Online games for big groups of 10 to 100 players

What makes a good game for a big group?

• Everyone plays at the same time. In a room of 40, nobody wants to wait for 39 turns.
• Simple rules. The bigger the group, the more people are new to the game.
• Results that read well. A leaderboard after each round keeps a crowd engaged.
• No one is left out. Anyone who can't play this game should still be able to watch and chat.
• The host stays in control. Letting people in, muting microphones and removing a troublemaker matter more with 50 people than with 5.

How many players each game takes

A room holds up to 100 people. Each game has its own limit:

• Up to 100: NOUN, Flexi Noun and Trivia (2 to 100), Blackjack (1 to 100), Baccarat and Hi-Lo (2 to 100).
• Up to 50: Sketch & Draw in Scribbly.
• Up to 32: a chess or draughts tournament. Teams on one board take up to 8.
• Up to 30: Sketch Battle.
• Up to 20: Word Chain, 20 Questions, Sketch Impostor, WHOT and UNO.
• Up to 10: Poker.
• Up to 8: Barricade, Four in a Row and the Property Game.

Best games for 50 to 100 players

NOUN and Flexi Noun

Everyone fills in Name, Animal, Place and Thing for the same letter at the same time. When the round ends, each player checks one other player's answers, so the reviewing is shared out however big the room is. An accepted answer scores 5 points, or 10 if nobody else wrote it. In Flexi Noun the host picks 4 to 6 categories, from a list or their own, so a class, a team or a club can make the game about itself.

Trivia

Everyone answers the same question at once, and faster correct answers score more. Choose a topic and difficulty, or write your own questions; with your own questions the host can sit out and run the quiz while everyone else plays. 1 to 25 questions, 5 to 60 seconds each.

Blackjack, Baccarat and Hi-Lo

Everyone bets their own virtual chips against the house, so a whole room can play at one table. The chips have no cash value: there's nothing to buy and nothing to cash out. See casino games.

Best games for 20 to 50 players

Scribbly

Scribbly is three drawing games. Sketch & Draw takes up to 50: one player draws while everyone else types guesses, and faster guesses score more. Sketch Battle takes up to 30: one player picks a word, everyone draws it, then each drawing gets a rating from 0 to 3 stars. Turns last 15 to 120 seconds.

Chess and draughts tournaments

Up to 32 players can enter a tournament of groups followed by knockouts, with the matches played at the same time on separate boards. The server runs every clock and checks every move. Players who are knocked out can stay and watch the rest. More in our guide to board games.

Spectators: room for everyone

When a game is full, or someone would rather watch, they can be a spectator. Players can switch themselves, and the host can make someone a spectator. Spectators watch the game and have their own chat channel, so they can comment without distracting the players. They can switch back to playing for the next game.

Voice chat in a big room

Turn voice chat on when you create the room. Up to 16 microphones can be open at once, and everyone else listens. The host always keeps a microphone slot. When all the slots are taken, a player who unmutes is asked to try again once someone mutes. The host can mute one player, or mute everyone at once.

If your group is already on a video call, leave Ping44's voice chat off and use the call's sound. See video call games.

Host tools for big rooms

• Close the room. Newcomers then wait for the host to approve them. People who arrive while a game is running wait for approval too.
• Remove a player. A removed player can only come back if the host approves them.
• Mute. Turn off one player's microphone, or everyone's.
• Hand over the room. Make another player the host. If the host leaves, the role passes to someone else automatically.
• Chat filter. It masks offensive words in the room chat.
• Scores. Room scores add up across games, and the host can reset them.

Ideas for big groups

• Classrooms and study groups: Trivia with questions you wrote, or Flexi Noun with categories from the lesson. Players must be 13 or older.
• Office events and all-hands: NOUN as an icebreaker, then a Trivia round about the company.
• Clubs and societies: a chess or draughts tournament for up to 32 members, with everyone else watching.
• Family reunions: relatives join from phones or laptops wherever they are; guests don't need an account.
• Online communities and streams: share the room link with your members and close the room if you'd like to approve each person. Viewers who can't play this game can watch as spectators.

How to start in under a minute

1. Sign in at ping44.com with email or Google (free) and create a room. Make it closed if you want to approve each person.
2. Share the invite link, the room code or the QR code.
3. In the lobby, pick a game, for example NOUN, or Board games, then Chess with the Tournament mode in Game settings.
4. Press start.

Frequently asked questions