Games to play with friends on the phone: 12 ideas for calls, group chats and one shared phone
The best games to play with friends on the phone are the ones that need nothing but your voices or a message thread: twenty questions, Botticelli, Ghost, would you rather, two truths and a lie and story chains all work on a call, and most of them work over text too. Which one to pick depends less on the game than on how you're together right now: everyone on a call, everyone busy but in the same group chat, or everyone on the same couch with one phone.
So that's how this list is sorted. Each game comes with rules you can play in the next five minutes.
Quick pick: which kind of game do you need?
| You're... | Play | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| On a call right now | Twenty questions, Botticelli, Ghost, Fortunately/Unfortunately, Would you rather | 2 to 6 people, 10 to 30 minutes |
| In a group chat, all busy | Two truths and a lie, Slow twenty questions, One-line story, A map hide and seek | Any group, one move whenever you have a minute |
| In the same room, one phone | Charades, Pass-the-phone telephone drawing, Mafia | Parties, family nights, 4 to 12 people |
Games to play on a call right now
These need everyone listening at the same time. Voice is enough; video helps for a couple of them.
1. Twenty questions
One player, the answerer, thinks of something. The others take turns asking questions that can only be answered "yes" or "no," and they get 20 in total. Guess it within 20 and the guesser becomes the next answerer; run out and the answerer wins. Lying isn't allowed (Wikipedia).
In the classic version, the answerer starts by saying whether the thing is animal, vegetable or mineral. That leads to great arguments: a wooden table counts as vegetable, because wood comes from trees.
Tip: start broad ("Is it alive?"). Every question should rule out about half of what's left.
2. Botticelli
Twenty questions for people who like trivia. The chooser picks a famous person and says only the first letter of their name. The game is named after the painter Sandro Botticelli, a hint at how famous the person should be (Wikipedia).
Guessers don't ask about the mystery person directly at first. Each one thinks of their own famous person with that letter and asks a question about them. With "B": "Are you a bald actor?" The chooser has to answer by naming someone who fits ("No, I'm not Yul Brynner"). If the chooser can't think of anyone, the guesser has stumped them and earns a direct yes-or-no question about the real identity. Whoever works it out chooses next.
3. Ghost
A spelling game that works brilliantly by voice. Players take turns saying one letter, building a word fragment. Every fragment has to be the start of a real word, and whoever completes a word loses the round (Wikipedia). Groups usually set a minimum length, often three or four letters, so shorter words don't count.
If you think the last player said a letter that doesn't lead to any real word, challenge them. They have to name a word that starts with the fragment. If they can, the challenger loses the round; if they can't, they lose.
Losing a round earns you a letter of G-H-O-S-T. Spell the whole word and you're out.
4. Fortunately/Unfortunately
A story game with no winner, just laughs. Someone sets the scene ("One day, Sam went to buy milk."). The next person adds one sentence starting with "Fortunately," the next one with "Unfortunately," and so on, alternating (improvgames.com). Each line continues the same story.
There's no natural ending, so stop on a "Fortunately" line, or when someone says "the end" on their turn.
5. Would you rather
One person asks a "Would you rather...?" question with two options, everyone answers, and everyone has to say why. The "why" is the whole game. Take turns asking, and add a rule that both options have to be equally tempting (or equally awful).
Games to play turn by turn, when everyone has a minute
Calls are hard to schedule. These games happen one move at a time in the group chat, so nobody has to be around at the same time.
6. Two truths and a lie
Each player posts three statements about themselves: two true, one false. Everyone else replies with the one they think is the lie, then the player reveals it and the next person goes (Wikipedia). Over text, ask everyone to vote before reading the other replies. Make the truths a little unusual and the lie boring.
7. Slow twenty questions
Same rules as above, one question whenever someone gets to it. Number the questions so nobody loses count.
8. One-line story
Like Fortunately/Unfortunately, but across a day or a week: everyone adds one line to a story whenever they open the chat. Set one rule to keep it from drifting (a genre, a word everyone has to use, or a character who can't die), and pick a day to finish it.
9. Hide and seek on a map
The turn-by-turn version of the oldest game there is: one person "hides" somewhere on a map of a city and the others get a few clues to find them.
By hand: the hider picks a public spot, like a fountain, writes it down, and answers questions like "Are you within a mile of the train station?" until someone finds it.
Or send a link. In Planque, the hider picks a play area (a single street or a whole city) and drops a secret pin. Friends play their turn whenever they have a minute: they spend a few questions (radar, hot or cold, same district?, nearest metro), the game answers on its own, and each answer clears part of the map. Then they tap where they think the pin is, and questions they don't use become points. The hider gets a ping as they get closer. It's on iPhone and Android.
If you like this kind of game, the YouTube show Jet Lag: The Game turned it into a full transit chase: see how Jet Lag hide and seek works.
Games to play in the same room, passing one phone
Everyone together, one phone between you. Here the phone is a timer, a secret keeper or a sketchpad.
10. Charades
The classic: one player acts out a word or phrase without speaking, and their team shouts guesses. Rules vary a lot (Wikipedia), but the actor usually can't speak or mouth the words, and many groups ban sounds too.
With one phone: the other team types the phrase, hands the phone over so only the actor sees it, and starts a timer. One common version gives the team three minutes to guess (Dana Nau's charades rules).
11. Pass-the-phone telephone drawing
The old paper game "telephone," but with drawings. The first player types a short phrase in a notes app and passes the phone. The next player reads it, then draws it on paper or in a drawing app, and passes only the drawing on. The next one writes what they think the drawing shows, and so on, alternating words and drawings. At the end, compare the first phrase with the last. It's rarely close.
12. Mafia
The big-group game. Players are secretly split into two teams: a small mafia who know each other, and villagers who don't know anyone's role. At "night," everyone closes their eyes and the mafia silently pick a victim. During the "day," everyone debates and votes out a suspect. The villagers win when every mafia member is out; the mafia win when they match the villagers in number (Wikipedia). Many versions add roles like a doctor, who can save someone at night, and a detective.
It needs a narrator who runs the nights and days without playing, and needs a real crowd: at least six players, and ten for the classic game. The phone is the role dealer: the narrator types each role, shows it privately to one player at a time, and deletes it.
How to keep a phone game going
- Pick the format first, the game second. A live game with someone who's at work is a bad game.
- Keep rounds short and rotate who starts, so nobody is stuck waiting.
- Agree on house rules up front. Most arguments are about rules nobody set.
FAQ
What's a good phone game for two people?
Twenty questions, Ghost and would you rather all work with two.
What can a big group play on one phone?
Mafia and charades scale best. Split a big group into two charades teams.
