We’ve all been there. You’re in a Discord call with a few friends and you all want to play a game. The problem is that no one can make a decision, so you just sit there doing nothing. Well, not anymore! Did you know there are hundreds of free online party games you can play right in your web browser?
Whether you are looking for something quick and simple or want to dive into something more complex with strategy, there is no shortage of great options. But, like when deciding what to play before, there could be some decision paralysis. Lucky for you, we’re here to tell you about the best online party games available completely free.
Are Free Online Games Good?
This question always comes up when talking about free online games. Many assume they are just poorly designed games that are solely made to take your info. To be completely honest, those do exist. Thankfully, they’re easy to spot and, thus, avoid.
The list we’ve put together below doesn’t include those types of games at all. These are games that are actually fun to play, fully legitimate, and have been played by people on our staff. These recommendations come because we’ve enjoyed them ourselves.
Do You Need An Account To Play Online Browser Party Games?
When you find a game online that you want to play, the first question many have aside from whether or not it’s free is if you need an account. For online browser party games, it varies.
Some just let you jump right in, create a room, send a code to friends, and start playing right away. Others will require a couple of extra steps like account creation to keep track of things like games played, leaderboards, save game progress, and more.
Six Best Free Online Browser Party Games
Here are six games we think are worth playing with friends on those nights when you just can’t decide what to play. Let us know in the comments what your favorite online browser party games to play with your friends are.
Playing Cards
If you want to start with something traditional, there’s a mass collection of card games you can play with friends no matter where you all happen to be. Playingcards.io offers you games like Crazy Eights, Rummy, Scat, and even the Joking Hazard game from the creators of Cyanide & Happiness.
One of the best parts is that you don’t have to create an account to start playing. Someone just needs to start a room, send a room code, and you’ll be ready to go! It’s even better when you can hop into a voice chat on Discord to talk while playing.
Board Games
Sticking with traditional, what about playing some board games instead of card games? Board Game Arena offers hundreds of games you can play with a group of people or just one other person.
What makes it great are some of the games it offers. From classic games like Yahtzee and Chinese Checkers to more detailed games like Ticket to Ride and Catan, there’s bound to be something for everyone to enjoy. You can even filter games by average game time if you don’t have hours to spend on a game. If you are playing a longer game, the site offers you the ability to save your game state and come back to continue later on.
Codenames
If you want to play something more specific with friends, then Codenames is one game worth checking out. Codenames Online was developed and released by the team behind the official board game, Cazch Games Edition.
The game has players split into two teams of the same size unless there’s an odd number. Then, just do it as evenly as possible. When teams are split, each team then chooses a spymaster who will be required to give clues in order to get their team to select the right answers on the board and find their team’s agents. But be careful, you could help the other team by finding their agents, or worse, find the assassin card and lose the game altogether.
It’s a game I’ve spent hours playing with my friends both online and in person. It can’t be recommended enough.
Gartic Phone
If you have a large group of players, Gartic Phone might be the best option until people start leaving. The game is a mix between Pictionary and Telephone with the goal of telling a fun story through drawings and prompts.
Players will start by writing out things for other players to draw. After that, each player will be given a cue to draw out before it gets passed down to another player to guess. From there, everything will be put together in a story that will either make complete sense or have everyone losing their minds.
Scrabble
How about a classic online game? Scrabble allows you to play online with randoms, friends, or against the computer. The game offers a number of settings for the host to select, including time limits so players are sitting there taking 20 minutes to come up with a word that will get them four points.
There are also daily challenges and tournaments to enter to get more out of your play time.
What’s more to say? It’s Scrabble. It’s fun. Go play it.
Skribbl
Pictionary is a game that has torn families and friends apart for generations. But what if I told you there was an online version of the game that wouldn’t cause you to stop talking to your favorite cousin for years? Skribbl.io is that game.
The game is pretty simple to play. Each player gets a turn drawing the clue they are given — you’ll get three options to choose from. The rest of the players then have to guess what the drawing is. The quicker you guess correctly, the more points you get. Whoever has the most points after the set amount of rounds is over is the winner.
There are hundreds of categories to draw, but the game allows you to enter your own prompts to add more variety to the fun. It’s a fantastic game when you and your friends simply can’t agree on what to play.
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