Games to play with long-distance friends

The games at a glance

1. A daily question about each other (2 or more players)
2. Photo swap (2 or more players)
3. Guess my number (2 or more players)
4. Watch-along predictions (2 or more players)
5. Playlist with clues (2 or more players)
6. Two truths and a lie, this week (2 or more players)
7. One move a day (2 players)
8. Party games on a video call (3 or more players)
9. Cook the same thing (2 or more players)
10. Postcard questions (2 players)

1. A daily question about each other

Players: 2 or more · You need: A shared answer time

One question a day about one friend: they answer, everyone else guesses, and the answer comes out at a time you agreed on. It takes a minute a day and gives the chat something to talk about even when nothing much happened.

How to play

1. Agree on a reveal time that's awake hours for everyone (see the time zone tips below).
2. Each day, one friend gets the question and sends their answer privately to whoever's hosting.
3. Everyone else guesses in the chat before the reveal.
4. Rotate who it's about, and keep a running score for the month.

Questions to try

• What was the first video game you got truly hooked on?
• What childhood snack do you still love?
• How much do you plan a trip itinerary, from 1 to 10?
  • 1: Wing it completely
  • 10: Color-coded spreadsheet

2. Photo swap

Players: 2 or more · You need: A phone camera

Everyone takes a photo for the same prompt, wherever they are. Side by side, the photos show how different (or alike) your days are.

How to play

1. Post one prompt a day or a week: the view from your window, your breakfast, your commute, something blue, the weather right now.
2. Everyone replies with a photo from where they are, whatever time it is there.
3. Stick to things and places rather than other people, and skip anything that shows your exact address.

3. Guess my number

Players: 2 or more · You need: Nothing

Ask a 1-to-10 question about yourself, and your friends guess where you'd land. Long-distance friends are often surprised how much they still know, or how much has changed.

How to play

1. Post a question with both ends of the scale labeled, like "How chatty are you before breakfast? 1 = do not speak yet, 10 = full stories at dawn".
2. Friends guess; you reveal your number with the story behind it.
3. Closest guess asks the next one.

4. Watch-along predictions

Players: 2 or more · You need: The same movie or show

Pick a movie or a new episode, write down three predictions each before you start, then watch at the same time or within a day of each other and score them.

How to play

1. Agree on what to watch and post your three predictions before you start, like "the dog survives" or "someone says the title out loud".
2. Watch together on a call, or separately with no spoilers in the chat.
3. One point per prediction that came true. Loser picks the next one.

5. Playlist with clues

Players: 2 or more · You need: A shared playlist

Each person adds one song a week to a shared playlist, with a one-line clue about why. Everyone else guesses who added it and what the clue means.

How to play

1. Make a shared playlist in whatever music app you all use.
2. Add one song each per week and post only the clue in the chat, like "this was playing the night we got lost".
3. Guess who added which song before they say.

6. Two truths and a lie, this week

Players: 2 or more · You need: Nothing

Two true things that happened to you this week and one made up. It's a sneaky way to catch up on each other's lives without a long call.

How to play

1. Post three short statements about your week.
2. Friends guess the lie, then you tell the story behind the true ones.

7. One move a day

Players: 2 · You need: Any turn-based game

Chess, a word game, or tic-tac-toe in the chat: one move each per day. A game can run for weeks, and every move is an excuse to say hi.

How to play

1. Pick any turn-based game you can play over messages or in an app you both have.
2. Make one move a day, whenever suits your time zone.
3. Loser picks the next game.

8. Party games on a video call

Players: 3 or more · You need: A video call and everyone's phone

When you can all get on a call, play something where everyone uses their own phone: you see each other's reactions on the call and play on the phone in your hand.

How to play

1. Classic options: charades on camera, a drawing game with a shared whiteboard, or trivia where one person reads the questions.
2. Phone-based party games work well too: everyone joins one room with a code and plays at the same time.
3. Keep it to 20 or 30 minutes. A short game everyone enjoys beats a long one people drift out of.

9. Cook the same thing

Players: 2 or more · You need: One recipe and a call

Pick one simple recipe, cook it at the same time on a call, and eat together. Score each other's plating out of 10 if you're competitive.

How to play

1. Pick something with easy-to-find ingredients, like pancakes or pasta.
2. Start the call when everyone has their ingredients out.
3. Show your plates to the camera at the end and vote on the best-looking one.

10. Postcard questions

Players: 2 · You need: Postcards and stamps

The slowest game here, and the one people keep. Send a postcard with one question on it; your friend answers on the next card and adds a question of their own.

How to play

1. Write one question per card, like "What's a snack you loved as a kid but rarely eat now?"
2. Your friend answers on their reply and asks one back.
3. Keep the cards: after a year you have a small book of each other.

Questions for far-away friends

Use these for the daily question or guess-my-number games: the friend it's about answers, and everyone else guesses.

1. What song is most likely stuck in your head right now?
2. What song would play every time you walked into a room?
3. What would you name your travel vlog?
4. What game could you beat almost anyone at?
5. Rank these airport activities, favorite first.
   • Grab a snack
   • Browse the shops
   • People-watch at the gate
   • Nap in a chair
6. How chatty are you before breakfast, from 1 to 10?
   • 1: Do not speak yet
   • 10: Full stories at dawn
7. How spread out does your stuff get in a hotel room, from 1 to 10?
   • 1: All in the suitcase
   • 10: Suitcase explosion
8. How long is your watch list, from 1 to 5?
   • 1: Empty
   • 5: Three lifetimes long

How do you play games across time zones?

• Pick a reveal time that's awake hours for everyone. In winter, 6 pm in New York is 11 pm in London, and 8 pm in London is noon in Los Angeles. Clocks change on different dates in different countries, so the gap shifts by an hour for a few weeks a year.
• Let people play whenever they're awake, and only fix the moment the answers come out.
• If the gap is too big for one evening to suit everyone, put the reveal at lunchtime for one side and evening for the other.
• Don't make anyone set an alarm for a game. If someone misses a round, they just play the next one.

Where does Deja Who fit?

The daily question is exactly what Deja Who does, and it was built with time zones in mind. Your group plays on one time zone and picks when the answer comes out (1 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm or midnight). Each friend answers or guesses whenever they're awake, and sees the reveal time in their own local time. The round can also reveal early, the moment everyone has played.

For the video call, Deja Who has three live party games for 3 to 12 people, each on their own phone: Photo Imposter, party rounds and Hot Take Court. Everyone joins with a four-letter code, so it works on a call as well as in one room. It's free and needs no account.

Question lists to use

• Fun questions to ask your friends
• "How well do you know me?" quiz questions
• Would you rather questions

More games

• Games to play in your group chat
• How well do you know your friends? A quiz to play together
• Games for couples to play over text
• Games for your family group chat