Games To Play With Your Friends When You Have To Stay At Home

With the second wave of coronavirus, it’s become obvious that this pandemic is going to last a while, and many countries are implementing lockdown procedures again. While we’ve got a hang on social distancing, there’s still one persistently annoying factor to overcome – boredom.

Games are a good way to exercise your brain but, most importantly, they’re one of the best ways to bring people together. It’s the ultimate bonding experience and the quickest way to distraction and merriment with friends when you’re stranded at home.

There are many ways to start your game nights, from straightforward multiplayer options to video chats. But the wide variety of games might make it difficult to know where to start. That’s why we’ve made this list of games that will certainly provide you and your friends with a creative outlet during this pandemic.

Into the Online Franchises

The internet is already home to multiplayer options of some famous gaming franchises. With just a smartphone, you can play Call of Duty Mobile and FIFA Soccer with your friends. You can also play the popular card game Uno! in multiplayer mode. For die-hard gambling fans, there are free online slots with a wide variety of franchise themes such as Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Monopoly, etc.

If you’re packing bigger guns (PS, Xbox One, PS4), we recommend GTA Online for many hours of pure crime slapstick fun. GTA 5 introduced an online mode that allows a group of friends to take on different roles and execute multi-stage missions together. This is as close as it gets to an interactive crime movie.

Imagination Unlimited

The world of tabletop games also holds a fair share of franchises, in which Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) certainly reigns supreme. Its immense popularity doesn’t only come from the fact that it’s one of the first in the RPG genre, but also from the fact that its developers had decades to turn it into a perfect gaming experience. So get your hands on the 5th edition and dive into a rich fantasy world of dragons, goblins, and elves, choose a character and embark on an adventure with your friends.

You’ll see below that some tabletop games have their online counterparts, but the best thing about D&D is that it doesn’t need one. It is a game whose world of fantasy and adventure is built mostly by the imagination of the players, which sheds the need for the board. You just need some dice, set of rules, and unlimited imagination flowing through video chats.

Follow the Clues

After you’ve binged on all the true-crime series out there, it’s time to partake in the action. The best way to start using your detective skills is with Codenames due to the simple game mechanics and an incredible level of engagement. The simple premise of receiving one-word clues to make contact with other agents and avoid the assassin has given birth to a game that holds over 2000 five-star Amazon reviews. Although the online version of the game is available, playing it with your friends over video chat adds another layer of creativity.

Another way to go about this is to have a murder mystery party, just like the established classic Clue. A game where you need to find out which character committed the crime, where, and with what weapon, has its official online app. The app allows you to connect with friends for a matchup online and also an option to purchase a season pass that offers ten new boards, featuring Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie characters, even vampires.

A Source of Hope

Due to the current developments regarding COVID-19, it may seem that Pandemic is not the best distraction at this point. Nevertheless, this game is more than a distraction, it is also a certain source of hope. Instead of sitting home feeling powerless to change anything, you and your friends can take on the roles of various medical experts with unique abilities and team up to contain viral outbreaks around the world. The very act of searching for the cure(s) together guarantees hours of uplifting fun.

Although Pandemic is technically available online only as a single-player, purchasing it through the Steam distribution platform you’ll get access to the Remote Play Together feature allowing you to play it with your friends.

Onward

We end our list with something we thought impossible at this point – an opportunity to travel.  While most of us can’t obtain an actual train ticket, we can get our hands on the virtual ones inside Ticket to Ride. This cross-country train adventure game is all about connecting since the goal is to claim different routes of the railway that connect the different cities. In the online world of this addictive game, all it takes is to own the app and meet some friends for a remote showdown. With expansion packs containing maps of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Switzerland, the Nordic countries, Aisa, and Europe – the sky is the limit.

As you can see, there are many games we can play with friends when we’re stuck at home. But games on the above list go beyond simple socialization – they celebrate imagination, spark hope, building connections around the globe and to fantasy kingdoms beyond.