Games to Play Over the Phone: 25 Fun Games for Friends and Couples

A phone call with nothing to say goes quiet fast. A phone call with a game in it can last three hours. The best games to play over the phone need no board, no app and no screen: just two voices, or a group on speaker. Here are 25 of them, sorted by who's on the other end, plus a few app games for when you want more than talking.

Guessing games (no prep at all)

1. 20 Questions. One person thinks of a person, place or thing; the other gets twenty yes-or-no questions to guess it. The best phone game there is, because it needs nothing but attention.
2. Guess the Song. Hum a song, no words allowed. Surprisingly hard, and the humming itself is half the fun.
3. Who Am I? Your friend picks a famous person for you and you ask yes-or-no questions to work out who you are.
4. Guess the Sound. Make a noise with something in your room (a zip, a kettle, keys) and let the other person guess what it is.
5. Twenty Seconds. Name as many things in a category as you can in twenty seconds: dog breeds, cereal brands, Marvel films. Swap and try to beat the score.

Word games

6. Word Association. Say a word; the other person replies with the first word it makes them think of. No pausing. Hesitate and you lose the round.
7. Last Letter. Name a city (or animal, or film) that starts with the last letter of the one before. "London", "Nairobi", "Istanbul"…
8. Story Chain. Build a story one sentence each. It turns absurd within a minute, which is the point.
9. Categories A to Z. Pick a category and go through the alphabet together, one letter each.
10. Rhyme Time. One word, and you take turns rhyming until someone runs out.

Question games (the ones that make calls last)

11. Would You Rather. "Would you rather only whisper or only shout for a year?" Ask why every time; the reasons are the good part.
12. This or That. Rapid-fire pairs: beach or mountains, call or text, early bird or night owl. Great for someone you've just met.
13. Never Have I Ever. Works as well on a call as in a room: say something you've never done, and the other person admits whether they have. For groups, our Never Have I Ever online guide has a free browser version everyone can open during the call.
14. Two Truths and a Lie. Tell three things about yourself; they guess which one is invented.
15. Hot Takes. Each person defends an unpopular opinion for thirty seconds. The other person decides whether they've been convinced.

Games to play over the phone with friends

On a group call, games that give everyone a turn work best:

16. Most Likely To. "Who's most likely to get lost in their own city?" Everyone names someone on the call at the count of three.
17. Trivia Host. One person reads questions from a quiz site; the others shout answers. Rotate the host each round.
18. Telephone. The classic, on a group call: one person privately messages a sentence to the next, who says what they heard out loud to the next, and the last person announces what it has become.
19. Desert Island. Everyone picks three things to take to a desert island, then defends them.

If you're all in one room rather than on a call, see our list of party games to play on your phone instead.

Games to play over the phone with your boyfriend or girlfriend

For a partner, the best phone games are the ones that make you learn something new about each other:

20. 36 Questions. The famous set of questions from a psychology study on closeness, taken in turns. Go slowly; it's meant to get deeper as it goes.
21. Truth or Dare. Keep the dares doable from wherever each of you is ("send me the last photo in your camera roll").
22. How Well Do You Know Me. Quiz each other: favourite childhood cartoon, dream holiday, worst job ever.
23. Plan the Perfect Date. Take turns adding one detail each, then actually go on it.

Long distance: games that need a little more than voice

24. Watch together. Start the same film at the same second and talk over it. Pause when either of you needs to.
25. Play a couples game app. Closerly is a free app for couples: a private room for the two of you with Truth or Dare, This or That, Never Have I Ever, a couples quiz, dice, a roulette and a shared whiteboard, plus a daily question you both answer. You each play on your own phone, however far apart you are. It gives a video or phone call something to do other than "so, how was your day?". Closerly's own blog has more games to play over the phone with your boyfriend.

How to keep a phone game going

• Use headphones. Your hands are free and the other voice is clearer, which matters for guessing games.
• Keep score only if it's funny. Competitive 20 Questions is great; a scoreboard for 36 Questions misses the point.
• Swap games before one gets stale. Ten minutes each is plenty.
• Have a list ready. Screenshot the image above so you're never stuck for the next game.

Common questions

What are fun games to play over the phone?

The most reliable are 20 Questions, Would You Rather, Two Truths and a Lie, Story Chain and Guess the Song. They need no preparation, work with two people or a group, and are just as good on a voice call as face to face.

What games can you play over the phone with someone you just met?

Keep it light: This or That, Would You Rather and Two Truths and a Lie. They get you talking about preferences and stories without asking anything too personal too soon.

What games can you play over a phone call with no app?

Every game on this list from 1 to 23 needs nothing but your voices. Only the long-distance extras, such as watching a film together or a couples app, need something on screen.

What games are like Telephone?

Story Chain, Word Association and Last Letter share Telephone's idea of passing something along and seeing how it changes. On a group call, Telephone itself works if the private step goes by text.

The short version

For a call with anyone, start with 20 Questions or Would You Rather. For friends on a group call, Most Likely To. For a partner, 36 Questions or How Well Do You Know Me, and for long distance, a couples app like Closerly to give the call a shape.