Quick Games for Remote Teams, Classrooms and Discord Servers

Getting a group to play together usually fails at the first step: someone needs an account, someone else can't install the app, and by the time everything works, the moment has passed. These games work from a link. One person creates a room, shares it, and everyone's in after choosing a nickname.

For remote teams and work socials

• A five-minute icebreaker: Word Scramble is eight words with everyone answering at the same time, so it's over quickly and nobody waits for a turn.
• A bigger team: Bomb Pass takes up to 20 players, and each round lasts 15 to 45 seconds.
• A team that likes to talk: Imposter takes 4 to 10 players and gets people discussing and disagreeing in a low-stakes way.
• A shared puzzle: Hangman is co-operative, so the team solves one word together instead of competing.

Games don't require an account, which helps with locked-down work laptops. Everything runs in the browser. Run a call alongside for the conversation, since the games don't include chat.

For classrooms

• A teacher creates the room on the classroom screen and shares the code. Students join from their own devices with a nickname.
• Hangman and Word Scramble use single everyday words from categories like animals, food, sports and vehicles, which suits spelling practice for children aged about 6 and up.
• Memory Match and Snakes & Ladders work for younger children, from about age 5.
• There's no chat between players, and the only typing is a nickname and, in word games, answers.

For Discord servers and group chats

Paste the join link into a channel and anyone who taps it can play. Because rounds are short and players can join between rounds, it works for a server where people drift in and out. Put a voice channel on alongside for Imposter, which is mostly talking.

A few tips

• Send the link rather than the four-digit code. It's one tap.
• Let the host switch games from the results screen so you can try a few in a session.
• If someone's connection drops, their seat is held for 30 seconds, so a wobbly connection doesn't end the game.

Try it now: create a room, pick a game, and drop the link into your chat.