The number of people who use Zoom in a single day increased by 30x1https://backlinko.com/zoom-users over the first few months of 2020. Now over 300 million people use Zoom each day.
It’s safe to say that Zoom is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Many folks lament that Zoom lacks the intimacy of real-person gatherings. But in this article, we’ll provide you with the tools to have loads of fun playing the best Zoom games.
The Rise of Virtual Games
Whether we like it or not, some significant portion of our social lives occurs over Zoom, from keeping in touch with old friends to team-building activities.
If you have the right tools, you can design connecting and riveting games over Zoom.
And playing games with others isn’t just fun and connecting. Research indicates2https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-well-being-of-playful-adults:-Adult-subjective-Proyer/d62a0f9f0068004a9ccb3a4b851bde37eac4e6a5?p2df that adults who engage in play tend to have higher mental and physical well-being.
It’s common for family or friend groups to have regular Zoom meetings and for offices to do team-building over Zoom. You don’t need to wait until you see people in person to strengthen your connection with them.
Check out the following Zoom game ideas, and see if you feel inspired to bring any to your office or social circle.
Zoom Games for Office Team Building
Workers are more productive in positive work cultures3https://netfamilybusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Proof-That-Positive-Work-Cultures-Are-More-Productive.pdf. So pick any team-building activity or game below to up engagement and boost your office morale.
- Pretend Ted Talks
This is a fun way to let your team members showcase their secret passions.
Give everyone 5 minutes to give a presentation on any topic they choose. The topics could be anything from sharing new sales strategies to ranking the best 3 Disney movies of all time.
You can either give folks a chance to plan their talk ahead of time or make it impromptu. Both are fun choices.
- Team crossword puzzle
Put one of these crossword puzzles4https://www.funtrivia.com/crossword/index.cfm on a shared screen and try to solve it together. Everyone will have a part to play.
You can also break into teams and race to solve the puzzle.
- Talent show
Think of this as a low-stakes open mic.
Give everyone a chance to share one of their creative talents. Here are a few possibilities of what people might share:
- Sharing a piece of art
- Playing a song on the guitar
- A standup routine
- Any tricks their pet can do
- Reading a story they wrote
This can be a vulnerable and connecting way to get to know each other.
- “Who’s that baby?!”
This one takes a little legwork, but it’s a great laugh.
Ask everyone to send you a picture of when they were a baby.
Then put them all into a slideshow.
Go through each slide with your team, and have everyone try to guess which baby is whom.
After someone’s baby picture is guessed, give them a chance to share anything they’d like about the photo.
If your team is small or diverse, it might be obvious which baby is which. In this case, you could also have everyone think of a funny (and kind) story that describes what the baby is doing and thinking.
While games are a phenomenal way to bond, so is being a masterful conversationalist. If you want to up your conversational skills, you might be interested in this course.
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- Bucket list matching
This game is great for getting to know people’s desires more deeply.
Ask everyone to create a bucket list with ten items on it. Things they want to do before they retire or pass away.
Then, similar to “Who’s that baby?!” above, put each bucket list onto a slide in a slide show.
Then go through each slide with everyone and have people guess which list belongs to whom.
After each list is guessed, give space to the owner of the bucket list to share anything they’d like about their list.
For a bonus, you can combine games #4 and #5 and put each baby picture next to its corresponding bucket list. We like to call that game “Babies in Buckets.”
Watch our video below to learn 10 ways to feel happier at work:
- Blind chocolate taste test
Here’s a game to test the taste buds of any chocolate lovers on your team. And if folks aren’t into chocolate, you can try a different snack. Here are the instructions:
Supplies:
- Five different brands of dark chocolate bars
- Aluminum foil
- Permanent marker
- Mailing materials
Instructions:
- Purchase Chocolate: Buy five different brands of dark chocolate bars. Keep them the same percentage to standardize the taste test.
- Preparation: Break each chocolate bar into small bite-sized pieces — enough for each of your team members to have one piece of each bar. If you have ten team members, you need ten pieces per chocolate bar.
- Packaging: Wrap each piece of chocolate separately in a piece of aluminum foil. Number the wrapped pieces from each bar 1-5 (all pieces from the first bar are 1, from the second bar, are 2, etc.). Make sure to note down which number corresponds to which chocolate bar.
- Mailing: Compile one piece of each chocolate bar for each team member, and mail these chocolate packets out. Remind them to wait to open the packages until the taste test.
- Conducting the Test: Have everyone open their packages simultaneously during the Zoom meeting. Ask them to taste one piece at a time, in numerical order, and discuss each piece. Encourage everyone to share their thoughts about the flavor, texture, and overall preference.
- Rank Guess the Chocolate: Once everyone has tasted and discussed all the chocolates, ask them to rank their favorites from 1-5. And then to guess the order of how expensive each bar is.
- Reveal the Chocolates: After everyone has guessed, reveal the brand and other details of each chocolate based on their number. Discuss if the results were surprising and which chocolate was the overall favorite.
You can also do this with guess the olive oil, guess the soda, or any other goodie your team likes. Be sure to check on food allergies beforehand!
- Puzzle challenge
Solving challenging problems with another person is a great way to bond.
Look up five puzzles and riddles ahead of time. Then on the Zoom call, put everyone into teams, and place each team in a breakout room.
Set the clock to 10 minutes.
The pair of teammates to come back with all the puzzles (correctly) completed wins!
And if you’d like to venture through a pre-designed virtual puzzle challenge, you can check out this great resource.
- Trivia by the decade
Trivia is a fun way to showcase your specific knowledge. Although if you’ve ever been in a bar or restaurant with Trivial Pursuit cards around, you might notice that all the questions are from decades ago.
This digital product is a great choice because you can engage in trivia questions from whichever decade you choose.
Trivia is especially fun if you split people into three or four teams and place each team in a breakout room.
Zoom Games to Stay in Touch with a Friend Group
- Pass the YouTube
If you’re anything like me, you’ve found yourself in some bizarre yet fascinating corners of the YouTube universe.
One fun way to connect with friends is to watch short YouTube videos together where you take turns picking the video.
You can pick music videos, ASMR clips, intellectual lectures, or anything else. This can be a fun way to share your taste and can feel like you’re co-creating a strange film festival with each other.
- GeoGuessr
GeoGuessr will drop you into a first-person view of Google Maps on some random part of the Earth. You then have two minutes to “walk” around the area and guess where you are.
For friends who are prone to wanderlust, this game is a hit.
- Skribbl
Skribbl is a cute and surprisingly fun take on Pictionary.
One person draws at a time while everyone else ventures guesses in the chat. If you guess the word right, you get points, and other players cannot see your correct guess.
This game is a great way to get creative and playful with a group.
- Charades
Charades is a fun way to get people feeling loose and embodied.
The rules: To play charades, divide everyone into two teams. The basic premise is that one person (the actor) from a team will act out a word/phrase without speaking, and their team has a limited amount of time (usually 1-2 minutes) to guess the word/phrase. The other team will provide the word to the actor. If you’re short on ideas, here’s a tool that can help you generate charades topics.
Gameplay: If it’s your turn to act, mute your microphone to prevent any accidental sounds. You can use the “private message” function in Zoom to send the actor their word/phrase. Once the actor has their word/phrase, start the timer, and they can begin acting. Their team will try to guess the word/phrase within the time limit.
Scoring: If a team correctly guesses the word/phrase within the time limit, they earn a point. If not, the other team has one chance to steal the point by guessing the word/phrase correctly.
Taking Turns: Continue taking turns, alternating between teams, until you’ve played as many rounds as you want. Make sure to spotlight whoever is acting.
Winning the Game: The team with the most correct guesses at the end of the game is the winner.
Lots of folks have different “house rules” with charades, so feel free to be flexible with the rules and adapt the game to suit your group’s preferences.
- Would you rather…
This is a classic game to get people contemplating weird and sometimes philosophical scenarios.
Simply take turns sharing “would you rather” situations with the group and let everyone discuss their options.
Here are a few options to get your gears turning:
- Would you rather know exactly when you’ll die or exactly how you will die?
- Would you rather carry 100 pennies in your pockets at all times or always have to wear a backpack (even while sleeping)?
- Would you rather win $100,000 for yourself or $1,000,000 for your best friend (that they can’t share with you)?
If you’d like more inspiration, here’s a list of 100 “would you rather” questions.
- Bet on the polls
Zoom has a poll feature that can create lots of fun data.
Use the poll to ask questions to the group. It could be “Would you rather” questions like the above or something simpler like “Are you a morning person or a night person?”
Once everyone in the group has responded, instruct everyone to guess which option they think will receive more votes. For each correct guess a person gets, they receive a point.
You can also play this game without scoring and just enjoy sampling the group.
- Most useful intelligence
This is a fun conversation starter, adapted from TeamBuilding.com.
In 2011 Howard Gardner wrote a book called “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.”
The book critiqued the IQ test as the only measure of intelligence and instead posited eight types of intelligence.
The types of intelligence are as follows:
The game here is to debate and discuss which types of intelligence are most important in different situations.
For example, which types of intelligence might be most important for:
- Escaping a desert island
- Surviving a zombie apocalypse
- Evolving culture
- Becoming president
- Social media throwback
This activity requires some sleuthing on your part.
Before your call, look at the Facebook pages of each of your friends. Dating back 10+ years to when they first made their profiles.
Once you find their early “wall,” take note of a few of their old posts.
Then on your Zoom call, go through each quote and instruct the group to try to guess who made each post.
Zoom Games as Ice Breakers to Start a Meeting
If you are running a meeting, it can be helpful to loosen people up before starting. Here are a few activities that will get people sharing and feeling more creative.
- Rapid rounds
If you’re in a group of 10 or fewer, this is an effective way to help people open up.
Share a prompt, and then one at a time, have people share their first-reaction answer to the prompt. The goal isn’t for them to share a long, thought-out answer. Just the first thing that pops out of their mouth. First thought, best thought.
This activity helps people remove their filters and become more engaged.
It’s also useful to instruct people to avoid planning what they will say before it’s their turn. It’s better to put their full attention on whoever is speaking and to trust that when it’s their turn, they’ll know just what to say.
You could try doing 3 or 4 rounds of prompts.
Here are a few options:
- How are you feeling at this moment?
- What’s one thing you’re afraid of?
- If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
- What’s one thing you want?
- What’s one thing you want to do before you die?
- What is the title of your current life chapter?
- Show and tell
One at a time, ask each person to pick something in their room to share with the group. It could be their favorite mug, a book they’re reading, a piece of art on the wall, or some loose-leaf tea they bought traveling. Anything they want to share about that says something about them.
It can be helpful to put on a timer for 1-3 minutes per person to make sure the activity doesn’t go on too long.
This can be an excellent way for people to reveal things about themself in a way that is a little vulnerable but not too intense.
- Scavenger hunt
In a virtual scavenger hunt, you’ll give a list of tasks to the group. Everyone will have 10 minutes (or whatever time you choose) to accomplish as many tasks as possible.
Here are a few possible scavenger hunt ideas:
- Find a physical book that starts with “The Art of ____” or “The Power of _____.”
- Take a selfie with a pet
- Grab a travel souvenir
- Grab your favorite mug
- Recreate a TikTok dance
Here are a bunch more ideas you can use for your scavenger hunt.
- Team storytelling
Once upon a time…
Start a fictional story based on the first thought that comes to mind. After you’ve built up the story for one minute, pass the mic to the next person. They will then have one minute to advance the plot.
Give everyone a turn to add to the story until the last person, whose job is to find an ending.
This is a great activity to foster a creative and playful group flow.
- Favorite animal
As a fun warm-up, you can ask everyone what their favorite animal is. After each person has shared, do one more round where you give each person the option to either impersonate the animal’s sound or share how their personality resembles their animal.
If anyone does end up making the animal sound, it can get a little goofy and is guaranteed to generate some chuckles.
- Secret handshake
Break out everyone into groups of two, and task them with creating a secret handshake over Zoom.
This will force them to get silly and creative with each other. They can make sounds or move their bodies.
Once they’re back in the main room, you can ask people to unveil their secret handshake for the group.
- Name 5 things
This is a fun improv game where each player gets 15 seconds to name five objects in a given category.
One person starts by picking another person and a topic. The chosen person then has 15 seconds to rattle off five items from that topic.
So if you pick the topic “Cereal names,” then someone might say, “Cheerios! Frosted Flakes! Frosted Mini Wheats! Cap’n Crunch! And Lucky Charms!”
This is a fun game to get people thinking on their feet.
Zoom Games to Build Connection
If you want to play games to help people learn more about each other and open up a bit, you can try any of these with friends, family, or coworkers.
- Something in common
Put everyone in a breakout room with a partner.
For the first round, give them one minute to discover the most unique thing they have in common.
For the second round, challenge them to find a personality trait or a personal value they share.
For the third round, challenge them to find an interest they share.
- Curiosity game
Put people in breakout rooms with a partner.
One person will start as the asker and the other as the answerer.
The asker will have six minutes to simply get curious about the answerer. They can ask whatever questions they’d like–anything they are genuinely curious about.
The answerer can opt not to answer any question…
After the six minutes, give two minutes for a debrief. Then swap roles.
You’ll find that it can be very exciting to explore another person’s world and very refreshing to receive another person’s curiosity.
- Google game
For this game, put people in breakout rooms in groups of three.
The three people will decide on an order.
Person 1 will say: “What happens when I Google Person 2 and X?”
X can be anything at all. X could be crystals, Seattle, Elon Musk, or ghosts. Seriously anything.
Then Person 2 will respond by free-associating on the first thing that comes up in relationship to the topic X.
So if Person 1 said, “What happens when I Google Person 2 and ghosts?” Then Person 2 may respond: “I don’t really believe in ghosts. But there was this one time about ten years ago when…” and so forth.
Once they finish, Person 2 will then “Google” a question from Person 3. And so on.
After about 10 minutes, pause the activity and give 3 minutes for each trio to debrief on how it went and what they noticed. Then bring everyone back to the main group.
- Rose, Bud, Thorn
Rose, Bud, Thorn is an easy set of prompts to help people open up to each other.
You can do this activity in breakout rooms or a larger group, but it’s best not to do it in groups of larger than 12 people because it will take too long.
But simply give each person a few minutes to respond to the prompt:
- Rose: What’s something going well in your life right now?
- Bud: What’s something that’s growing in your life right now?
- Thorn: What’s challenging in your life right now?
- Embarrassing story
Before meeting, ask everyone to write you an embarrassing story from their past (that they’d be comfortable with others hearing).
Then when the group gathers, read each embarrassing story one at a time and have people try to guess whose story it was.
After each person is guessed, give them some space to share how the experience was for them for others to hear their story.
Board Games to Play Over Zoom
If you’re a board game lover, then you’ll be thrilled with this selection of online games
- Taboo
Taboo is a simple word game. You get cards with words on them and try to get your team to guess the main word without saying any of the other words written on the card. Your team will lose points if you say any of those forbidden taboo words. It requires quick thinking, teamwork, and creative wordsmithing. See who can get the most points.
Here is an online version of Taboo that you can play over Zoom.
- Werewolf
Werewolf is a social deduction game. There are two roles in the game – Werewolves and Villagers. The aim of the Werewolves is to try and identify all of the Villagers without being detected, while the Villagers need to discover who amongst them are the Werewolves using deduction and reasoning.
Werewolf is an engaging social experience – it encourages creativity and clever tactics to win. It’s easy enough to learn but challenging enough for even experienced players to enjoy.
Check out this online version of Werewolf.
- Colonist
Colonist is a similar style of game to Settlers of Catan.
It is a turn-based strategy game where players build settlements and must gather and trade resources such as food, wood, ore, and tools to expand their territory. At the end of the game, the player with the most money wins.
With Colonist, players must manage their resources carefully, use trading strategies wisely, and take strategic risks to beat out their opponents.
- Codenames
Codenames is a game of deduction and word association.
There are two teams, each with their own “spymaster” who gives one-word clues that relate to multiple cards in the game. The other players on the team then have to guess which card the spymaster is referring to with their clue. The first team to guess all of their words correctly wins!
Codenames is an exciting and fun way to practice language skills, strengthen communication, and have a great time with friends, colleagues, or family.
Here is a YouTube video that more thoroughly goes over the rules.
Here is the official Codenames site, and here’s a less aesthetic alternative that’s a little simpler to get started.
- Scattegories
Scattegories is a classic game that requires quick, creative thinking.
To play, each player starts with the same letter of the alphabet. There are twelve categories (for example: “things that are soft,” “TV shows,” etc.) Players then have two minutes to list an answer for each category that starts with the letter of the round.
So if the letter were B, then a “thing that is soft” might be a blankie, and a TV show might be Big Brother.
You only get points if nobody else gives the same answer as you, so the game encourages creativity.
After two minutes, players compare their answers to find out who had the most unique ideas. The player with the highest score wins.
Scattergories is a great game for groups of any size because it’s easy to learn and fast-paced. It’s also a great way to sharpen your thinking skills and have fun at the same time.
Here is an online version you can play while on a Zoom call.
- Board Game Arena
You can also try Board Game Arena, an online consortium of board games.
It contains old classics like Monopoly but also new-release games.
Just join a Zoom room with your friends, then head to the website together.
Great Websites to Play Games Over Zoom
- Jackbox
Jackbox is a series of fun and interactive party games that can be played with friends and family remotely through Zoom.
There’s a variety of games, though they tend to involve answering questions, drawing pictures, or completing tasks.
To play Jackbox over Zoom, each player must connect to the same Zoom call and then enter a room code created by the host. Then, each player can go to Jackbox.tv and enter the room code. Once in the game lobby, each player can join the game by clicking on a link that appears on their screen.
- Among Us
Among Us is a popular online multiplayer game where players take on the roles of Crewmates or Impostors. The Crewmates must complete tasks like fixing broken wiring and other maintenance tasks while the Impostors try to sabotage them. The goal for the Crewmates is to identify who the Impostors are and throw them out of an airlock, while the Impostors must eliminate enough players so they outnumber the remaining crew.
To play Among Us over Zoom, each player must connect to the same Zoom call and then enter a room code created by the host. Then, each player can download the Among Us app and connect to the same game lobby using the room code provided by the host.
Once all players are in the same lobby, they can start playing either as Crewmates or Impostors.
- Outback Team Building
Outback Team Building is another great website that offers a range of games to play over Zoom.
They have options like Jeopardy, a philanthropic do-good game, and plenty of trivia games.
- Escape Room
If you’ve tried an escape room in the past, you know how exhilarating it is to solve clues and unlock mysteries with a group.
And you’re in luck because a virtual version of escape rooms can be played over Zoom.
Check out TheEscapeRoom.com for seven different virtual escape room options.
Zoom activities
While Zoom games are a phenomenal way to bond, it can also be fun and engaging to do a shared activity with each other. Here are a few ideas.
- Virtual painting class
You can try a painting class where you get paired with a live instructor.
Part of your purchase will also cover paint supplies, so you’ll just need to follow along to make your next masterpiece.
- Beer and cheese tasting
Eating together is one of the oldest forms of human connection. Breaking bread.
If you’d like to simulate a luxurious happy hour, you can order beers and cheese platters from Unboxed Experiences.
All of the participants will receive a box that comes with 3-5 craft beers and cheeses.
- Virtual wine tasting
When you order these wine-tasting kits, the company will ship wines to different addresses.
This activity will transport you and your group to Bordeaux, where you can sample the finest of wines and compare tastes.
- Cooking class
Another great shared activity is a cooking class. WithConfetti.com will ship you all the ingredients you need. Then you and your team follow along with the professional chef.
In no time, you’ll make some gourmet Italian eats alongside your friends.
- Yoga class
Practicing wellness with others is a beautiful way to connect. There are plenty of yoga teachers on Youtube whose offer yoga class videos.
Try meeting up with a group of friends and putting the yoga video on a shared screen.
Here’s my favorite Youtube yoga teacher.
- Netflix
If you’re feeling loungey, one age-old way to bond with a group is to watch a movie or TV show together.
Just switch on your screen share, and start your favorite series.
It can be fun to use either your voice or the Zoom chat feature to discuss the drama as it’s unfolding.
Zoom Games Frequently Asked Questions
Some popular games you can play on Zoom include Werewolf, Taboo, and Codenames. There are also plenty of games you can play on Zoom that aren’t board games, such as charades, GeoGuessr, or even a show and tell.
One interactive game you can play on Zoom is “Would you rather?” This is where you come up with a couple of prompts and have your group discuss what options are best. One such prompt might be: “Would you rather win $100,000 for yourself or $1,000,000 for your best friend (that they can’t share with you)?”
One fun 2-person game on Zoom is GeoGuessr, where you are placed in a random location on Google Maps, and you and your partner have a limited time to figure out where on the globe you are.
5 Things is a fun improv game where one person picks another person and a topic. The chosen person then has 15 seconds to rattle off five items from that topic.
While some Zoom games cost money, there are plenty of free options. If you’re looking for board games, you can try Board Game Arena.
The Curiosity Game is fun to play with your partner on Zoom. This is where you each get 6 minutes at a time to get as curious as possible about the other person. This is a great game to play with a partner because even if you’ve known this person for years, playing this simple game will help you learn new things about each other.
Something in Common is a game that helps people learn ways that they are similar. For one version of this game, put everyone in a breakout room with a single partner. Then give them one minute to discover the most unique thing they have in common. For the second round, challenge them to find a personality trait or a personal value that they share. And for the third round, challenge them to find an interest they share.
Bet on the Polls can be a fun game to play with a class. Using Zoom’s polling feature, you can ask questions to the class and then receive live data. For example, you could ask everyone if they are a cat or dog person, and you’d be able to see the results. You can make this more fun by asking students to guess what they think the results will be before you show them and award points to correct guesses.
Zoom Games Summary
Zoom Games Summary
Now that we are entering more deeply into the age of Zoom, more and more game possibilities are emerging.
Whether you’re organizing a game night for a group of friends, creating a team-building exercise at work, or trying to engage students, there are plenty of options for you to choose from.
To start, it might help to think about what kind of Zoom game you’re looking for.
Do you want a game that fosters teamwork?
A game that encourages people to get to know each other?
A shared activity?
Or a game that’s just plain fun?
Once you’ve clarified that, you can peruse this post and find the perfect Zoom game for your occasion.
If you’re curious to learn other great icebreakers, this post would be a great next step.
Article sources
- https://backlinko.com/zoom-users
- https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-well-being-of-playful-adults:-Adult-subjective-Proyer/d62a0f9f0068004a9ccb3a4b851bde37eac4e6a5?p2df
- https://netfamilybusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Proof-That-Positive-Work-Cultures-Are-More-Productive.pdf
- https://www.funtrivia.com/crossword/index.cfm
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