Top 15 Games to Play + Activities to do on FaceTime

Are you usually bored when FaceTiming with friends? Excited to call, but then just don’t know what to do? Here is a list of the top 15 that my friends and I love to do when FaceTiming.

1. Watch a show together

If you both like a show, arrange to call and watch the show together.

2. Play an online multiplayer game together. 

See my other article “Top 52 Best (mostly free!) Apps” in this issue for some of the best ones that my friends and I play.

3. Make lists

Make lists of all of your favorite shows, books, movies, games, podcasts, songs, YouTube channels, etc., and then compare lists! You might find that you like the same ones, and if not, you can take turns introducing your friend to some of your favorites!

4.  Wish on a star

If you call at night, sometime after 8pm, you can wish on a star together. If it is cloudy, you usually can’t see many stars so if you want to do this, check the weather forecast ahead of time.

5. Read each other’s minds

My friend and I do this really fun thing where we each close our eyes, concentrate really hard, and tell each other to do something in our minds. For instance, Clap your hands, roll on the bed, jump around, etc. and then you wait for a bit to see if the other person does it! This is so fun and a lot of the time it works for us!

6. Take funny pictures

This one is pretty self-explanatory. You can make funny faces or poses, or you could grab props and dress up clothes and accessories for even more possibilities! Get into position and then screenshot it! 

Another variation of this, is if you are using Messenger Kids video call, you can find pictures of people on TV, on a book or magazine, or even a doll with a detailed face like Barbie or American Girl  and use the filters for funny outcomes!

7. Make up nicknames

For nicknames, you can make a few different ones! What I do with my friends is we brainstorm random nicknames, like Golden Hopeful Pillow and Royal Eraser and also nicknames to use on holidays, like Emerald Leprechaun Coin for Saint Patrick's day.

8. Make up codes

There are soooo many ways you can do this! For the codes, you can make up words, or make an emoji alphabet and then form words and even sentences with emojis!

9. Hide and Seek

This one is also a little silly, but fun! First, you reverse your camera and show the person all around the room, so that they can see the hiding spots. Then the other person counts. When they get to the designated number, they start calling out hiding spots like “are you under the bed?” “Are you in the closet?” If you are not where they call, you stay quiet. And, if they get it right, then you say yes and come back to the camera.

10. Online dance party

For this one, all you need is a TV that streams YouTube or another device handy to play music. If you don't have one nearby, that is totally okay too, but for some devices and call platforms, you won’t be able to see the other person while you play the music, so this is not ideal. After you agree on a song that you both like or just a crazy song on YouTube, count down and hit play at the same time and dance! Some of our favorites for this are The Gummy Bear Song and the J.Geco Chicken Song. 

11. Ventriloquism

These next two are pretty similar, for ventriloquism someone tries to say a letter, word, or phrase and the other person has to guess what it is.

12. Lip Reading

For lip reading, one person turns on mute and says a letter, word, or phrase, and the other person has to guess what it is.

13. Tell each other jokes and riddles.

Um, I don't think I need to explain how to do this one :).

14.  Charades

This one is always a classic. You can use an online spinner to decide the categories or you can just choose yourself when it is your turn.

15. Pause and unpause

This one is sooooo fun. I think it is one of the favorite games my friends and I play right now. We sometimes play it twice when we call because it is that fun. One person is the TV, and the other person pretends to watch it. The watcher says something like “I want to watch the news” or “I want to watch the sports channel” and then pretends to switch the channel. The person on the TV then puts on a show pretending to be a sportscaster or news host and talking about crazy stuff. This is where it gets really funny! The Watcher can pause and unpause the TV. They can also mute, unmute, rewind, and fast forward. It is so funny! Oh, and sometimes if the person on the TV says an object like a car or a giraffe, then the Watcher can pretend not to know what that is and ask the smart TV. For instance, “Smart TV, what is a giraffe?” then the TV person pretends to be the virtual assistant defining that word in a robotic or Siri voice.

Well, I think that’s about it. Enjoy & have fun FaceTiming your friends!