Zoom calls don't have to be another hour of staring at each other with nothing to say. The right game turns a video call into something people actually look forward to. I've put together a list of games that work specifically well on video calls — meaning they're easy to explain verbally, don't require everyone to install something, and actually benefit from seeing each other's faces on screen.
That last point matters more than people realise. In social deduction games like Word Imposter Game, seeing someone's face when it's their turn to speak tells you half the story. The body language and expressions you'd lose in a text-based game come back on a video call.
Why Video Calls Are Actually Good for Certain Games
The obvious downside of playing games remotely is that you're not in the same room. But for a specific category of games — social deduction, bluffing, and word games — being on video call is genuinely close to being in person. You can see faces, you can hear hesitation, and you can call someone out directly.
The games below all take advantage of this. They're all better with a video call than without one.
Word Imposter Game — The Best Zoom Game Night Opener
Open your browser on one device, create a room at wordimpostergame.com, and share the 6-character code in the Zoom chat. Everyone else opens the site and joins. That's the entire setup.
The game itself is all verbal — players give clues and argue out loud — which means the Zoom call is the game. You're not playing alongside each other silently; the conversation on the call is how the game works. This is rare and it makes the experience genuinely feel like being in the same room.
Quiplash (via Jackbox)
One person streams the Jackbox game while everyone else joins on their phone browser. Quiplash asks everyone the same fill-in-the-blank questions, and then players vote on the funniest answer. Works brilliantly on Zoom because you can react to each answer as it appears on stream. Best for groups with a sense of humour and no easily-offended members.
Codenames Duet or Team
One person shares their screen showing the Codenames board at codenames.game, and then you split into two teams verbally. The spymaster gives one-word clues to their team. This is one of the cleaner adaptations to video calls because screen sharing handles the visual element perfectly.
Skribbl.io
Everyone joins the same Skribbl room, one person draws on their screen while others type guesses into the chat. You don't even need screen sharing because everyone's in the same browser game. The Zoom call just lets you hear everyone's reactions as the drawing evolves from "that could be anything" to "oh wait it's definitely a giraffe."
Scattergories Online
Several free browser versions exist. A letter is chosen at random, and players have 2 minutes to write something starting with that letter for each category. Then everyone reads their answers out loud on the call and challenges anything that doesn't count. The argument phase is where the fun is.
Virtual Pub Quiz
One person prepares 20–30 trivia questions in advance and hosts the quiz on the call. Everyone else writes their answers privately. Questions are read aloud, answered in silence, and then marks are given verbally. It sounds basic, but a well-prepared 30-minute quiz with competitive teammates is consistently one of the most fun things you can do on a video call.
Two Truths and a Lie
No app, no website — completely free. Each person states three things about themselves. Two are true, one is a lie. Everyone else votes on which is the lie. The best version is when people pick facts that are genuinely surprising, so even the truths feel like they could be lies. This game reveals things about people that years of friendship somehow missed.
Wavelength
One player gives a clue that represents a point on a spectrum (like "Cold to Hot" or "Bad to Good"). Others guess where on the spectrum the answer falls. There are free browser versions, and the game works brilliantly on video call because people argue loudly about whether "jazz" is closer to "cool" or "uncool" on a given scale.
Making Any Zoom Game Night Work
Three things I've learned the hard way: First, designate one person as the host who manages transitions between games — no game night should end because everyone's trying to decide what to play next. Second, keep each game to 20–30 minutes maximum; video call fatigue is real and games that drag lose everyone. Third, play 2–3 rounds of each game rather than 8–10, because the first round is always the tutorial round.
Start your Zoom game night now
Word Imposter Game takes 30 seconds to set up and works perfectly over any video call.
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