Games like Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io

Why Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io work

Gartic Phone is the telephone game with pictures. Everyone writes a sentence, the next player draws it, the next writes what they think the drawing shows, and so on round the group. The reveal at the end, when you watch a sentence turn into nonsense step by step, is the whole point. It is free, in the browser, and copes with big groups. It has several modes beyond the classic one.

Skribbl.io is draw and guess: one player draws a word while everyone else types guesses, and the quicker you guess, the more you score. It is free, instant and very competitive.

Both share the things that make a good call game: one link, no download, no account, and rounds short enough that nobody waits long.

More drawing games

• Gartic.io: from the makers of Gartic Phone, a draw and guess game closer to Skribbl.io.
• Drawful: Jackbox's drawing game, where players also write fake titles for each drawing to fool everyone else. Very funny, but it is paid and the host needs a computer or console to run it.
• Pictionary at home: a pen, paper and a list of words. On a call, the drawer holds the paper up to the camera.

For people who hate drawing

Every group has one. These keep the same quick, one link feel without a pen in sight.

Nichenaut

A free browser game where everyone answers the same prompt and the rarest right answer wins. One person hosts, everyone joins on their own phone with a four letter room code, and the reveal sends each player's astronaut off Earth: the rarer the answer, the further it flies. It has the same “wait, who said THAT?” moment as a Gartic Phone reveal, but it rewards knowing things instead of drawing.

• Name a Pixar film
• Name a YouTuber
• Name something from Among Us (a colour, role, map, task, room or term)
• Name a Mario character (Super Mario games, Mario Kart, films and shows; enemies count)
• Name a snack
• Name a word that rhymes with "cat" (not cat itself)
• Name a song with a colour in the title
• Name a board game

Hosted rooms take up to 25 players and only have preset shouts and reactions, no open chat. There is also a free iPhone app with a pass-the-phone mode, for when you are all in one room with one phone.

Host a room and send the code

Codenames online

The official free browser version at codenames.game. Two teams, a grid of words, and one word clues. Needs four or more people and a voice call.

Stopots

A free online Categories game, also from the makers of Gartic. A letter, a list of categories, and a race to fill them. See our guide to Scattergories online.

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