Games to Play Over a Video Call With Friends
The problem with playing a board game on a call is almost never the game. It is that one person ends up sharing their screen and scrolling a board for everybody else, which is slow, blurry, and leaves five people watching one person play. These five are built the other way round: everyone opens the same table in their own browser from a five-character code, and the call is left to do what it is good at, which is carrying faces and arguments.
The five, ordered by how well they work on a call
Who's the Spy · 3–8 players · about 20 min
The best of the five on a call, and the only one where the call is doing the work. The game is almost entirely conversation — one player has a different word and has to talk their way through a round without revealing it — so what it needs is people hearing each other hesitate, not bandwidth. It also solves the problem the in-person version never quite does: the secret word arrives on each player’s own screen, so nobody has to be trusted to look away and nobody has to sit out to run it.
Trivia Tavern · 2–8 players · about 14 min
The most natural fit for a big group. Everybody answers at once on their own screen against a clock, so there is no buzzing in and no host reading questions aloud while trying to also play. The arguing after a reveal is most of the value, which is exactly what a call is good at carrying. Two to eight players, about fifteen minutes for three rounds, and the questions are already written — which is the real reason a quiz night on a call happens at all.
Property Rush · 2–6 players · about 45 min
The one to pick when the group has an actual evening rather than twenty minutes. Buying, rent and the slow squeeze of a completed country give people something to argue about that lasts, which is what keeps a call alive past the first half hour. Every decision has a clock the host sets, so the genre’s habit of eating a whole night does not follow it onto the call.
Ludo · 2–4 players · about 30–60 min
Forgiving of a bad connection, which matters more on a call than anywhere else. A turn is one throw and one move, so somebody dropping for twenty seconds costs nothing and the turn clock plays an obvious move for anyone who stays away too long. Good for a group that wants to talk about something other than the game while playing it.
Snakes & Ladders · 2–4 players · about 15 min
The one for a call with children in it, or a call where nobody has the attention left to learn rules. There is nothing to explain, it takes about fifteen minutes, and every ladder and snake happens in front of everybody at once, which is the entire social content of the game and the part that carries over video perfectly.
Why not just share a screen?
Because it makes one person the only player. Screen sharing drops resolution, adds a second or two of lag, and puts every action through whoever is hosting — so the other four are watching a video of a game rather than playing one. It is also the thing that makes people quietly stop suggesting board games on calls.
The alternative is not complicated: everybody opens the same URL. Each player gets their own view of the same table, updated live, and the call carries the part that was always the point. On a laptop the two sit side by side; on a phone it is one tab away.
Getting a group started in under a minute
One person picks a game and opens a table, which produces a five-character code. They paste the code into the call’s chat. Everybody else opens the site, types the code, gives a name, and sits down. There is no account step for guests, no install on any device, and no lobby software to agree on — which matters because the group is already assembled and waiting, and a sign-up form at that moment is where half of them drop out.
Common questions
- What games can you play with friends over a video call?
- Anything where each person can act on their own screen while the call carries the talking. Board games work well as long as nobody has to share a screen: a shared board that one person is scrolling for everybody is the thing that makes online board games tiring. All five games here give every player their own view of the same table, so the call is only carrying faces and voices.
- Do you have to share your screen?
- No, and you should not. Screen sharing gives one person control of what everybody else can see, drops in quality, and means only the host can really act. Everyone opens the same room code in their own browser instead, side by side with the call window.
- Does everyone need an account?
- No. Guests join with a five-character code and a name, and nothing else — no email, no password, no app. That matters more on a call than anywhere else, because the group is already waiting and a sign-up form is where half of them quietly give up.
- Does it work alongside Zoom, FaceTime, Discord or a WhatsApp call?
- Yes, all of them. The games run in a browser tab, so they sit next to whatever call software the group already has rather than replacing it. On a phone, that means switching between the call and the tab; on a laptop, both fit on screen at once.
- How many people can play?
- Between two and twelve, depending on the game. Who's the Spy takes the largest group at three to twelve, Trivia Tavern seats up to eight, and the board games take two to six. For a call of more than eight people, the deduction game and the quiz are the two that stay fun.
- What works best on a bad connection?
- Ludo and Snakes and Ladders, because a turn is a single dice roll — a player who drops out for a moment costs the table nothing, and the turn clock covers anyone who stays away. Avoid the quiz on a shaky connection, since it scores on how fast a correct answer arrives.