games to play on zoom

With so many video chat options available today — services like Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype — there are tons of opportunities to stay connected and get competitive. And luckily, these platforms are great for playing games, which means you can go from virtual gossip session to game night in a matter of minutes. Whether you prefer word games, trivia games, ice-breaker games, or online games you can play on apps and websites, there are many Zoom games to choose from. Our list of easy games to play on Zoom will ensure that your next virtual hangout is just as fun as your last in-person one. And for even more things you can do on Zoom, don't miss these fun virtual happy hour activities.

While Codenames is usually an in-person card game, it's also one of the best online games to play on Zoom. When playing Codenames via Zoom, have one player, who is not a spymaster, share their screen. Then, split participants into either the red or blue team, and designate one person as the spymaster of each team.

As players attempt to guess which cards their spymaster hints at, send teams off into breakout rooms, so they can discuss their strategy. Whichever team successfully guesses all cards with their color first, while avoiding the forbidden card, wins the game. The easiest virtual games to play on zoom are the ones you already have! (And I have a lot.) Board games are really easy and fun to play over zoom, as long as you don't have to share a board with the other players. If the game does require a community board – like checkers, chess, Sorry, or Monopoly – it's going to be hard to reach through the computer screen to move your pieces around.

But if there's no game board, you can each set up your own copy and play on Zoom. For two player games, both players need a copy and should simply set up their own game as they normally would – just leave the other half of the game in the box! Board games that are perfect for this are Battleship, Scattergories, and Guess Who. Another simple game that works really well via Zoom, which has a whiteboard function built-in.

To access this, simply start Zoom and hit the share screen button and you'll see the option for the whiteboard. You can either draw for everyone to guess, or work in teams on either side across different homes. It's great fun for kids and adults alike and you can either use cards from a Pictionary set at home, or use an online word generator on your phone. Don't let distance grow between you and your friends or colleagues. At least not when there's a simple solution to the new normal - Zoom games!

Get online and check out any or all of the fun games you can play on Zoom. Whether it's happy hour with friends, games with co-workers for team building or simply a student activity, this online platform can help bring people together. Scroll through our list of options and start planning the many enjoyable things you can do on your next call.

For larger groups, you can turn your Zoom call into a game night with a group party game. Divide the group into two teams and only two players need a copy – just make sure those two players are on different teams. Teams take turns trying to guess all ten items in a category and you can easily get everyone on video calling out answers and participating. The two players with the game act as the score keepers while the other team shouts out guesses. To start playing Zoom Charades, split players into two teams. Then, use a random charades generator to find a word to act out in front of the camera.

Since an important aspect of charades is that players cannot use spoken words to express the prompt, mute participants when it is the player's turn to act. Whichever team can guess the most prompts correctly wins the game. It's likely that you have been to bar trivia at some point in your life, so you probably know how fun it is to play trivia games with a group of friends! Because you don't need any playing pieces, it's almost made for Zoom.

It's a great game to play with friends and family or coworkers! If someone has a copy of Trivial Pursuit, you can just read the cards right out of the box and answer them together. A classic drinking game in its own right, Never Have I Ever can easily be transferred to your very own Zoom Happy Hour. The rules are simple, people take turns saying "Never Have I Ever" and something they have never done before. If no one in the group drinks, then the person asking the question must drink. You can also play a non-drinking version of the game where you hold your hands up and if you have done what the question asks, then you simply put your hand down.

This makes for a great evening full of laughs as everyone learns more about each other. You can play without any props, or download an app for inspiration. Board games are always a great game to play on Zoom since they take care of almost all the work for you. Depending on the game, there are a number of options for how to take care of the proverbial board. If it's a simpler board game like Pictionary, you can easily play it with an online idea generator and Zoom's whiteboard function. If you're feeling like something more complicated such as Monopoly, then there are also numerous options.

You can play with the classic game board across Zoom and coordinate your moves. In some cases, you can also download the app and play together as a group. Another fun game to play on Zoom with family and friends (and co-workers) is the 9 Truths Game. In the game, players anonymously answer True/False questions on their laptop, phone, or tablet, and then guess how many of the other players also answered "True". Points are scored based on how close you are to the correct number, but the real fun of the game is the hilarious stories that go along with people's answers.

And the best part is that it's free to play and there are no ads. Zoom has a Whiteboard feature that allows members of the meeting to draw and share their screen. A game of "Pictionary" is perfect for this set up, so participants can guess what the other member is drawing. A random word generator is available online to help the game along. For those much-needed Zoom Happy Hours, Drunken Pirate is the best, free online drinking game for Zoom ever.

The game is easy as hell, simply type in all of the player's names, and begin "flipping" the online cards. The flipper's name will be highlighted in blue on the left side and will give them a prompt to either do or read aloud. Some cards will make you play minigames, force rules upon players or single-handedly call players out. All in all, there really is no winning, the point is to get drunk. Scattergories is one of the best Zoom games for large teams because anyone can play this game if he/she has a piece of paper and a penchant for words. Time is of the essence in this trivia game – with players having five seconds to come up with three answers to the question cards.

Start by helping the children to download Tuku Tuku onto a smartphone or tablet. Then have them share the screen with the others on the call. Open the app, select play and type in the number of players (you'll have the option to customise names on the next step). Identify whose turn it is, uncover the card, read it out and press start. From murder mystery games to karaoke, there's bound to be something in this list that you and your friends will love, or deeply regret.

Using screen share and the whiteboard app in Zoom, you can even play a remote game of Pictionary. Then, use an online word generator to pick items to draw. Pictionary is a great game that really lets you stretch your art skills at a party. While you can buy the board game, you can also simply make up your own game with an online idea generator. First, you split into two teams and one person from each team receives a generated idea. They must then draw the item on either a piece of paper or on the Zoom whiteboard as their team members guess at what the term is.

Another classic party game for large groups is Cards Against Humanity. The game itself is simple, one person who acts as the round's judge chooses a topic card with an unfinished statement. Other players then must play their own cards to complete the phrase and try to come up with the funniest answer that will appeal to the judge. Though you can purchase the card game yourself, you can also use your creativity to come up with your own categories and cards for even more fun. One person draws a person, place or thing, and everyone else tries to guess what it is. You don't actually need a physical copy of the classic party game to make this work virtually.

Or you can keep it analog and use a big sheet of paper and a pen, and hold your masterpiece up to the camera. You've played it in person, but online is even easier. Simply pick a couple of categories such as TV shows, things that can destroy Earth and girl's names, then create and game and send a link in the Zoom chat for all players to access. You don't even need to screen share — it's that simple.

Charades is one of the livelier options on this list for those looking to add a little energy to their game night. In Charades, one player draws a card then pantomimes this clue, and their teammates attempt to guess the mystery word. Each correct guess scores a point and these points are tallied after a predetermined number of rounds. Swellgarfo actually offers a solid faux-Scattergories experience with a question template already in place, a built-in timer, and a random number generator to boot. One player will need to share the Swellgarfo screen with other players and everyone will need to record their answers on scratch paper. Alternatively, the original playing card lists are readily available online and individuals can simply jot down their answers on scratch paper.

However, this super DIY approach will require additional tools such as a random letter generator and a digital stopwatch. For the Scattergories purists, it's also possible to load the original timer audio on YouTube for a more authentic experience. A classic parlour game, you can really take advantage of video conferencing to get Charades working. Those on the video call can watch, keep track of time and make sure there's no cheating! If you both happen to have a set of Charades cards at home, even better.

It's an ideal game to bring two halves of a separated family together, and great for kids to get involved. Introduce the children to the world of two fat ladies and legs eleven. Thanks to the guys at My Free Bingo Cards, you've got everything you need to set up bingo zoom games for kids. Ahead of the video call, get one player to download and distribute the bingo cards to the other players.

Due to COVID-19, many people have started inviting family and friends to play virtual games. Technology has paved a new path to socializing, teaching, communicating, and learning. If you have this classic game, you can use the cards from it or search online for card topics. As the question is asked, every person will type possible answers into the chat box. Whoever gets the top answer will get the point for their team. This is a great Zoom game for large groups since all everyone needs is a piece of paper and a penchant for words.

Though you can always go for the paid for card game, you can easily put together a name for free. All you need to do is find an idea generator online, choose a topic and a letter and watch as everyone tries to write down as many related terms as possible. This is a great game to stretch the group's thinking in a fun way. This party game comes from the makers of Heads Up — and it's just as fun. To play, participants make up fake answers to real trivia questions, and one player must choose the real answer among the fakes.

There's even an "And the Truth Comes Out" deck that allows you to do the same thing with personal questions about each other. It's a classic word game where players have to describe the word on the screen to the person holding the screen to their head. You can choose from a range of categories and play with as many people as you want. Pictionary is a classic game-night game, in part because the rules are so simple. Open this Pictionary word generator and choose a team to play first, as well as a designated drawer on that team. The drawer generates a word and has one minute to draw that word for their team to guess.

If the team guesses the card correctly, they get a point. Charades is a great game to play on Zoom with the students in your class. You will want to type a secret message to one of the students in your class or allow them to pick what they are going to act out. Once they start acting it out, set a timer for 1 minute for the class to guess what they are. Logo quiz is a fun game which can be played with older students.

The students can join in on the Zoom app and start the logo quiz, while the host shares his Zoom app screen. Then the participant who guesses the maximum number of correct logos wins. You can show the answers by writing them in a notepad and then all can show the notebook together towards the screen. TODAY invited Toy Insider Mom, Laurie Schacht, to share some interactive games that will make your next video call exciting, competitive and entertaining. The team at Shop TODAY also spoke with gaming experts to get their recommendations for the best games to play on Zoom for a virtual game night.

Charades is a party classic that's appropriate for all ages. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, essentially one person picks a word in a category and attempts to wordlessly act it out for their teammates to guess. You can find the game online, or make your own list of categories to play. Bingo is one of the more popular video conference games at the moment.

That's because the game transitions well to the virtual setting and is conducive to both large and small groups. It's easy enough to make a bingo card at home with common household items, although there are bingo cards available on Amazon for those so inclined. Even if you aren't meeting your friends for happy hour in person, many people are holding weekly "zappy hours" – a combination between zoom and happy. It's actually pretty fun, and since you don't typically have props with you at the bar, it turns out that most drinking games become virtual games over zoom with no changes at all!

Two of my favorite happy hour games are Never Have I Ever and Think While You Drink. In this game, you complete fill-in-the-blank statements with other words that make hilarious combinations. Unlike many word games, you fill in the blanks by using words from other cards. Each player needs to have the game at home, and all players can draw their own hand of cards from their own box. It doesn't really matter if multiple people accidentally end up with the same card – you will probably all use it differently and this game has so many cards, it's pretty unlikely. Each player should access the drawing palette by clicking "View Options" at the top of the screen.

Then select annotate from the dropdown menu to pull up a tool bar. You can change the color and size of your brush and easily start drawing by clicking on the screen with the mouse or touchpad. If you are playing from a touch screen, you can draw with your finger!

Take turns drawing clues while the other players on your team try to guess the answer. Score one point each time your team guesses the right answer, and the team with the most points wins. Bingo is a classic and fun game that is perfect for keeping your guests entertained.