Many of us were connecting with friends and family online as the pandemic and various lockdown restrictions continued around the world meaning we cannot meet in person at Christmas or other special occasions. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still have lots of online virtual fun! There are loads of online family games to enjoy.
Lots of us are used to video calls and we know that Zoom quizzes were popular in the spring lockdown. But if you want something fun to do on the group Zoom call that is NOT a quiz, we have some fun online games to play on your next virtual meet-up. It’s great to be able to enjoy Christmas games online.
- (But if you DO want to host a quiz we have put together a range of different questions and answers for you. Plus, we have a Music Quiz here)
Socially distanced Christmas can still be fun. Enjoy these zoom games for families and friends.
Family Games To Play on a Zoom Chat
1. Name That Tune
Either pick a tune-master or take turns to play the opening few seconds of a song and the rest of the group has to name that tune. Either shout it out, or everyone writes their guess down on paper to total up the score at the end.
2. Hum That Tune
Instead of playing the tune, you could HUM that tune. Choose well-known songs or theme tunes. Another way to play is to keep humming it until somebody guesses correctly then they take the next turn. Make sure you all come to the Zoom call with a few ideas ready to hum!
3. Sound Charades
Whilst we are on the topic of sound-based games. A ‘noises off’ could also be called ‘sound charades’. Essentially you can pick a sound from a theme – we recommend choosing a Christmas theme. Each person takes a turn to make a noise related to the theme. It could be anything from the sound of Santa coming down the chimney, the carving of the turkey, presents being unwrapped, a robin chirping. You can only make the noises using yourself, so mouth, hands, and feet. Remember, sounds only, not movements.
4. Two Truths, One Lie
Everyone takes it in turns to make three statements which include two truths about themselves and one that is a made-up lie. The other players have to guess which is the lie. If the real lie is not spotted they get to go again. If they are caught out, you move to the next person.
5. Fortunately/Unfortunately
This is a fun storytelling game that is favourite for kids. It can get quite silly. The aim of the game is to tell a story together taking it in turns to add to the story. But you alternate the first line of each player’s statement by saying either ‘fortunately’ or ‘unfortunately’.
For instance, the first player might start the story with: ‘I went to the park to play football…’ they then choose either ‘fortunately’ or ‘unfortunately’ statement … they say: ‘unfortunately my shoe fell off…’
The story continues to the next person who adds the opposite fortunately/unfortunately… so they say ‘fortunately my fairy godmother turned up’.
And so it continues amongst the players. Ideally, you want to make the statements as ridiculous as possible.
6. The Alphabet Game
There are two ways to play the alphabet game. Get some templates here.
Version 1 – Each player takes turns to choose a topic and then you go round the group from A to Z naming something from that category beginning with your letter until you have gone through the whole alphabet.
Version 2 – Two players shout out at the same time – one says a category and the other says a letter. Then the entire group has to name as many words as they can think of for that category and letter.
The categories can be as creative as you like – we anything from names of countries, cities, landmarks to food, fruit, chocolate bars, to TV shows, bands, or celebrities.
7. World Map
One for the geography and travel fans. Similar to the alphabet game as we are thinking about letters. In the World Map game, the players take turns to name a country and the next player has to follow up with another country name that begins with the last letter of the previous country name.
For instance – France, England, Denmark, Kenya, Argentina….
Of course, the same principle could be applied to any category or topic if you like.
8. I went to market and I bought…
We used to play this a lot as kids. It’s great for testing and stretching your memory. Each player goes to the market and names something they bought. Then the next player needs to remember all the items said before them. This gets harder as you go round.
For instance – player 1 says ‘I went to the market and I bought … chocolate’. Then player 2 says ‘I went to the market and I bought … chocolate and a loaf of bread’. Then player 3 says ‘I went to the market and I bought… chocolate, a loaf of bread, and 3 oranges’.
You keep going until either someone makes a mistake, or eliminate someone when they make a mistake and the winner is the last one still in.
9. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
This one only works if you really know your films and celebrities. The aim of the game is to link any actor to Kevin Bacon in a few leaps as possible.
For instance – John Malkovich was in Death of a Salesman with Dustin Hoffman who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.
Of course, you could pick any celebrity you like to play this game.
10. Twenty One
This a favourite drinking game so if you’re an adults-only group this can work that way. Or if you have kids in the group you could do it with hot chocolate. Or remove drinks altogether and just do it for fun.
You need at least 5/6 people for this to work well. The aim of the game is to count from 1 to 21. Each player can choose whether they say one, two, or three numbers in the sequence. And each of these has a consequence in the direction of the group counting.
If a player says one number the play continues in the same direction. If they say two numbers, the direction of play reverses. If they say three numbers the play skips the next person – or jumps over them.
If you make a mistake in the drinking game you take a swig. Drinking or not, you start again from one.
Once you get to 21, the person that says 21 gets to add a new rule for the next round. It can be anything they like, but examples could be that you have to stand up on any number divisible by 5, or you have to clap on every even number.
11. Scavenger Hunt
Select the hunt master who sets out a list of items or clues. The rest of the group have a set limit of time to see if they can find those objects around their house.
If going for the list option, you can be super simple and just name 10 objects the group has to find.
The other option is to come up with a list of clues – choose simple clues if kids are involved (such as finding something beginning with the letter J) and more cryptic clues for adults (such as finding an item of clothing made from a plant).
We have a free Christmas Scavenger Hunt prompts list for you to download and use on your next zoom call.
12. Skribble
Skribble.io is an online drawing and guessing game. It’s essentially like playing Pictionary, but you can do it virtually. Gather a group together and create your own private room and get drawing!
13. Chess
Did you know you can play online chess? You don’t need a Zoom or Skype chat for this one. Simply head to chess.com and you create your own private room to play a game. for free. (Read more here for a real chess board for home)
14. Taboo
Another great virtual online version of a favourite board game. You can play Taboo online with your friends and family. Divide into two teams and try to get your team to guess what is on your online taboo cards.
15. 20 Questions
A classic parlour game. With 20 questions you pick a noun, or if you like specify a category to make it easier, and the rest of the group take it in turns to ask a question. The winner is the person who guesses correctly!
16. Scattergories
Such a popular game to play at home and easy to set up. For the online version you can create the game here and then send a link to your friends and family to join you.
We also have our own Scattergories digital download to print at home available in our shop here.
17. Among Us
The game became super popular during the first lockdowns. Among Us is an app that everyone playing will need to download. You can create a game for your participants to join. One person gets assigned as the ‘imposter’ and has to sneakily try and kill off the other crewmates. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to prepare the spaceship for departure. Among Us on Apple and Among Us on Google Apps.
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We hope that has inspired you to have some fun and play virtual games online on your Christmas chats this year. Have a great time!
Quizzes you might like:
- Ideas For A Socially Distanced Christmas Party
- Christmas Scavenger Hunt
- Family Christmas Quiz
- List of Christmas Quizzes