Have you ever looked around a crowded cafe and noticed that two or more people seated together are glued to their phones?  It would be pretty rude to play with your phone while in the company of others unless you’re playing together.  Don’t assume they are engaged in respective pastimes.  Plenty of games can be played together with smartphones.  Here is a number of ‘party games’ to try with friends.

Scrabble

You don’t have to be a wordsmith to play scrabble (but it does help if you want to badly beat friends).  Each player is provided with a number of letters at the start of the game.  As the game progresses and letters are placed on the board, each player uses their letters and those of others to form new ones.  You get added points for stringing more letters together.  You don’t have to exchange words out loud; have a word duel online with your smartphones.

Earwax

This selection can be played with up to seven players.  One player is the judge and chooses the category.  The other players are presented with six sound effects.  Each player selects two sound effects as a response to the category.  The judge chooses which player’s sound effect was the most befitting (and humorous) reply to the category.  The selected player is awarded a point.  Three points wins the whole enchilada!

Game of Phones

One player chooses a card and serves as the judge for that round.  The judge reads the prompt to all players (“Show the last photo you took.” for example).  Players would find something on their phones and show the judge.  The judge awards one player the winner of each round, and the first player with ten points wins.  This places a new spin on traditional card games.

Fibbage

Fibbage can be played with up to 8 players.  Also, it can be played with up to 100 audience members via a streaming channel.  In the first two rounds, each player chooses one of five random categories.  Then players are presented with a fact with a missing word or phrase.  Each player supplies an answer that seems good enough to pass.  If a player answers correctly, the game tells them and instructs to offer a false answer (that seems legitimate).  You get points for selecting the right answer as well as accrue points when other players select your (false) answer.

Bidiots

This can be played with up to six people.  Each player draws two pieces of art according to random categories (“going to the beach” for example).  Each player has a pool of money that can be used to purchase the art.  Each piece of art is randomly assigned a secret monetary value during the ‘auction.’  Players bid upon and purchase art that matches the category while trying to get other players to make poor bids and buying decisions.  At the end, the player with the most money (due to buying low and selling high) wins the game.

Bomb Corp

One player is an employee of a bomb factory who must deactivate bombs that are coming off the assembly line.  Other players are given varied sets of instructions to help.  The instructions are cryptic and conflicting, which inspires great communication between all players.

Rachael Hancock is a little bit addicted to playing games, and when she can involve her friends and family even better! She writes entertainment articles which appear around the web.