← Loud Room

Party games to play over a video call

Nobody screen-shares. Everyone keeps the call on one device and plays on their phone.

Most games made for a call ask one person to share their screen, which means everybody else watches a laggy window of someone else's browser. These do not work that way. The shared screen — the dial, the drawings, the scores — renders on every phone at once, so the call is only ever carrying faces and voices.

That leaves the call doing the thing a call is good at. You argue over a clue while looking at each other, and the game keeps itself in sync in your hand.

It works on FaceTime, Zoom, Discord, Meet, a group WhatsApp call, or a speakerphone in the middle of a table. The games do not know or care which.

Which of the four to pick

Setting it up

  1. Start the video call however you normally would.
  2. One person opens loudroom.games on their phone and taps Start a new room.
  3. They read the four letters out loud. Everyone else opens the same address and types them in.
  4. Keep talking on the call. The game runs on the phones.
Start a game

Questions

Does someone need to share their screen?
No. Every phone draws the shared screen itself, so there is nothing to share and nothing to lag.
How many people can play?
Three to twelve. Three works; six or seven is the sweet spot.
Does everyone need the same app?
There is no app. Everyone opens a web address on whatever phone they already have.
Can we play on laptops instead of phones?
Yes, though phones are better — a laptop is usually the device carrying the call, and you want the two separate.

Also