Games to Play on FaceTime (or Any Video Call)

The easiest games to play on FaceTime open from a link while the call keeps running. For two people, try Who Is More Likely To or How Well Do You Know Me. For a group, try Imposter Snack Party or Which Costs More. They're free, take three to six minutes and need no app. Twenty Questions and charades work too.

A video call is great for seeing someone's face and not so great at filling an hour. Once the catch-up runs dry, somebody asks "so, what else is new?" for the second time. This guide lists 14 games to play on FaceTime, split into games for two people and games for a group, with a comparison table so you can pick one in about ten seconds. Some run in a browser next to the call and some need only your voice and a camera. All of them are free, and they work the same way on Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp.

FaceTime games compared

How to play games on FaceTime

FaceTime is a calling app, so the easy way to play is to keep the call running and open a game in a web browser. There are two setups.

• Two devices. Keep the call on your phone and open the game on a laptop or tablet. You see faces and the game at once, and it's the most comfortable way to play.
• One phone. Start the call, then swipe over to your browser. On an iPhone the call usually keeps going in a small picture-in-picture window, so you can still see each other while you tap.

For the link games below, one person opens the game, presses Play online and pastes the room link into the chat. Everyone else taps it and types a name. Nobody makes an account or installs anything, and the people who join from the link don't spend any of their own free rounds.

FaceTime also has SharePlay, a built-in feature for using supported apps together during a call. It needs everyone on the call to have a supported app installed. The link games in this guide don't use SharePlay. They run in a browser, so they also work when someone joins from an Android phone or a laptop.

FaceTime games for two people

With two people, the best games are the ones where you get to watch the other person's face at the exact moment something is revealed.

Who Is More Likely To

A question comes up: "who is more likely to sing in the shower like it's a concert?" You each tap a name in secret, and both picks flip over at once. On video you see the look of betrayal in real time. One game of Who Is More Likely To is ten questions and runs about three minutes.

How Well Do You Know Me

One of you answers a multiple-choice question about yourself while the other guesses what you picked, and the roles trade off every question. The camera catches the confident guess and then the face when it turns out wrong. How Well Do You Know Me is eight questions long, and the match score at the end is good for an argument.

Draw My Face From Memory

You can see each other on the call, but the rule is no looking while you draw. Each of you gets 60 seconds to sketch the other's face, then the two portraits show up side by side and you each rate the drawing of yourself from one to five stars. We suggest propping the phone up so your hands are free. Play Draw My Face From Memory from one link.

A two-minute trivia duel

If the two of you keep score on everything, try a duel. In Cheese or Font you both see the same twelve names and get six seconds each to decide whether it's a cheese or a typeface. Higher score wins, and the loser gets to demand a rematch.

Twenty Questions

No screen at all. One person thinks of an object or a person, and the other gets twenty yes-or-no questions to figure it out. Video helps the guesser, because it's hard to hide a smirk when they're getting warm.

Rock, paper, scissors, best of 15

It sounds too dumb to work. Over video you have to count down out loud and throw at the same moment, and with even a little lag, somebody gets accused of cheating by round three. Use it to decide who picks the next game.

If you want more for two, our games for couples page has every two-player game on the site.

FaceTime games for a group

Group calls are harder than one-on-one calls. People talk over each other, the audio cuts out, and the quiet ones drift off to check their phones. A game with turns gives everyone a spot.

Imposter Snack Party

Everybody gets the same secret snack except one player, whose snack is close but not the same (think pancakes and waffles). You go around giving one-word clues, then vote on who has the odd one. Each person plays on their own phone or laptop and talks over the call, and the debate before the vote gets loud. Imposter Snack Party needs at least three players. A free room holds four, and a room opened by an Unlimited member holds twelve.

Which Costs More

Two things appear on everyone's screen, say a gallon of maple syrup and a gallon of gas, and the whole call has ten seconds to tap the pricier one. You can explain it in one sentence, which matters when half the call "doesn't really play games." Which Costs More runs eight pairs per game.

Scavenger hunt

The host calls out something to find, like "something older than you" or "the ugliest mug in your kitchen." First person to hold it up to the camera gets the point. It gets people off the couch, and you learn a lot about your friends' kitchens.

Paper Pictionary

Somebody sketches on a sheet of paper, then shows it to the camera, and the rest of the call shouts guesses. Keep the timer tight. Thirty seconds a drawing is plenty, and bad drawings are the good ones.

Charades

It still works over video as long as the actor backs up far enough to fit in the frame. Stick to categories the whole group knows, such as movies from the last ten years.

Would You Rather

Go around the call and have each person ask one. In a group, add a rule: everyone answers by holding up one finger or two at the same time, so nobody can copy.

Country Tug of War and The World Button

These two are live games that anyone on the site can join, so there's no room to set up. If your friends are spread across countries, open Country Tug of War and tap for your own flag in two-minute rounds. To end the night, have everyone hold The World Button and see who lets go last.

There are more group picks on our games to play online with friends page.

Games to play on FaceTime with your boyfriend or girlfriend

For a date-night call, we'd run three games in this order. Open with Who Is More Likely To, because it's two buttons and no thinking. Move to How Well Do You Know Me once you're both warmed up. Finish with Draw My Face From Memory, since nothing tops it and the portraits are worth a screenshot. That's about fifteen minutes of games and a lot more of talking about the results.

If you're in a long distance relationship and calls are most of your time together, our guide to long distance relationship games goes deeper, including slow games that run between calls.

Games for birthdays, holidays and watch parties

Birthdays. When you can't be there, make the call the party. Read How Well Do You Know Me questions out loud about the birthday person and have everyone else guess their answer. Lowest score sings.

Holiday calls with family. Family calls can circle the same three questions every year. A couple of games of Which Costs More gives every generation something to argue about, starting with the price of gas.

Watch parties. If you're streaming a show together, use the gap between episodes for a quick duel. It keeps the call alive without dragging anyone away from the couch.

Tips for a smoother FaceTime game night

Send the link early. Drop it in the chat a minute before you want to start so nobody is hunting for it later.

Mute between turns. Group calls echo during games. Muting when it isn't your turn helps more than you'd think.

Wear headphones on one device. If the game and the call share a phone, headphones keep the sound from feeding back.

Keep each game short. Video calls wear people out. Three short games go over better than one long one.

Let one person host. In a link game, whoever made the room starts every round. One person in charge saves you from "wait, are we starting?"

FaceTime games FAQ

For more to play after the call, from quick trivia to live games with strangers, see our best free online games.