24 Phone Games to Play With Friends in the Same Room

What it is: The gold standard of party games. Jackbox offers multiple party packs, each containing five different games ranging from trivia to drawing to social deduction. Games include classics like Quiplash (compete to write the funniest answers), Drawful (draw ridiculous prompts for others to guess), and Fibbage (trick friends with believable lies).

Why it works: Only one person needs to own the game - they display it on a TV or shared screen, and everyone else joins using their phones as controllers through jackbox.tv. The production quality is top-notch, the humor is consistently sharp, and there's genuinely something for every type of group.

Perfect for: 3-8 players who want polished, reliable entertainment. Each pack costs $24.99-29.99, but the replay value is enormous. Get it at jackboxgames.com.

What it is: A trivia game with a devious twist - instead of just answering questions, players make up fake answers designed to trick everyone else. When a question appears, everyone submits a plausible-sounding fake answer, then tries to identify the real one among all the lies.

Why it works: The game rewards creativity and knowing your friends. Someone who's terrible at trivia can still dominate by writing convincing fake answers. The laughs come from both impressive lies and hilariously bad ones.

Perfect for: 3-10 players who enjoy wordplay and creative deception. Free with ads, or upgrade to remove them. Download on iOS or Android.

What it is: Digital charades that uses your phone's motion sensors. Hold the phone to your forehead displaying a word, and your friends give you clues to help you guess. Tilt forward for correct guesses, backward to skip. The frantic energy is infectious.

Why it works: It's impossible to play this game without getting loud and animated. The physical element of holding the phone up creates natural comedy, and the quick-fire rounds keep everyone engaged. Categories range from celebrities to accents to animals.

Perfect for: Any group size that wants high-energy, active gameplay. The app is free with purchasable deck expansions. Get it on iOS or Android.

What it is: Okay, we'd be terrible hosts if we didn't mention our own game, right? VoteMostLikely is a free browser-based "Most Likely To" party game where everyone votes on who in the group is most likely to do hilariously specific things. Anonymous voting means honest (brutal?) answers, and watching the results reveal is always entertaining.

Why it works: No downloads, no accounts, no app store drama - just share a link and everyone joins instantly. The anonymous voting removes the awkwardness of pointing at your friends, and with 1000+ questions (plus AI-generated custom questions), you won't run out of material anytime soon.

Perfect for: 3-12 players who want to learn who their friends really think would survive a zombie apocalypse (spoiler: it's probably not you). Try it free.

What it is: Online Pictionary at its finest. Players take turns drawing a word while everyone else races to guess what it is. The faster you guess correctly, the more points you earn. Drawing with your finger on a phone screen leads to gloriously terrible artwork.

Why it works: The joy isn't in beautiful drawings - it's in the chaos of someone desperately trying to draw "photosynthesis" with their thumb while the timer ticks down. Custom word lists let you add inside jokes or themed categories.

Perfect for: 2-12 players. Completely free at skribbl.io.

What it is: A brilliant combination of telephone and Pictionary. One person writes a phrase, the next person draws it, someone else describes that drawing, another person draws that description, and so on. At the end, you see the hilarious evolution from original phrase to final result.

Why it works: Watching "making a sandwich" evolve into "summoning a bread demon" through a chain of misinterpretations is pure comedy gold. The game captures those "how did we get here?" moments perfectly.

Perfect for: 4-16 players who love creative chaos. Free at garticphone.com.

What it is: A word association team game where spymasters give one-word clues to help their team identify their assigned words from a grid. The catch? The clue has to connect multiple words, and one wrong guess could hand victory to the other team.

Why it works: Creates genuinely tense moments and rewards clever thinking. The satisfaction of your team understanding your obscure connection is unmatched. Arguing about why "breakfast" should obviously connect "egg" and "orange" is half the fun.

Perfect for: 4+ players (best with 6-8). Free at codenames.game.

What it is: Multiplayer trivia from the legendary Sporcle quiz website. Thousands of quizzes covering everything from geography to pop culture to obscure categories like "Countries That Start With The Letter M."

Why it works: The variety is endless, so you can find quizzes that play to everyone's strengths (or expose their weaknesses). Quick rounds keep the pace snappy.

Perfect for: Trivia lovers of any group size who want variety in their questions. Play at sporcle.com.

What it is: Classic category trivia in a colorful, competitive format. Answer questions across six categories - science, entertainment, art, geography, sports, and history - to collect character crowns and defeat opponents.

Why it works: The visual design keeps things fun, and the category variety means different players shine in different areas. Pass-and-play mode works great for groups taking turns.

Perfect for: 2+ players who enjoy testing their general knowledge. Free with ads. Download on iOS or Android.

What it is: The classroom trivia app that became a party game phenomenon. One person hosts and displays questions on a shared screen, while everyone else answers on their phones. Speed matters - faster correct answers earn more points.

Why it works: You can play thousands of pre-made quizzes or create custom ones with questions about your friend group, inside jokes, or specific interests. The competitive energy of racing to answer is addictive.

Perfect for: 2-50+ players. The scalability is remarkable. Free for basic features at kahoot.com.

What it is: A cooperative shouting game where everyone must work together to keep a spaceship from exploding. Each player sees different controls and instructions - but the instructions might be for someone else's controls. Chaos ensues.

Why it works: "SET THE FLUX CAPACITOR TO SEVEN!" "I DON'T HAVE THAT, WHO HAS THE FLUX CAPACITOR?" The game is designed to make you yell at each other in the most entertaining way possible.

Perfect for: 2-8 players who want high-energy cooperative madness. Free on iOS and Android.

What it is: Scrabble for the mobile generation. Build words on a shared board, score points based on letter values and board multipliers, and prove you have the superior vocabulary.

Why it works: Pass-and-play mode works perfectly for groups sitting together. The pacing allows for conversation between turns, making it ideal for a relaxed game night vibe.

Perfect for: 2-4 players who enjoy slower-paced word strategy. Free with ads on iOS or Android.

What it is: Players draw absurd prompts on their phones (using limited colors), then everyone writes fake titles for the drawings. Points come from fooling others with your fake title and correctly identifying the real one.

Why it works: The prompts are intentionally strange ("Hipster Volcano," "Business Casual Friday at the Morgue"), guaranteeing that no one produces a good drawing. The fake titles often surpass the original prompts in creativity.

Perfect for: 3-8 players. Part of Jackbox Party Pack 2 or available standalone.

What it is: Classic Pictionary-style gameplay. Choose a word from three options, draw it for your partner to guess, then switch roles. Simple, effective, and endlessly replayable.

Why it works: The lack of time pressure (compared to Skribbl.io) allows for more detailed attempts - which makes the failures even funnier. The word difficulty selection adds strategy.

Perfect for: 2+ players in pass-and-play mode. Free with ads on iOS or Android.

What it is: The mobile app version of Gartic.io, the popular drawing and guessing game. Each round, a player draws something for others to guess - first to reach the point goal wins.

Why it works: You can create custom rooms with up to 50 friends, choose from available themes, or create your own. The app version offers smoother performance than the browser on mobile devices.

Perfect for: 2-50 players who prefer app-based gaming. Download on iOS or Android.

What it is: The social deduction phenomenon that took over gaming. Crewmates complete tasks on a spaceship while Impostors secretly eliminate players and sabotage systems. Emergency meetings let everyone discuss and vote on who to eject.

Why it works in the same room: Playing Among Us with friends physically present adds an extra layer - you can read facial expressions, hear nervous laughter, and watch people struggle to maintain poker faces. The accusations get personal in the best way.

Perfect for: 4-15 players. Free on mobile with optional cosmetic purchases. Visit Inner Sloth for more info.

What it is: A polished digital version of the classic Mafia/Werewolf party game with over 28 unique roles. Villagers try to identify the hidden werewolves through discussion and voting, while werewolves eliminate villagers each night.

Why it works: The app handles all moderator duties, so everyone can participate. The variety of special roles (seer, bodyguard, cursed, and many more) adds incredible strategic depth, and the ranked mode keeps competitive players engaged.

Perfect for: 6-16 players who enjoy psychological gameplay and heated debates. Get it on iOS or Android.

What it is: A streamlined werewolf variant that plays in just one round. The app narrates the night phase, calling each role to perform their action, then morning comes and everyone has just minutes to figure out who the werewolves are.

Why it works: No player elimination means everyone stays engaged. Games take 10 minutes, so you can play many rounds and swap roles frequently.

Perfect for: 3-10 players who want quick, intense deduction sessions. Download on iOS or Android.

What phone games can you play without WiFi?

1. Truth or Dare apps - Thousands of pre-loaded prompts work offline
2. Would You Rather apps - Decision games stored locally
3. Charades! app - Word categories download for offline play
4. Trivia apps with downloaded packs - Many let you save questions locally
5. Classic games - Chess, checkers, card games often have offline pass-and-play modes

What it is: A drinking game app that combines truth or dare mechanics with drinking rules. Enter player names and the app generates personalized challenges, questions, and drinking assignments.

Why it works: The personalization using actual names makes every round feel custom. Categories range from "Getting Warmed Up" to "Getting Crazy" so you can control the intensity.

Perfect for: 2-12 adult players. Free with a premium version available on iOS or Android.

What it is: Draw virtual cards that assign drinking challenges, mini-games, and rules that persist until canceled. Cards might establish that "no one can say anyone's name" or "everyone speaks in accents."

Why it works: The accumulating rules create hilarious chaos as the night progresses and people forget which restrictions are active.

Perfect for: 3-8 adult players who enjoy escalating silliness. Play at drunkpirate.co.uk.

What it is: An all-in-one social gaming platform featuring 30+ games including Werewolf, table games, drawing games, and more. Built-in voice chat means you don't need a separate app to talk.

Why it works: The variety means you can switch games instantly without anyone downloading something new. Great for groups with diverse preferences.

Perfect for: 2-8 players who want a one-stop party gaming solution. Download on iOS or Android.

What it is: Video calling with built-in multiplayer games - now rebranded as MiniParty. See your friends' faces while playing games like Draw Party, Trivia, Hoops, and Crazy Cards.

Why it works: When physically together, you can use one phone for the video display while others play. The hybrid format works well for mixed remote/in-person groups too. Friends can join without downloading anything.

Perfect for: 2-8 players who want face-to-face interaction built into the gaming experience. Get it on iOS or Android.

What it is: Nintendo's classic racing franchise adapted for mobile. Compete in familiar Mario Kart courses, collect items, and blue-shell your friends into oblivion.

Why it works: The nostalgia factor is real. Even people who don't consider themselves gamers usually have fond memories of Mario Kart, making it an easy sell for groups.

Perfect for: 2-8 players who want competitive racing action. Download on iOS or Android.

What it is: Virtual billiards with realistic physics. Play head-to-head matches or pass the phone for local multiplayer. The game captures the feel of actual pool surprisingly well.

Why it works: It's a great low-key option when you want something competitive but not chaotic. Turn-based gameplay allows for natural conversation between shots.

Perfect for: 2 players who want chill, skill-based competition. Download on iOS or Android.

Pre-Game Checklist:

1. Charge all phones: Nothing kills momentum like someone dropping out at 15% battery
2. Test your WiFi: Make sure your connection can handle everyone joining simultaneously
3. Have 2-3 backup games ready: Not every game clicks with every group - be prepared to pivot
4. Consider screen casting: For games like Jackbox, connect a phone or laptop to the TV for shared viewing
5. Establish house rules early: Drinking game stakes, point systems, or consequences for losers

Best Free Options:

• Skribbl.io (browser)
• Gartic Phone (browser)
• Psych! (with ads)
• Among Us (mobile)
• Codenames Online (browser)

Worth Paying For:

• Jackbox Party Packs ($24.99-29.99): The replay value is enormous with 5 games per pack
• Heads Up! deck expansions: Fresh categories keep the game feeling new
• Premium versions of free apps: Remove ads for a smoother experience