Given the global situation in 2020, this year may not be the year where you get to gather with your friends and family during the holidays. With travel restrictions and the risk involved, it is safer to stay home as the year draws to an end. This does not mean that you are doomed to spending the holiday alone. With video calling options like Zoom, you can spend time with your loved ones virtually.
This holiday, do not awkwardly sit in front of your camera with your family, have some interesting games ready for everyone to enjoy. Here are some fun games you and your loved ones can enjoy over Zoom.
Related: 50+ Best Zoom Games to Play
Pictionary
This classic game is ideal for Zoom calls. Set the rules that the drawings need to be holiday-related. Set teams of two or three depending on the number of people participating. Using the Whiteboard feature of Zoom your loved ones can start drawing. If your loved ones are uncomfortable drawing on the app they can draw on a notebook and show the images on the camera. Time and score can be maintained by pre-decided participants.
Charade
Another game night favorite that can easily be enjoyed by a large group over Zoom is Charades. Just like with Pictionary you need to first create teams. Once you have the teams ready you can start with Christmas or holiday-themed movies/activities to act out for the other players to guess. Task someone with timekeeping and someone with scorekeeping before you begin.
5-second rule
All you need to play the 5-second rule on Zoom is a list of topics and a stopwatch. Staying in-sync with the holiday season have topics like name 3 Christmas desserts, winter sports, and movies about Christmas. The players need to list three things related to the topic given to them within 5 seconds. Players can get one point for every item they list correctly.
Alphabet challenge
A game that most people are familiar with as a road-trip game is the alphabet challenge. In this simple game, players start off by saying a word related to any topic. The next player has to say a word starting with the last letter of the word said by the previous player. For example, if the alphabet challenge is to name all things Christmas a player can start by saying gifts. The next player has to say a word that starts with S so they Santa… If a player cannot think of any word then they can skip, thus losing out on a point.
Trivia
Test the knowledge of your loved ones with trivia games. For this game, someone has to take the responsibility of being the host. The host will have the questions for the individual players or teams. Again the holiday element can be added to this Zoom game by having themed questions. If you want to put in a little more work you can organize a Jeopardy-style quiz for the call participants.
Related: How to play Kahoot on Zoom and Google Meet
Bingo
This retirement-home game has become a Zoom game staple. One person can easily create bingo sheets and send them to the participants online. Participants can have the sheet open on their device as one caller takes the responsibility of calling out the numbers. A random bingo number generator can be used to make the process of calling the numbers fair and simple. Take turns to ensure everyone gets to play Bingo.
Related: Zoom Scavenger hunt: How to play the game virtually
Two truths and a lie
Test how well you know your friends and family with this game. Players take turns to say three statements about themselves. Their team-mate or the other participants have to now guess which of the statement is the lie. This game can be a fun drinking game as well. If the player’s lie is caught they need to take a drink, if the player’s lie is not caught then the other participants have to drink.
Related: 7 cool Zoom Baby Shower games and ideas
Truth or dare
Take a page out of highschool party games. Truth or dare never loses its thrill even if it is played virtually. Players can take turns to choose between truth and dare. Othe players can then ask them a question or tell them to perform a dare. You can also go for online truth and dare question generators to keep the game from getting too wild. As with two truths and a lie, truth and dare can be a drinking game as well with the players taking a drink if they chicken out.
Scrabble
Organizing a scrabble match may not be as simple as some of the other Zoom games. There are a couple of ways in which you can organize a scabble match via Zoom.
One way is by having the scabble set with you. You can set up the board and hand out the scrabble tiles virtually. Players can note down the letters they have received. As they form the words you can place the tiles on the board for everyone to see. To play like this, the one who owns the board has to be the host.
There are also Scrabble apps like Words with Friends and Scrabble Go that can be downloaded and played on multiple platforms.
Outburst
Those obsessed with Family Feud will definitely love this game. Just like the game show, you need to first have the participants form two groups. Each group then will be given one topic, like 10 things people eat on Christmas. The members of the team now have to guess the 10 things on the topic card. You can have the Outburst game or even prepare a set of topics and list to host the game.
20 Questions
This is another game that school children have been playing for ages. Pre-decide a topic before players take turns to think of a person/character/item/activity related to the topic. Now the other participants take turns to ask questions to figure out what the player has in mind. The player can say only “yes” or “no” to the questions. The group can only ask 20 questions.
Memory game
Test the memory of your loved ones by playing this interesting game. You can do a variety of formats for this game.
Your group can start saying words alphabetically and the next player has to remember what the previous player said.
You can show an image to your group for a limited period of time. Then take off the image and ask basic questions about what was in the image.
You can figure out similar memory games to play with your group.
Scavenger hunt
You do not need to hide things around a place to host a scavenger hunt. This popular game can be played over Zoom simply by having players find similar items in their homes. So, you can start off by showing a Christmas tree ornament. Others now have to look around their homes to find something similar to the ornament you showed. At the end of the stipulated time, the players have to show their items. You can either have a vote to select the winner or you can have a person tasked with being the judge of who won.
Try not to laugh
With how horrific 2020 has been for most people, finding a reason to smile is highly appreciated. Test your loved ones’ funny bones with the Try not to laugh challenge. Players can take turns showing videos by sharing their screen on Zoom. They can try to crack each other up by telling jokes. Players will get a point if they smile or laugh. The player with the least number of points wins.
Related: 11 Fun Zoom Games to Play
Karaoke
You may not be able to go caroling this Christmas but this does not mean that singing is off the winter activity list. Have a nice evening of Karaoke with your friends and family over zoom. There are many YouTube channels where you can find Karaoke versions of songs. Share the screen and get singing.
Eat the cookie/candy
This fun after-dinner game has been a tradition of many families. Do not miss out on it just because you all could not share the dinner table this year.
Place a small candy or cookie on your forehead and lean back. Now you have to hold your head steady while you move your face to bring the cookie to your mouth. Multiple people can try to compete at the same time or players can be timed to see who could bring the cookie to their mouth the fastest.
Related: 26 Zoom Games for Kids
Never have I ever
This classic drinking game is ideal to be played over Zoom. As most people are familiar with the rules, each player takes turns to say something that they have never done. Those who have done it have to drink. This fun game is an excellent way to get drunk with friends virtually.
Related: Best Zoom Games
Name the song
A test for the ear and the brain is this game. The host or each player can have a list of songs. Start off by playing two-second of the song. Players can use a buzzer or enter a letter into the chat to take a guess. If no one can guess the song then play the song for five seconds. Increase the amount of time till someone guesses the song correctly.
Related: 11 Team Zoom games
Craft contest
For those who want to keep the children of the family engaged, this is a fun game to try out. Pre-plan what your group wants to craft. For the holiday season, you can make wreaths, Christmas ornaments, and candles. Once you all have decided what you want the group to make you all can buy the supplies you need. During the call make the DIY item. You can post pictures of all the crafted items online to have social media decide the winner.
Scattergories
This is another classic board game that you can bring to the Zoom call. Once you have two teams they can take turns to list six items for random categories. One person can take the responsibility of coming up with the categories or can turn to an online option.
You can have a lot of fun this holiday season even if you are home alone. Set up a Zoom call with your friends and family and get gaming.
