Ditch UNO! Here’s what you should be playing with your friends

When the COVID pandemic locked us inside our homes, the only thing that kept me sane was tuning into a group call and playing Among Us (which eventually gave way to other games) with my friends.

Every night, without fail, we would get on a call, play one game, then another, and somehow end up playing for hours. Even after we could finally go out again, we managed to keep the tradition alive. Eventually, though, it faded.

There is something strangely magical about playing a game together. Maybe it’s accusing your best friend of betrayal, arguing over rules nobody read properly, celebrating a victory over-dramatically, or losing your patience over non-issues.

And perhaps that is exactly why games are worth bringing back into our friend groups, and no! I am not talking about UNO, and definitely not Monopoly. Play these instead!

Gartic Phone

I wasn’t a fan of Telephone, but Telephone Dance with my friends was brilliant. What’s not to enjoy about forcing your friends to dance? As a dancer, watching them attempt complex steps was hilarious and infuriating when they intentionally butchered it. Dance may not be for everyone, but if you want that same fun, try Gartic Phone: same chaos, just with drawings.

Write a prompt; that prompt goes to your friend, and they have to draw it while you draw another friend’s prompt. Then each friend guesses what the drawing is, and then that guess is drawn until you reach the end of the round. The original sentence can become something so different that you are guaranteed to have laughing fits.

The drawings do not need to be good. In fact, terrible drawings might make the game better. If your group has one person who takes every drawing way too seriously and another who makes everything ridiculous, even better.

Wiki Race

You have to get from one Wikipedia page to another using only the hyperlinks. Sounds simple? Trust me, going from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to Safety Pin may make you want to rip your hair out.

Wiki Race is especially fun for the “sophisticated” group of friends who enjoy trivia and random facts. You may also find out that your friend knows an alarming amount about completely useless topics. At the end, compare everyone's routes. Who strayed the furthest from the destination? Who found a bizarre shortcut? And who was just one click away from winning?

Flip 7

If you like the tension of pushing your luck, Flip 7 is easy to understand. The objective is straightforward: keep flipping cards and collecting points, but stop before you bust. The catch is that getting the same number twice can ruin your round, which is what we call the “bust”.

There are fun little bonus and punishment cards that can really spice up the game. If you manage to flip 7 number cards, you get an extra 15 points. The first person to reach 200 points wins.

It is fairly simple, with just enough strategy to make every decision feel important. Do you play it safe or risk another card? Of course, someone will always take the risk. And someone will always regret it. You can buy the deck or print the cards out from here.

Pyachforon

Pyachforon is a party game where players team up in pairs to guess words through three increasingly chaotic rounds.

In the first round, clue-givers can say whatever they want and guessers can yell out infinite guesses. The second round cranks up the heat, capping clue-givers at a single word plus gestures, while guessers get just one shot at getting it right. By the final round, clue-givers are forced to rely strictly on gestures.

The best part? Unlike games that force you to explain Western references (Looking at you, Taboo!), Pyachforon actually speaks our language. It’s local, and it’s delightfully chaotic.

Ready Set Cook! / Overcooked

The satisfaction of watching one of my best friends lose her calm and scream at another because she chopped the wrong vegetable is just unmatched. Ready Set Cook was an old Messenger game that forced you and your friends to work together to prepare and serve food. The game isn’t around anymore, but Overcooked is a paid alternative.

Theoretically, it’s a teamwork game. In reality, you end up screaming at each other to do better. One person is chopping ingredients, someone else is cooking, another is washing dishes, and somebody is inevitably shouting that they asked for a tomato three minutes ago.

Yahtzee

Yahtzee is actually a classic for people in the West. But I am not sure many people know about this here. What I love about Yahtzee is that it is incredibly easy to get the hang of, but it also triggers your competitive buttons.

All you need is a score sheet (print one out or write it down) and five dice. You can roll all of them or whichever you want three times, and then use the final combination for different scores. (Knowing Poker hands come in handy here.)

Just five dice, score sheets, and a group of people who are willing to become far too emotionally invested in a good roll.

Fall Guys / Stumble Guys

Fall Guys and Stumble Guys are perfect when you want something light, silly, and yet intensely competitive. Players race through chaotic obstacle courses while trying not to fall, stumble, get knocked over, or otherwise embarrass themselves.

If your friend gets eliminated because they made one terrible jump? You will absolutely laugh at them. That is entirely the point. You can team up or go full every-man-for-himself. Fall Guys definitely takes the crown for better graphics and wilder race tracks, but Stumble Guys is more accessible as it is available on phones.

Murdoku

Personally, I am a big fan of Sudoku, but I know numbers aren't everyone's thing. You know what almost everyone loves, though? A good murder mystery.

With Murdoku, you are given a cast of suspects, including the victim, along with clues about where each person can or cannot be. Your job is to place everyone on a grid, with the same basic rule as Sudoku: there can only be one person in each row and each column. Once you have correctly placed everyone, the person who is alone in a room with the victim is the murderer.

Now, this is technically a game you can play by yourself. But what my friends and I like to do is start the same puzzle together and see who can finish it first. (Me, obviously!) Or, you can also solve one together.

Moose Master

This is not a game I played myself, but rather watched the Smosh cast play it. But I felt the need to include it cause if it was this hilarious watching on screen, I bet it will be 10 times more fun to play with friends. There’s no strategy or skills here. It’s kinda really, really dumb.

Moose Master is a party card game built around a series of rules and challenges that players have to remember while trying not to make mistakes. The real challenge begins when everyone starts talking, reacting, and forgetting the rules.

Bring back game nights

I miss game nights so much. I definitely don’t wish for another pandemic, nor do I want to romanticise that period, but having nowhere else to be and a few guilt-free hours to kill with people I love was pretty great.

So, we need to bring game night back. We need to jump on a call with friends across different time zones or huddle around a table with a board or card game. The plan is simple: we will pick something other than UNO, gather everyone around, and brace for my victory dance.