In the event of a lockdown, here are the top 17 free online games to enjoy with your pals. During this pandemic, you’re cooped up inside your house, cut off from social interaction. That’s a horrible feeling, and we know it. The good news is that we have put together a list of free online games that you can play with your friends over video calls and still feel connected, despite physical distance. Just scroll down and pick one, or have a digital party and sample them all.
1. Gartic Phone
Gartic Phone is at the top of our list because it is the best free online game to play with friends that we have found this year. Many of us played a version of the Telephone Game or Chinese Whispers as kids, and you might be familiar with it as well. The creators of Gartic Phone were inspired by the Telephone Game, and they have successfully updated the traditional game with some exciting new digital features that you are sure to love.
Gather your pals for a voice call and make a room, because this game supports up to 30 players in a single session. The game combines elements of drawing games with those of sentence interpretation games, and it offers up to 11 different play modes. Prepare to jot down wacky prompts and try to copy your friends’ hilarious artwork.
2. Among Us
There’s no denying that Among Us was last year’s lockdown season’s most popular game, so if you and your pals haven’t played it yet, we highly recommend that you do so immediately. While Among Us has been out for three years, its popularity has skyrocketed thanks to the current pandemic because it is the ideal whodunit game that is best avoided in direct confrontation. Wow, that really promotes isolation.
On mobile, you can play with up to 10 friends at once for no cost. At the beginning of each game, you will be given the option of playing as a naive crew member or a murderous imposter, with the latter having as their primary objective the elimination of the former. It’s an entertaining activity that causes one to seriously doubt the loyalty of one’s closest companions. Expect a backstab!
3. Skribbl
Let your inner Picasso out! Time to put those drawing skills to use in a game of Skribbl if you’ve been cooped up inside all day. If your drawing skills are terrible, be prepared to make your friends suffer. We reminisce about the good ol’ days of playing Pictionary or Draw Something with our own friends thanks to this free online multiplayer drawing and guessing game.
Skribbl is a browser game where you and your opponents take turns drawing terrible pictures and trying to guess what they are. It’s simple to use; just make a room for you and up to seven friends, then send them the link. Try to rack up as many points as possible, because it feels great to win the game and have your little avatar crowned the victor.
4. Board Game Arena
Can you say that you are an avid fan of tabletop games? We understand how frustrating it is to find out that you can no longer play them, especially since playing them at parties is no longer an option. Board Game Arena is an online board game platform with more than 230 games available, so you can still play your favorite board games even if you don’t have a physical copy of them. Free games are plentiful, and include fan favorites like 6 nimmt! and Saboteur.
Ready to throw your first board game party with friends? You can play right in your browser, and the interface is straightforward and simple enough for newcomers to pick up quickly. Since the site has more than 4 million users, you’ll have no trouble finding a game to play, whether you prefer real-time or turn-based gameplay, and even if your friends are all busy.
5. Psych!
Is bluffing something you’re particularly good at? Play the online party game Psych! with a group of friends today! This mobile app, designed by Ellen DeGeneres, features multiple decks of game cards on which players must improvise answers to actual trivia questions, guaranteeing countless rounds of play and a never-ending supply of chuckles.
In order to win this fun word game, you’ll need to outwit your friends with witty comebacks and pick the real answer from among the many plausible alternatives presented. There are currently four free decks available to play, each focusing on a different type of fun.
6. Tabletopia
Want to play even more board games in virtual form? If you are a fan of board games published by both well-known and smaller companies, you may want to check out Tabletopia. With over a thousand free games available to play, their digital sandbox system for playing board games is an endless playground. There’s even a custom editor that lets you make your own game and practice your programming chops.
Tabletopia offers the most faithful recreation of the tabletop gaming experience available today. If you and your friends enjoy spending time at board game cafes, this is the app for you. If you and your friends are in different rooms at the same time, you can play two games at once.
7. Sky: Children Of Light
Sky: Children of Light is an exciting adventure game that you and your friends can enjoy together. Explore 7 breathtaking realms across the beautifully-animated kingdom of Sky with your friends in this award-winning indie game, set to enchanting in-game music.
We can go on and on about all the wonderful aspects of this game, from the countless adorable ways you can personalize your character to the exciting seasonal events and new realms that are constantly being added. Dark realms inhabited by ancient, terrifying monsters make the game more challenging, but the end rewards are well worth it, and the best part is that you can hold hands with your friends as you make your way through it.
8. Colonist
If you’re a board game aficionado, you’ve probably heard of Catan. In spite of its competitive nature, this multiplayer board game has remained popular for over two decades. You can play Catan in a few different places online, but we recommend Colonist, a free option widely regarded as the most authentic Catan implementation available.
You and your friends will play the roles of colonists in Colonist, with each player tasked with establishing their own colony and developing it through the use of various strategies, such as the collection of resources, the establishment of trade routes, and the cultivation of crops. You score victory points based on the size of your expanding settlements, and the first player to a predetermined threshold of victory points wins. There is no requirement to register or download anything; just make a room on their website, make it private, and invite up to three friends to play together!
9. Risk
Have you ever fantasized about becoming a world dictator? By playing Risk, you can do so without ever leaving the house. Strategy board game RISK, originally created by Hasbro, has been updated for the digital age as RISK: Global Domination.
By deploying your troops and conquering new territories, Risk pits you against your friends in a struggle for global dominance. You can play against the computer, with other online players (you can either join or host games), or with up to four friends. In this game, you and your friends will engage in a fun and intense session of strategy and planning as you attempt to conquer each other’s territories.
10 CardzMania
Your regular nights of playing cards with friends need not be disrupted by the lockdown. If you prefer traditional card games to more modern board games, you will feel right at home at CardzMania. Another great find is CardzMania, a site dedicated to card games where you can play over 20 different games for no cost. Hearts, Spades, Euchre, and Gin Rummy are just a few of their most popular games.
In Multiplayer Mode, you can play against computer-controlled opponents, real players from around the world, or even just your friends. In case you are unfamiliar with card games, their homepage lists all of the games you can play and the maximum number of players for each. The website’s interface is intuitive, and it offers a wide range of interactive features that players of card games are sure to enjoy.
11. Krunker
If you and your pals want to play a more exciting game together, I recommend Krunker. This quick-paced first-person shooter game was originally released on desktop browsers, but it has since made its way to mobile devices (currently only on the Play Store; iPhone users, we’re sorry). The game’s unique style, with its bright colors and blocky visuals, is fun to look at even before you play it, especially if you’re a fan of games like Minecraft.
In addition to the standard Free for All and Team Deathmatch modes found in virtually every first-person shooter, Krunker currently offers a whopping 19 unique game modes. The game’s user-friendliness makes hosting a private match with your pals a breeze. Simply make your own game and add as many friends as you want to play!
12. QuizUp
Timed trivia competition in which players try to outscore their friends by giving the correct answers. A live-action app, QuizUp transports the social experience of playing trivia with friends to your mobile device. The app combines elements of social networking sites and trivia games by having its millions of users generate questions on thousands of topics, from everyday facts to Disney films.
You and a friend will face off in a round of multiple-choice trivia questions. Each question has a time limit of 10 seconds, and the faster you respond, the more points you will receive. If trivia games are more your speed, QuizUp is a great app to try. It offers short sessions that will force you to use every ounce of your brainpower to answer questions.
13. Scrabble Go
Can you make a point with just your words? Put your word skills to the test by playing a round of Scrabble with your friends on your phone instead of meeting up in person. Scrabble GO is a freemium mobile game that improves upon the original Scrabble by adding new features and game modes.
The game’s interface is bright and straightforward, making it simple to jump right into a match whenever you like. To get a quick game in, you can participate in daily tournaments, but you can also play against friends by inviting them or linking your Facebook account. In order to win, players in Scrabble GO will need to use every letter in their vocabulary, making it the ultimate crossword game where every letter matters.
14. AirConsole
The next cool online gaming platform you can use to challenge a friend is AirConsole. To provide the best multiplayer gaming experience, AirConsole stores a wide variety of games in the cloud. This site features many different types of games, from entertaining minigame challenges to exciting racing games.
You’ll need to use a single browser as your gaming console and your mobile devices as your controllers. One drawback is that the free version of AirConsole only allows for two players, but if you’re only interested in playing with a single friend, this gaming website will suffice. You can play more than ten different games without leaving the comfort of your own home by simply sharing your screen via video call.
15. Codenames
Try working as a team and seeing how well you all can communicate with one another. Codenames is an excellent word game that can be played with as few as four people but is best with a larger group. Codenames, recognized as one of the best board games of 2016, is now available in a free, web-based version. At least one guesser and one’spymaster’ must be assigned to each of the two teams (red and blue) that you and your friends will form. The guesser’s job is to pick all of their team’s color words before the other team does.
Black word cards, representing a “assassin” that would kill you if the guesser chose it, are also strewn about. Good communication with your teammates is essential because you can only give them one-word clues in this game. Create a game room and invite your friends to try it out; games with 4-8 players are the most fun, especially when played in teams of two.
16. Golf Battle
Going to golf courses and playing a round with friends may be impossible at the moment due to the lockdown, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time and prove your golfing prowess by sinking a hole in one. Even if you’ve never picked up a golf club in your life, you’ll find yourself hooked on Golf Battle’s fast-paced mobile mini-golf gameplay and bright visuals.
Connecting the game to Facebook is all that’s required to begin playing with up to five of your friends. You’ll all be competing against each other in a round of golf in real time if you join this game session, so you’ll need to be quick on your feet to make those putts. Prepare to square off in a round of mini golf competition.
17. Bunch
Looking for more mobile party games? Do a Bunch! Like Discord, but designed specifically for mobile games, Bunch makes it much simpler to play games on your phone with your friends from afar. Once the app is installed, you and your friends can have wholesome game night sessions wherever you go; all you have to do is get in touch via the app’s integrated audio and video chat features, then start a game and play together.
Bunch’s platform currently hosts six different multiplayer party games, all of which are a lot of fun to play with a group of friends. Some of the other games we’ve listed here (Risk, Scrabble Go, Psych!, Golf Battle, Dinosaur Game) are also fully playable through Bunch thanks to partnerships the app has formed with many other third-party game makers.