip-sync to it the best you can.

To make it more competitive with your family, you can create different rounds, each with increasing difficulty. For the final showdown, you can even create random picks by the judges that each participant has to perform to win the Lip-sync battle.

Tip: Zoom lets you use various images and animations as your background. You can use that to your advantage to create a more compelling performance. Here is a handy list of Zoom backgrounds that we compiled earlier that should help you find the right one for you.

Scary storytime

Just like camping, you can create an eerie atmosphere right from your couch and tell scary stories to have a fun time with your family. Simply start a Zoom meeting, invite your family, put on some eerie music and get started. You can even share the eerie music to your family by using the screen share option.

To add another spooky edge to your scary storytime, you can download scary sounds audio packs from the internet and sprinkle your story with eerie sounds for an added effect. Here is a free to use, sound pack that can come in handy.

Unusual food combos

Unusual food combos are the perfect stay-at-home game for your family. We all have been to college, and college forces you to come up with food recipes of your own. Most of these impromptu recipes are a combination of junk food and household ingredients which will make it easier to replicate them during your Zoom meeting.

Each of your family members can then recreate the recipe in their respective homes and rate it out of 10. The person whose recipe scores the most points wins the round. Unusual food combos is a good way to have dinner with your family while incorporating fun into it.

Are the games included in the Zoom app?

Sadly, Zoom does not yet have native support for third party games. Nor does it have any in-built games right out of the box. But this hasn’t held people back from coming up with some great game ideas that can be played via Zoom. Check out some of our top picks that have been listed above.

How are Zoom games played?

Most Zoom games are played using either a third-party service or the in-built annotation tools provided by Zoom. You can share your game screen via Zoom to all your meeting members which will make it easier for everyone to be on the same page. Jump to our next section that will help you easily share your screen with your meeting members.

Most Zoom games either require manual effort or a simple screen sharing option that makes it easier for you and your friends to stay on the same page. Follow this guide to learn all the basics of sharing your screen via Zoom which can then be used to play one of the games we have listed below.

What You Need to Play Games over Zoom

  • A game to play (choose from the above for help)
  • Zoom account
  • A PC (Windows/Mac/Linux)
  • Zoom app (host’s PC has to have a PC app, all others can use a PC/mobile app)

Note: Only the host needs to have a desktop-grade system to run these games. The rest of the players can join in using their mobile devices as well.

How to set up Zoom for playing games

Step 1: Make sure you have installed the Zoom app on your PC. You can download the installer file from here. Once downloaded, set it up by signing in to the Zoom app. If this is your first time, you will need to register with Zoom, which is very easy to.

Step 2: Open the Zoom app on your PC. Click on the ‘New Meeting’ button. You can choose to turn off the video at the start of the meeting by un-ticking the ‘Start with video’ checkbox under the drop-down button on the option itself.

You also have the ‘Share screen’ option here. If you choose this, only you will be to share the screen in the meeting, your participants can’t. While, in a meeting, any of your participants and you can share the screen, as mutually decided.

Step 3: Select ‘Join with Computer Audio’ when you are prompted on the screen. This will allow you to share in-game audio with your friends.

Step 4: Click the ‘Share screen’ button in the bottom row of the Meeting window.

By default, only one user can share a screen at a time, but you can allow multiple users to share a screen at a time. For this, click the drop-down icon on the ‘Share screen’ button and select the ‘Multiple participants can share simultaneously’ option.

Step 5: You need to share the link with participants so that they can join. So, click on the Invite button in the bottom row of the Meeting screen. You will now see a sub-window with all the necessary details of your current meeting. Click on ‘Copy URL’ under the invitation URL to copy the invitation link to your clipboard.

Step 6: Proceed to share the invitation URL with your friends via your desired instant messaging service. You can also share this URL via email or a group chat. Anyone that clicks on the link can join your meeting.

Step 7: Now proceed to launch the game that you want to play with your friend. Make sure the game is minimized and running in the background.

Tip: It might be a good idea to run the game in full-screen mode. This will provide all your players with an immersive experience while making sure that none of the other windows on your desktop are visible to your friends.

Step 8: Once everybody has joined the meeting, open Zoom and select the ‘Share Screen’ option in the middle of the bottom taskbar in the Zoom window.

Step 9: Zoom will now show you all the currently open windows that you have running on your system. Select the game we ran in full screen and minimized earlier and click on ‘Share’ to share it with your friends.

Step 10: The game will now become the active window on your desktop screen with a Zoom overlay in the top right-hand corner that will show you the video feed from all the meeting participants.

Tip: This overlay will only be visible to you and you can resize it and drag it around on your screen for the best viewing experience.

You can also pause/resume the screen share, play/stop the video, etc. using the control bar at the top of the screen that also shows Meeting ID, and an option to Stop the share.

Step 11: At this point, if your game supports remote play, you can ask your friends to join in on the room for a more cohesive experience. Simply share your room ID with them to get started.

How to extend a Zoom meeting’s 40-minute limit

Zoom’s free users are restricted to 40 minutes of duration for meetings/calls. In case you are looking to continue forward, see the link below on how to transfer the host to somebody else and reset the 40-minute timer.

► How to bypass 40 minutes limit on Zoom

Else, you will need to host the meeting again. Or, upgrade the host user to a Pro plan for $14.99.

You should now be able to play games with your friends on Zoom.

We hope these games keep you busy and your spirits lifted during this time of crisis. If you have any questions or opinions, feel free to share them with us in the comments section below.