Best games to play on a video call

How to play games on a video call with Ping44

There are two ways to do it.

Keep your call and add Ping44

Everyone stays on the call for the talking and opens the Ping44 room link on their own device for the game. If your call is on a computer, open Ping44 in another browser tab or window, or on your phone. Because each player sees the game on their own screen, nobody has to share a screen, and private things such as your cards or the secret word stay private.

When you create the room, leave Ping44's voice chat off. You already have sound from the call, and two voice chats at once means echo and everyone heard twice.

Use Ping44's own voice chat instead

No call yet? You don't need one. Turn voice chat on when you create the room and everyone can talk inside the room itself. Up to 16 microphones can be open at once and everyone else listens. The host can mute one player or the whole room.

What makes a good video call game

• Everyone plays at once, so nobody sits in silence waiting for a turn.
• Short rounds that leave room for chat between them.
• Something to talk about: odd answers, terrible drawings, a bluff to call out.
• Any device, because someone usually joins from a phone.
• Easy to pick up: every Ping44 game has a how-to-play page and a short tutorial the first time you play.

The best games for a video call

NOUN and Flexi Noun

Everyone fills in Name, Animal, Place and Thing for the same letter at the same time, then you check each other's answers, which is where the debating on the call begins. In Flexi Noun the host picks or writes the categories, so you can theme them around your team, family or a shared hobby. 2 to 100 players. How to play NOUN.

Trivia

A quiz that runs itself. Pick a topic and a difficulty, or write your own questions and run the quiz as host: in Custom mode the host can sit out and watch while everyone else plays. Faster correct answers score more. 2 to 100 players. Play Trivia.

Scribbly

Three drawing games, each one great to watch together. In Sketch & Draw one player draws while the rest type guesses. In Sketch Battle one player picks a word, everyone draws it, and the drawings are rated. In Sketch Impostor one player never gets the word and has to fake it, and the call becomes a debate about who was bluffing before the vote. About Scribbly.

20 Questions

Made for talking. One player holds a secret, everyone else asks yes-or-no questions, and the holder answers Yes, No or Kinda. In between, the whole call can argue about theories. The server adds hints about the answer, such as how many words it has. 2 to 20 players. Play 20 Questions.

Word Chain

One player at a time adds a word that follows the rule, against a short timer, while everyone else watches the chain grow. If a word looks wrong, flag it and the others vote. Eight modes, 3 to 20 players. Word Chain rules.

WHOT and UNO

Card games need private hands, which a shared screen can't give you. On Ping44 everyone sees only their own cards, and the server deals and checks every play. 2 to 20 players. WHOT and UNO.

Poker

Texas Hold'em with virtual chips, and your poker face is on camera. Up to 10 at the table, with no real money involved. Poker rules.

Barricade and Four in a Row

Short board games the whole call can follow: race your pawn across the board and slow the others down with walls, or drop discs to line up four. Both play one on one, in teams or everyone for themselves, up to 8 players, with everyone else cheering each move. Barricade and Four in a Row.

Games for work calls and team building

• Icebreakers: a round of NOUN, or Flexi Noun with categories about your work, gets everyone typing and laughing in a few minutes.
• A team quiz: Custom Trivia with questions about your team, product or company, with the host as quizmaster.
• End-of-meeting fun: Sketch Impostor or Sketch Battle.
• Big meetings: a room holds up to 100 people, and NOUN and Trivia take everyone. See games for large groups.
• Control: close the room so the host approves each person who joins, and remove anyone who shouldn't be there. A chat filter masks offensive words in the room chat.

Games for family and friends far away

Ping44 runs in the browser, so relatives can play on a tablet, a phone or a laptop. Guests don't need an account: they open the link and pick a name, and only the host signs in. Ping44 is in English, French and Vietnamese, and each player sees it in their own browser's language. Families who grew up with the Nigerian card game WHOT can play it together from different countries. Players must be 13 or older.

Tips for smooth video call games

• Paste the invite link in the call's chat. People can also type the 6-character room code at ping44.com.
• Leave Ping44's voice chat off if you're already on a call.
• No screen sharing needed: everyone plays on their own screen.
• Many games have a "No timer for first round" setting, so newcomers can learn without the clock.
• Signed-in players keep their seat for 15 seconds if their connection drops.

How to start in under a minute

1. Sign in at ping44.com with email or Google (free) and create a room, with voice chat off if you're on a call.
2. Paste the invite link in the call's chat, or read out the room code.
3. In the lobby, pick a game, for example NOUN, or Scribbly with its mode in Game settings.
4. Press start, and keep talking on the call.

Frequently asked questions