It’s great if your family and close friends can easily join you for eat-outs and quick day trips. But what do you do when your besties are miles away and held back by travel restrictions? Well, thanks to video chat apps like Skype and Zoom, you can easily catch up with everyone. For times you run out of things to talk about, you can spice up your virtual bonding sessions with free online games!
From thrilling first-person games to word and card games with hilarious twists, here are the best free online games you can play to stay socially connected with physically distant friends!
Among Us
Among Us is one of the top online games that caught fire during the pandemic. Playable by up to 15 players, the game tests your wits by playing as a “crewmate” or an “impostor.” The crew’s goal is to finish all the tasks without getting sabotaged by the impostor, whose goal is to kill all the crewmates. There will be a chance to call emergency meetings and catch the impostor—just be careful who you find sus.
What’s great is that it allows cross-platform gaming, which means friends can play together regardless if some are on PC, mobile, or console. However, only the mobile game is free.
Official game site: innersloth.itch.io/among-us
Unfortunate Spacemen
Is Among Us too cute and casual for your taste? Look no further than Unfortunate Spacemen, which offers greater liberty to fight off the impostors. Instead of democratic polls, you’re now equipped with machine guns and flamethrowers to eliminate the shape-shifting monster among you. And if that’s not challenging enough, spacemen may also have to deal with a traitor in the group and other space monsters!
Unfortunate Spacemen is available for free on Windows PCs and can be played by up to 15 players.
Download the game from Steam
Deceit
If your gang is more into the scary stuff, then you may have already heard of co-op horror games like Phasmophobia and Devour. If you’re looking for a free alternative, then check out Deceit! It’s like the horror game version of Among Us. There’s an infected in your group and the goal of the innocent is simple: do not die until you find an escape. However, confrontations can’t be avoided and you’ll have to equip yourself with weapons to fight the infected!
Deceit is available on Windows PC and can be played by up to six players.
Official game site: playdeceit.com
Krunker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zBdFf1CNI
Krunker is another free online game to play with friends if you want more gun-slinging action. With its Minecraft-esque art style, it’s like a watered-down version of Fortnite or Call of Duty—meaning the fights can get very intense but not as gory. Choose from different game modes and over 10 weapons. You don’t have to worry about being left out after a fatal hit because respawns are also pretty quick.
Play Krunker easily on your browser and create custom games for up to 10 players.
Official game site: krunker.io
Scrabble GO
If you want something more laidback yet cerebral, go for a word game like Scrabble GO. Go on one-on-one Scrabble matches with your best friend and test each other’s vocabulary and even discover the silliest existing words! You can choose your language and dictionary including NASPA. If you play long enough and level up, you can also gain custom tiles that’ll make you stand out!
Scrabble GO can be played on mobile by two players. You can easily connect your Facebook or contacts list to play with your friend.
Download game from Google Play or the App Store
Codenames
Another great online game that puts your social deduction skill to exercise is Codenames. Two teams of operatives face off in a race to find all their agents. There are a total of 25 cards with assigned words laid out on a 5×5 grid. Each team has eight agent cards to find, while the remaining cards are for seven bystanders and one assassin that leads to immediate loss. A spymaster assigned per team will help by giving one-word clues to find their agents.
Codenames is ideally played by four to eight players but you can have as many as 64 players in one room.
Official game site: codenames.game
Skribbl.io
Are you confident about your drawing and guessing skills? Take your friends to Skribbl.io, a browser-based drawing charade game! One player draws on the screen and the others should correctly guess as many as they can within the given time. You can create a private room for up to 12 players or, if you’re bored and want to make new friends, just hit “Play” and be matched with other random players! The game supports several languages other than English, such as French, German, and Korean.
Play here: skribbl.io
Gartic Phone
Inspired by the telephone game, also known as Chinese whispers, Gartic Phone is another fun browser-based drawing game. But instead of simply guessing a single player’s drawing, friends take turns drawing and guessing, interpreting the drawing of the player before them. There’s no limit to how hilarious the sentence prompts and drawings can get, as they’re all up to the players’ imagination!
Play here: garticphone.com
CardzMania
No need for your card deck as the cards are all virtually on CardzMania! With over 50 card games from solitaire, trick-taking, and rummy to betting games like Blackjack and Poker, CardzMania sure has something up your alley! You can play your group’s favorite or pick a new game to try; there are detailed playing instructions for each game.
Games on CardzMania can be played by up to 12 players. It’s as easy as loading the games on your browser!
Play here: cardzmania.com
All Bad Cards (Cards Against Humanity)
Cards Against Humanity is another well-loved card game, but instead of hearts and clubs, the cards are inscribed with phrases that serve as prompts and responses. You can play the game for free on All Bad Cards!
A designated leader or “Card Queen” picks a prompt card per round and players have to submit the funniest lines to finish the sentence. The funniest response chosen by the game leader wins a point. Aside from the classic gameplay, you can also try other modes such as “All Bad Questions” where players submit ridiculous questions for the provided answer.
Play here: allbad.cards
Want more ways to bond with your faraway friends online? Check out virtual tours you can book on KKday!
Or, plan for the best local excursions with family and friends in the neighborhood with experiences on KKday!