8 Best Online Games & Apps to Play with Friends

Online gaming has come leaps and bounds in the 21st century with tons of breathtaking options to sink your teeth into. The internet proves to be the best anti-social way to stay social in the modern era with games that support multiple players. Even if you enjoy physically playing with your friends, hosting an in-person game night with pals is not on the list of things you can do in the middle of a pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean you cannot recreate the experience online from the safety of your home.

Whether you are fiercely competitive in trivia or scrabble, there is a virtual option to suit your needs. Better yet, most of the provided games and apps are free to install and play. With thousands of options to choose from, it can be challenging to pinpoint what to try out. To help you out on your gaming quest, we compile eight of the best online games and apps to try with your friends.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Minecraft is a popular video game that cuts across different age groups. The game lets you get crafty and create a world of your own where you can be resourceful and build anything while surviving different challenges like zombies, mobs, poisonous bugs, and archers. The Pocket Edition of this classic game plays the same as the original PC version, but it is curated for mobile users this time.

Minecraft lets players invite their friends to go on collective missions. There is an option to play locally, meaning up to five players can join the same game if they are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Alternatively, you can invite remote gamers as long as they are playing on the same server. Minecraft: Pocket Edition goes for $10.99 on Google Play and Apple Stores.

Scrabble GO

Scrabble has been around for over eighty years and has inspired numerous knockoffs over time. The set has been available as an app for more than a decade, but it was not until its recent relaunch by Scopely as the mobile game Scrabble GO that it got some serious traction. It is reported that more than two million people play the set every day.

Scrabble GO retains all the loveable elements of the original board game, including the ability to play remotely with friends. The gameplay entails gaining points by creating words with letter tiles.

Each tile has a different value, and they are added together to come up with the final score. Scrabble GO keeps tabs of the scores saving players the trouble and keeps track of whether the vocabulary being formed is correct according to the dictionary. The application is accessible to iOS and Android users for free.

Yahtzee with Buddies

This Scopely social player versus player game reintroduces gamblers to the classic Hasbro game of the same name. The main point of gameplay is to collect more points than your opponent to become the dice master. Each player gets thirteen turns with three dice rolls.

The Yahtzee combination is the most valuable, awarded for getting five values of a kind, like 2, 2, 2, 2, 2. Large Straight comes in second, which is a series of five dice in succession, and Small Straight consists of four sequential dice. As simple as the game is, some key drivers make the dice spinning quest unforgettable, including;

• Personalized content like display picture frames and over 1,500 vanity dice to choose from
• A dynamic reinvention of the classic game to introduce new configurations such as Bingo, Solitaire, and Survivor
• Integration with social media to invite friends and engage the core PVP game mode

Uno

This classic card game is easy to pick up but challenging to put down, and the online version is just as fun. The game app offers multiple variations, but punters can still play the original “classic mode”, which includes a multiplayer option to invite friends virtually.

To do so, click on the “Social” button at the screen bottom followed by “Invite Friends”. The invite links can be sent through text or messenger apps like Slack and WhatsApp. Uno supports talk and text functions that allow banter while gameplay is in session. The app comes at no cost for Android and iOS users.

Psych! Outwit Your Friends

This Warner Bros game is similar to Balderdash that revolves around trivia and bluffing. Multiple players are supported, and each one takes turns generating fake answers to an array of trivia questions. Guessing the correct answer out of the false ones earns you points. The game also grants points for each player that you trick into choosing your made-up answers. The gameplay commences by selecting the “start a game” option and sharing the code with others. This code is then entered on the ‘join a game” prompt.

Boggle with Friends

Boggle with Friends is crafted just like the classic physical name of the same name. Players collect points by shaking lettered dice onto a 4×4 grid and forming word combinations. The app automatically keeps score and has a leaderboard to show who is winning.

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The game allows tournaments between random opponents online. You can also challenge people you know by clicking on the Friends tab and inviting people from your contacts with the app downloaded on smartphones or tablets. You can also text invite links for them to join. Playing Boggle with Friends is free of charge on Android and iOS.

Monopoly

The Monopoly app got you covered if your physical set is missing a few pieces. The mobile app version recreates the game in its classic form and offers different variations to explore. You can play solo or online with pals. An offline multiplier option is available to play with people near you by passing the gadget between turns.

Among Us

2020 was a big year for this set and proved that games do not need stunning graphics and animations to be entertaining. The game plays with four to ten players who are dropped onto a spaceship. Each player is designated the role of crewmate or imposter, and they have to stay on the ship as long as possible to win.

Takeaway

Aside from Monopoly, which costs $3.99 on Apple Store and Google Play, all these games are free to access. They run as downloadable apps on Android and iOS-run smartphones and tablets.