Play games while chatting

While Houseparty has been around for some time, more people have become aware of the app since the COVID lockdown orders took effect. Essentially, Houseparty is like most other video chat apps as you can simply hit a contact and then start a video chat with the option to talk with up to eight people at the same time. One of the more fundamental differences is the app allows users to create groups which then let pretty much anyone in that group jump into an ongoing video chat, regardless of whether they were invited.

Another of the major differences between Houseparty and Skype or Hangouts, is the emphasis on games. These place more of a fun and social element on the service which makes Houseparty a great option when group calls are getting a little stale. The games are free to access although some do have paid add-ons and can be launched quite quickly when you know how.

Although the games feature is mostly designed for use on mobile devices. There are lots of paid, premium mobile games to play, plus some free mobile games without ads or in-app purchases. But what if you don't want to download and install yet another new app on your phone? What if you just want to play a simple game with friends via SMS or your favorite chat app? Thankfully there are a host of fun texting and chatting games you can play instead.

As a writer, I tell stories for fun. But even non-writers who find it difficult to create worlds, characters, and plots by themselves could gain enjoyment from this simple game. With Story Builder, one of you begins the story by messaging a sentence to the other.

The other person then messages the second sentence in the story back to the first person. Slowly but surely, the two of you build a story over the course of several texts or a messaging thread. Variations include sentences containing a certain number of words or characters, or even sentences with exactly characters in them which is how many characters an SMS text message can handle. This is the classic 20 Questions that originated in the US and spawned radio and television shows.

The concept of this game is elegantly simple yet it requires a degree of intelligence to succeed at it. One of you thinks of an object or person, while the other fires questions at them via a messaging app. Variations include limiting the object being thought of to a particular genre.

This is the classic I Spy, a game that has been a favorite of families for generations. Surely we have all whiled away a long car journey as a child playing this. And the version played via text or chat app is just as much fun. Begin by telling your opponent where you are to at least give them a fighting chance.

Then look around your environment until your mind's eye fixes on something in particular. Your opponent then has to guess what it is you have spied, with only the first letter of the object to guess from.

Variations include giving clues after each negative response to a wrong guess, or limiting the number of guesses allowed.

Assuming you're not exclusively interested in instrumental music, you'll know certain lines from certain songs. Whether because of an emotional attachment or simply because they sound good together, most people have been affected by song lyrics in some way.

The Song Lyrics game plays on that by having one person quote lines from a song to the other via text message. The other person then has to guess the song the lyrics are from. It helps if this is played with someone you're close to or who you share similar music tastes with.

Variations include classic lines from movies or plots from games. Failure to guess correctly could mean having to phone up and sing the chorus of the song to your opponent. Jackbox is an online gaming platform with dozens of online games you can play with friends while hooked up to zoom, google hangouts, etc. This is another game from our childhood that is ideal for easily gaming up your next virtual game night.

Man, we are lucky! Play it on your next video call using a pen and paper pointing the camera at the page or, try the online version. The game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes makes your action movie dreams come true. All of the players are in the same virtual room where there is also a digital bomb. Play over video chat for some extra connection. If you love the thrill and intensity of in-person Escape Rooms, recreate that with virtual escape rooms.

They have plenty of themes out there- choose one that thrills you most and see if you can get out alive! For the more creative groups of friends and family, you can turn Haiku poetry writing into a game! Have all players vote for whose poem they like the best. The person with the most votes at the end wins! It can become social when you invite friends to visit your island and do activities together. Check it out! There are few card games as iconic as Uno, and now, it has an app!

Invite friends to play with you, then video call while you play. Mario Kart was one of the most popular video games for a reason. Now you can play via app! They have a multiplayer option that allows you to compete against friends- the perfect way to connect AND recreate middle school birthday parties at the same time. There are mini-games and tear-out surprises inside. Perfect for any game-lover like you! If you want to involve people outside your household, scratch-off an adventure, then video chat a pal so they can do it with you virtually!

Which game will you choose? Will so many options, every night can be game night. Have fun trying out all these games to play over video chat! We hope you win. This post has some more options as well as places that can help facilitate these games, or put together a virtual game night. Lots of games can be adapted to the virtual world to be played through chat.

Simple games like Codenames or Pictionary are easy to put together on your own, or in this post , you can find some options for games to set up and play online with your friends.