HomeGames & Tech12 of Our Favourite Games You Should Play with Friends

12 of Our Favourite Games You Should Play with Friends

We admit that hosting an in-person game night might not be very viable at the moment. Luckily there are many versions of your favourite game which are also available as mobile apps. Many of them are free and are guaranteed to bring you and your friends together for fun times!

If youā€™re fortunate enough to be able to bring your friends together, there are, of course, many card, board and pen and paper games available. In fact, some games donā€™t require any equipment whatsoever. You simply get together with friends and let battle commence!

The 12 Best Game Apps, Card and Board Games to Play with Friends

Hereā€™s an overview of the best game apps, card games, pencil and paper games and group of friend games available at the minute.

Best Game Apps

1. Daily Fantasy Sports. Playing daily fantasy sports with friends takes some organizing and commitment, but the entertainment value is huge. Start off by downloading the app either for Android or iOS. Then, itā€™s a case of setting your lineup. Once you get started, you can gain insights and track data to calculate matchups and make the best decisions. On game day, you can follow your team with player and team highlights, never missing a single moment of play.

2. Boggle with Friends. This is the mobile version of the classic game where dice are shaken into a grid, and you earn points depending on the number of word combos you come up with. The app can keep score for you as you play with friends or random players online. You can invite people to play in the app, and itā€™s free to play on iOS and Android phones.

3. Kahoot! If you canā€™t meet friends in person for a trivia night, this might be the next best thing. Create your own quizzes with a range of question formats then share your unique pin code with friends to let them into the game. Up to ten people can play at once with the free version. Or for $9.99 a month, invite even more people! Available for Android and iOS.

Best Card Deck Games

4. Snap. Using a full card deck, cards are dealt evenly amongst players who must keep them face down in a stack. When the dealer picks the first card, they face it up next to the pile which continues with other players. If any two upwards cards are the same, the first player to acknowledge this with ā€˜snapā€™ takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of the pile. When all cards have gone, the player is then ā€˜outā€™. The player with the most cards in their pile is crowned the winner.

5. Crazy Eights. This game is similar to Uno, except it uses a regular card deck. Each player gets seven cards, and the remaining deck is placed in the middle as one card is placed face-up next to it. Moving in a circle, players add cards to the pile matching the suit or card facing up. If a player is unable to do this, they have to choose a card from the face-down pile until they find one. Eights are the wild cards which can be any rank, suit or colour. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.

Best Pencil & Paper Games

6. Charades. In this game, the group is separated into two teams who have to write details of things or people on pieces of paper and then place them in a bowl. A player from team one selects a slip and acts out the details without speaking a word. If the other team guesses correctly, they gain a point. This continues, and the team with the highest score wins.

7. Pictionary. This game shares the concept that charades use, but drawing takes the place of acting. All thatā€™s required is paper and some writing utensils. However, if opponents are feeling particularly competitive, they can also use a timer.

8. Jeopardy. Ever seen the TV show? This game brings this experience to your front room! Firstly, a board is created with some categories written upon it. Post-it notes are placed on the board, each with a number and corresponding questions on the back. Players from a team pick values under their category to answer the question. If this is correct, the team then gains the number of points written on the paper. Get it wrong, and they lose the same amount. Play continues until the entire board is answered.

Best Games for Groups of Friends

9. 20 Questions. This game is simple. Gather a group of friends together, and take it in turns to ask each other a maximum of twenty questions.

10. Telephone. It begins where someone reads a sentence to the person next to them. The message is passed down through the team until the last person has to read what theyā€™ve heard out loud. Youā€™ll be able to see just how distorted the final sentence has become.

11. Mail Call. Once youā€™ve created a circle of friends, place one of them in the middle. They read out their rule. For example, this could be ā€˜cross the circle if you love fish and chipsā€™. Everyone who does then dashes across the circle in a rush not to be the replacement in the middle. If this does happen, they then have to call out the next ā€˜ruleā€™.

12. Heads-Up, Seven-Up. All players put their heads down while keeping their thumbs up. Several ā€˜choosersā€™ make their way around the room, pressing down the thumb of one other person. When theyā€™re finished, they call ā€˜heads-up seven-upā€™, and the players have to guess who pressed their thumb down. If theyā€™re correct, they take the place of the correct ā€˜chooserā€™.

Great Games to Try with Your Friends Today

Game apps are great for those unable to meet in person. However, there are plenty of options for game nights in person as well. These include card games, board games, pencil and paper games, and even games that just require people to be present with no equipment needed! So, the next time youā€™re looking for a fun activity with friends, why not give one a go?

Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip is the owner and Editor of Entertainment Focus, and the Managing Director of PiƱata Media. With over 19 years of journalism experience, Pip has interviewed some of the biggest stars in the entertainment world. He is also a qualified digital marketing expert with over 20 years of experience.

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