Fun Virtual Game Night Ideas In Lockdown

As we head towards the finish line and enter a new dawn, the promise of a lockdown free tomorrow is so tantalizingly close on the horizon that we can taste it. We look forward to a time where we no longer wear masks to keep safe, where we can engulf our loved ones in a warm embrace, soaking up their warmth, energy and positivity with estatic tears in our eyes. Couples, seperated by land, sea, hills and oceans count down the hours, minutes, seconds until they reunite, compiling quirky date ideas for a fun virtual game night on Zoom.

They would play classic card games such as Go Fish, going on double dates with their friendlings, as they competed to be the ultimate Zoom power couple. They would cry with laughter at the sheer randomness of Jackbox Games, Quiplash testing their comedic abilities and wit, as they battled for the most craziest answer. And who could forget playing Monopoly online, a cult game that stood the test of time?

Bring People Together With A Fun Virtual Game Night

Ana knew that she could create the craziest, wackiest most out there game night at home that would exceed her and her gamer boyfriend‘s expectations, but she couldn’t help but take a trip into memory lane. She was wistful, she remembered a time where a fun virtual game night would have been a trip to a gaming bar like Draughts, and where stay at home date nights were a foray into date night central. They’d climb aboard the love train, marvelling at cute brunch spots, ravishing the avocado on toast, where a clambering poached egg was clinging on for dear life.

She shook herself out of the fantasy and into the present, she’d make this game night work. She’d be damned if she would let the pandemic take away her fun, and vowed to make the most of the time that she had at home. There would be Zoom games, and online games, card games, and board games, she’d journey into gamingville, where the virtual games would come alive, and spark true love during the pandemic.

Whether you prefer quizzes, online trivia, weird and out there games, or count yourself as a cult classic lover, Ana and her imaginary pugs have scrolled the web to find the greatest unique game ideas for couples, families, friends and loved ones to try during lockdown. She wanted to make sure that they would feel connected, even when there was distance between them, and knew that technology would bring people together. Ana knew there was one more thing that she must do, she urged her friends, loved ones and partner to test out their internet speed.

Because they couldn’t be together in person, she didn’t want their internet connection to go down, so she vowed to use speedcheck.org to have the greatest gaming lockdown night that she and her partner could possibly have. It was easy as 1,2,3, she created a test to check out her internet speed, and lo and behold, what a sigh of relief. Her latency, download and upload score was up to scratch and she was ready to let her game night begin. After all, a game night without a steady internet connection, was like an afternoon tea without buttery scones!

Virtual Drinking Games To Get The Party Started 

Ana and her partner always loved finding the quirkiest and most exciting bars on their date nights, so it should come as no surprise that their idea of a fun virtual game night involved drinking games to get the party started. While A would pace herself, and not ‘down drinks’ so it didn’t upset her stomach, she still loved a drink or two while playing games to spice up their stay at home date night.

Jackbox Games

They’d begin with one of their favourite online games, which they could play as both a couple and also with friends. No virtual house party would be complete without Jackbox Games, that would make them snort with uncontrolled laughter. From Quiplash, to Fibbage as stand alone titles, to playing the Jackbox Party Quintpack, Ana made sure no expense was spared when it came to playing the best party games.

They’d rustle up creamy pina coladas, swirling with spiced dark rum, a tart juicy pineapple wedge on cocktail glasses for added authenticity. Mojitos would lay on crushed ice, soda water and lime, with white rum in a glorious haze. Ana especially loved the Malibu Coconut Rum and Pineapple cans that she’d get from Tesco, an easy, delicious drink, that would be perfect for their Jackbox game night.

This time round, they were able to be in each other’s support bubble, so at last they could be with each other, communicating face to face instead of through a computer screen, like it was in the first lockdown. They would set up their phone’s, enter the room code and invite their friends to ‘virtually’ join the party, setting ‘drinking rules’. After all, even the most fun virtual game night needs some rules and boundaries.

Ana would call herself ‘Mildred’ a joke name that she penned for geese in her local duck pond, particularly the ones that were the loudest and most out there characters who demanded attention. They’d start with Fibbage first, the hilairious bluffing party game where they could fool their friends, and even discover the (usually outrageous) truth. They’d be presented with the line ‘Malaysian ants have a unique defense mechanism. When threatened they (fill in the blank here). Ana said ‘when threatened they would freeze themselves’.

The person who told the most convincing lie would get the most points, while you would get 500 points for each person you fooled, and 1,000 for finding the truth. You could even give bonus points to clever answers that you liked, in the hope that you’d win a ‘pointless cup’ along the way. Quiplash was another exciting game from Jackbox, where you’d answer simple prompts and vote on the best answer.

Ana laughed at the question that popped up, prompting the players to come up with the worst theme for a pinball machine. Death and suffering was a close call, but the thought of diarrhea was enough to take the win this round, imagining a s**tty pinball machine, that would not only look like a giant turd, but would also sing songs about diarrhea and the pain it would ravage on their poor butthole.

Available Via Nintendo Switch, Playstation, XBox, Android TV and so much more

All Bad Cards

Speaking of buttholes, Ana and Dan loved nothing more than being the butt of their own jokes when playing Cards Against Humanity. It was one of the first games that they played together at Loading Bar, in Dalston, and they had such hilarious memories playing it. It was here that their personalities really shone, and they were able to see each other for who they really were. Two quirky souls came together that night in hopeless abandon, playing board games, card games and video games in rapid, competitive succession.

Little did they know, that All Bad Cards existed, an online game that was similar to Cards Against Humanity, and just as bawdy. A free virtual game, players win points by entertaining one another with the funniest and most depraved answers to fill in the blank statements. Each other player looks at the response options on the virtual cards in their hand and picks one they think fills in the blank in a funny way. The prompt reader’s favorite wins the round and get’s a kick out of getting absolutely nothing to reward their efforts.

All Bad Cards, helped Ana gauge the humour of the other players who were taking part in her virtual game night party, giving her the best chance to choose funny answers that matched the ‘funniness style’ of the players in the game. A prompt example was “I love ____, it gives me such comfort.” Judging by the rude and crude humour of the other players, she knew that ‘a messy colonscopy’ was the only correct answer to help her win the game. After all, she was super competitive, and loved nothing more than winning.

Whenever she or another player’s card was not ‘chosen’ as the funniest, they would have to take a sip of their drink, in a less aggressive game of ‘ring of fire’. The person who lost the most ’rounds’ during All Bad Cards, would have to drink a ‘gross’ forfeit cup of whatever random drink shite they could find, while the winner would get a ‘virtual crown’ and trophy. FYI this is not part of the game, these are our own rules, to get the fun virtual game night vibin’ and poppin’. Being rude, irrelevant and hilairious was all part of the game and she freaking loved it.

Available Online 

PlayingCards.io

Ana remembered how over the course of her relationship, her partner taught her to play card games, and opened her mind up to infinite possibilities. There would be hours of unadulterated fun, teaching her how to play poker (badly), making up their own rules for card games like ‘ride the bus’, ‘horseracing’ and ‘go fish’ and laughing at herself when she’d become extremely competitive, as she so often would.

During the first lockdown, where they were unable to see each other for months on end, Ana discovered PlayingCards.io, a magnificient synchronized playspace, where they had access to free card and board games that they could play online, without meeting face to face. They started with a classic game of Go Fish. A simple card game, a designated player will cut the deck, shuffle and deal the cards to each player. If two or three people are playing, each player receives seven cards. The remainder of the pack is placed face down on the table.

Player 1 will ask another player whether they have a certain card i.e. ‘give me your kings’ and if the player has a king, they must hand over their king to the other player. If they don’t have the card, they must tell the other player to ‘go fish’. The player with the most card decks wins. It’s as simple as that, and the online version is just as easy, where you click cards to flip and drag cards to move them. Like Ring of Fire, Go Fish makes an excellent drinking game, as Ana and Dan would know, having played it many times with their friendlings.

Ana knew how to get the party started and came up with a simple drinking game that they could play alongside Go Fish. Everytime a player would get told to ‘go fish’, they would have to drink once. Everytime you would give a card to another player, you would drink twice, while laying down a pair, would mean that your opponent would have to drink twice (or two fingers). If you had the least amount of cards at the end, you would face a penalty drink, which would be made up of everyone’s different drinks, that you’d have to gulp down and try not to chunder!

From classic games such as chess and dominoes, to out there games like Zap: Space Mutiny and Joking Hazard, A and D were spoilt for choice on their fun virtual game night. They whittled away the hours in custom game rooms, flitting between games as they pleased, and making up their own rules, when they wanted to spice up the night. As far as Mutiny goes, Zap was a surefire crowd pleaser!

Available Online 

Super Mario Party

Ana reminicsed over childhood years playing retro video games like Mario, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and The Sims, and wanted to recapture the magic of her teen ‘game playing years’. From Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario 64, Ana loved going back into a time where responsibility, bills and work wasn’t the order of the day, and instead to unwind she could adventure into a make believe world.

When she recently discovered Super Mario Party, available via the Nintendo Switch she was blown away by the amount of fun she could have online playing versus her partner. With 80 minigames to choose from, a Mario Party Game Mode and 20 playable mushroom kingdom characters, she’d died and gone to Mario heaven. In particular her partner loved playing the ‘party game mode’, where they’d delve into themed game board worlds, roll the dice to land on a coveted space, and play mini games to compete for stars, coins and points.

From mini games like Slaparazzi, where the aim is to be the ‘centre of attention’ in an image captured by the loveable Koopa Troopa to Smash and Crab, where you have to dodge the crab’s hammers to survive, Mario ensures that you have a fun virtual game night in the heart of your own home. While some people might get too competitive (AKA me), there is nothing more satisfactory than being Yoshi for a day.

Alongside ‘Party Mode’, River Survival and Sound Stage were two fantastic mini games that Ana and Dan absolutely loved playing, especially against each other. In River Survival, they had to work together as a team to paddle a raft and win co-op mini games, while Sound Stage, was a series of exaberant rhythm based mini games that tested your sense of rhythm and timing. In River Survival, Ana loved how couples could work together, in a team-building excercise that tested their communication, while Sound Stage allowed them to compete against each other.

Although A’s fun virtual game night was a team affair, she loved that she could have a ‘solo game night’ at home as well, with ‘Challenge Road’. Taking a journey down a path of 80 challenges, one after the other, the single player challenge road mode, helped her keep sane when she was on her own during lockdown, and allowed her to take a break when she was working too hard. In short, Mario was the ultimate party game (as the name suggests), because it allowed her to connect with loved ones, improve team building skills and unleash her competitive spirit.

Available via the Nintendo Switch

Virtual Game Night Ideas For Couples 

Games held a special place in Ana and Dan’s heart, because it was in a gaming bar in East London, that their fairytale truly began. And they haven’t stopped dreaming since. Which is why A, aka me wanted to create a virtual gaming guide to try out in lockdown, because it is going to take a while for the restrictions to be lifted, and we still have some way to go. A fun virtual game night at home for couples will ensure that the lovers are able to get to know each other better, ask burning questions and battle against each other to win the prize of being the ultimate gamer.

Psych

From the creators of Heads Up! comes Psych, an exciting guessing game to play with your partner. You can choose from fun categories such as Word Up, Movie Bluff or ‘And The Truth Comes Out’, with Movie Bluff being the most exciting game. Ana giggled at having to come up with a one sentence fake plot for the movie ‘Treevenge’ a short horror Christmas film, that got her creative juices flowing.

Trivia meets ‘Cards Against Humanity’, Psych is the perfect blend of strategy, articulation and creativity. Would she be able to bluff her way through the game, and make it to the end without her partner catching her bluff? Or would she be cast out as a catfish, caught in a web of her own making? It was the perfect game for couples like Ana and Dan, quirky, creative souls who liked to think of out of the box ideas. In their eyes, the weirder the answer, the funnier it was. So imagine the tears of laughter that were streaming down their face as they tried to ‘out-weird’ each other.

An app that is available on Android and IOS devices, date nights during lockdown has never been more fun, as you take the mick out of each other, and let the savagery commence. A loved how the game could be personalized, as it asks you questions about the people you are playing with, so this is your chance to (lovingly) take the piss out of your partner. You vote for the ‘funniest answer’, and the answer with the most votes is obviously the winner. If roasting your partner, and bantering is your idea of fun, then you’ll find no better app to get your love lockdown on.

Similar to Boulderdash, this social icebreaker game is also great for new couples, or long-distance couples who want to get to know each other more. Ana loved how ‘And The Truth Comes Out’ allowed them to get random, asking questions like ‘What’s the worst date Ana’ has ever been on and ‘What is the cringiest thing that Dan has ever done’, voting on their favourite answer, with no bias in mind. As for Word Up, this crazy deck allows you to make up a word for each definition, where you win a point when you fool someone into thinking your answer is correct.

Available via IOS and Google Play

Exploding Kittens 

Exploding Kittens (the card game) had a very special place in Ana and Dan’s heart, something they had played a lot over the last two years. Ever since their first date, their love affair with this zany and kooky game began. There were trips to gaming bars with cocktails in hand, giggling away at their foolishness, as they made up rules left, right and centre. So imagine Ana’s delight when Exploding Kittens was available online? Available on Google Play and on the Apple App Store, their favourite game was now available online.

Hilairious, cutthroat and always surprising, Exploding Kittens is a nonsensical game that will change your life forever. In the ordanairy card game to start you remove all the exploding kittens from the deck and set them aside. You then remove all of the defuse cards (6) and deal 1 to each player. If there are extra defuse cards left over, you can put them put into the deck. The defuse card is the only one that can save you from an ‘exploding kitten’.After you’ve shuffled the remaining deck, you deal 7 cards face down to each player. You then play your cards.

From watermelon cats, to taco cats, there’s no shortage of quirky and cute kitty characters to get your paws on. But beware of the elusive exploding kitten, as they are determined to wreak havoc and make you lose the game. Stock up on as many defuse cards as you can, so you can protect yourself from those pesky meows. See into the future is a particularly handy card, as you can find out whether there’s an exploding kitten coming up. Stealing a card also does wonders, because you can take a random card from your partner’s deck.

The cat cards have no instructions, so you would need a pair of ‘taco cats’ for example to steal a card of your partner’s choice. There are bonus combinations that allow you to steal more cards, and this concept is exactly the same on the online game as well. You can also make up rules if you want to be a rebel kitty, and pretend that the different type of cats can fight each other. For example a Watermelon Cat has more value than a Taco Cat. You can use the attack card to start a duel, and use the skip card when you have looked into the future and seen something horrid.

Available via IOS and Google Play 

Overcooked 2

Here was a game that made these young lovers laugh; Overcooked 2, a chaotic cooking game that pretty much described their cooking skills in real life. Working as a team, Ana and Dan must prepare, cook and serve up a variety of tasty orders before the paying customers storm off in a huff. A follow up to Overcooked, you have to serve a variety of meals including sushi, pasta, cakes, burgers and burittos.

You’d think that you’d be preparing for your chefdom in a hum-drum kitchen, but not in Overcooked 2. One day you might be serving burgers to punters in a hot air balloon (as you do), and the next you’ll don a magical disguise at a wizard’s school working with your partner. You’ll overcome obstacles such as collapsing floors, put out fires and deal with annoying waiters who are trying to pee you off.

With online multiplayer mode, you’ll never have to feel disconnected from the chef in your life again. If you want to get real fancy, you can even play with your other couple friends, with up to 4 people allowed in this cooking game of messy fun. With new moving walkways, controllable platforms and even portals, Overcooked 2 has stepped it’s game up and delivered dynamic levels and an interactive world map.

You’ll drive, sail and soar around the world in the Onion King’s Air Bus, and uncover hidden levels with hidden buttons found on your immersive journey. As if that wasn’t kooky enough, you get fun seasonal updates, especially at Christmas time that’ll deliver new characters, new recipes and over 130 weird and wonderful kitchens. Talking about weird, you even get the chance to cook alongside an Octopus chef!

Available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Virtual Game Night Apps

The couple’s fun virtual game night was coming to an end, but she wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet. What about the online games that they could play on their phone together? How could she ignore them, when they were clamouring for her attention so ardously? There would be video games, and drawing games, quirky games and stupid games. But above all these apps would turn her frown upside down.

Drawful 2

From the makers of the legendary Jackbox Games, came Drawful 2, that allowed Ana to show all her friends just how terrible she was at drawing. Challenging players to draw ridicolous prompts on their smartphones and tablets, Drawful 2 has twice as many prompts, including bonus score streaks for consecutive correct answers! Each player is given an individual prompt i.e. pooping unicorn and gets to draw.

In turn’s you’ll have the opportunity to present your drawing and each player (excluding the artist) must then provide the answer to what they think the drawing could be. Once everyone has guessed the answers will pop up on screen and you must deduct what is the correct answer. If a player guesses what the artist was trying to draw, they get points as well as the artist. The player with the most points wins!

For example let’s say you’ve drawn a pooping unicorn, but clearly if you’re like me, you can’t draw. So people’s guesses may range from ‘eyore getting flattened by a bus’, a mutated horse with udders, a unicorn looking startled while taking a dump, and a horse stealing money. The closest answer of course would be the startled unicorn who got interupted when they were pooping.

Another prompt could be public services i.e. firefighters, nurses ect. You could draw a firefighter dancing around a stripper pole as their alter ego Mary Jane, and laugh at your friends answers. They might think that you are sacrificing someone for being too happy at the stake, a person getting impaled on a barbeque or an acrobat falling off a tree. Whatever your guesses, make them as colourful and as weird as you like.

Available via Jackbox Games

Evil Apples: You Against Humanity

Looking for a filthy and hilairious card game to play with your friends and loved ones? Got a dirty sense of humour that only Rick and Morty would approve of? Then look no further than Evil Apples: You Against Humanity, where you can play online, unlock 8,000+ cards by playing funny card combos and play in 3 different, exciting game modes to tickle your party pickle. You even have an in-game chat to spice things up.

A red card is shown to all players, i.e. I broke up with my high school sweetheart because of [fill in the blank], and it’s your job to use one of your white cards to create the funniest response. For example you might choose a card saying ‘her penis was bigger than mine’. A designated judge selects the best card, and awards 1 point to the victor. The first person to get to seven point wins and gets to call themselves the Evil Apples Don.

From the creators of Evil Minds and Dirty Birdy, you can play with friends anywhere, simply by sharing your code. You can discard any cards that you don’t like and write wildcards with fully customizable text. If you want to spice up the game enter Blitz Mode (aka Speedy Gonzales) to go fast with strangers. For interactive fun, the innovative FaceHole technology will liven up the night, making Evil Apples the perfect choice to get the party started. The game requires a minimum of three players and is available on the IOS and Google Play store.

Have You Ever Hosted A Fun Virtual Game Night At Home?

*Disclaimer

Please note this is a collaborative post but all thoughts are my own and are not affected by monetary compensation.