Games you can play over the phone: fun activities to liven up calls with friends or a partner
Looking for games you can play over the phone?When you’re on a call with a friend or partner you can’t meet in person, you’ve probably thought, “It would be fun if we could play something together.”In fact, there are plenty of games that can get you excited even over the phone—from word games that require no prep to physical games that make use of video calls!In this article, we’ll introduce games you can easily enjoy while talking on the phone.Use them as conversation starters or tools to deepen your connection—give them a try!
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Games you can play over the phone: Fun activities to liven up calls with friends or a partner (21–30)
Genshin Impact
It’s fun to play games with friends while chatting, right? In that case, I recommend the RPG “Genshin Impact.” It’s primarily a solo game where you progress through the story by collecting gear and fighting, but it also has mini-games like rhythm games.
How about checking in on each other’s progress—“How far did you get?”—while talking with your friends or partner about your favorite characters’ episodes and the parts of the story that moved you? I’m sure it’ll be an even more enjoyable time than playing alone!
Ogiri (Japanese improv-style comedy wordplay game)
If you want to enjoy a game with people who love comedy, how about “oogiri”? Oogiri is a game where each person gives a funny answer to a given prompt.
It tests your humor and sense of wit, but if you hit the right funny bone, you can instantly liven up the room.
The time you take to explain your answer is also an important part that can lead to laughs, so think that through together as well.
It’s a fun and entertaining game where the answer that pops into your head can bring smiles to everyone!
Games you can play over the phone. Fun activities to liven up calls with friends or a partner (31–40)
Try Not to Laugh Game
If you want an easy way to have fun, how about the “Try Not to Laugh” game? The classic way to play is to hold some water in your mouth before starting—if you laugh, the water will spray out, so it’s obvious right away! Of course, if the water comes out, you’re out—you lose.
You can watch funny videos together in real time, or show off your best funny faces over a video call.
In any case, the person who makes the other laugh first wins! If you don’t want to get wet or make a mess, try holding a plastic bag near your mouth while you play.
Jishomekko
In today’s world of smartphones and electronic dictionaries, we don’t open paper dictionaries as often, do we? But in this game, a paper dictionary is essential! Here’s how it works: open a random page in the dictionary, pick one word, and simply read out its meaning.
The listeners must not laugh.
If they hold something that makes a sound, like a recorder, in their mouth, it’s easier to tell whether they laughed.
You can choose any word! There’s no need to pick a funny one on purpose.
Sometimes it’s precisely the ordinary, everyday words that make you burst out laughing, so try it during a regular phone or video call.
Reverse word game
A game you can easily enjoy over the phone, the “reverse words” game is, as the name suggests, a game where you read the given word backwards.
For example, if the prompt is “アイス” (aisu), you read it as “スイア” (suia); if it’s “くつした” (kutsushita), you read it as “たしつく” (tashitsuku).
Start with simple three- or four-letter words, then gradually move to longer ones to raise the difficulty and excitement.
It’s impressive when you get it exactly right, and even mistakes are sure to spark laughter.
Give it a try!
A game that seems like it should exist, but doesn’t
It’s a game where you come up with names that feel like they could exist but actually don’t, based on a chosen theme.
The more the theme lends itself to different angles—like store names, TV show titles, and so on—the more you can enjoy a lively back-and-forth.
It feels like a conversation starter where everyone lists names using their imagination, but a fun twist is to decide winners by checking whether the names truly don’t exist.
Imagining the backstories behind the made-up names and making them sound convincing is another way to keep the conversation exciting.
Word association game
A word-association guessing game where you give a few hints and the other person guesses what you’re talking about.
For example, you might give clues like “big ears,” “long nose,” and “large,” and have them arrive at the answer “elephant.” It’s great to use everyday things as prompts, and it’s also fun to use mutual acquaintances and have them guess who you’re talking about! If you’re both fans of the same person or thing, you can make it about that topic and quiz each other too.
Everyone gives hints differently, so the ways to enjoy it are endless!