Games to play with friends

The best games for friends are the ones where getting started takes less effort than deciding what to play. Here, that means one person creates a room, drops the join link into the group chat, and anyone who taps it is in after choosing a nickname. There's no account and nothing to install, which matters when at least one person is always on a phone they can't be bothered to update.

For a group of four or more, Imposter is the one people ask to play again. One or two players don't know the secret word, everyone gives a clue, and the group argues about who's faking. Bomb Pass suits a bigger, louder group of anywhere from three to twenty, and Word Scramble is a quick race that everyone can join, whether or not they're any good.

For two friends, Connect 4 is a proper head-to-head, and Ludo works with two to four players if you want something longer.

Distance matters less than you'd think. Everyone joins from their own screen and sees the same game live, so it doesn't matter whether you're in the same flat or five time zones apart. Put a voice or video call on alongside it, since the games don't include chat, and talking is a big part of why Imposter works.

If someone's connection drops, their seat is held for 30 seconds and they rejoin exactly where they were. If the host is the one who drops, control passes to another player, so the game doesn't end because of one person's wifi.

A recurring game night sticks when it's cheap to organise. Fix a day, send the link, and let people join late. Because rounds run from three to fifteen minutes for most of the games, nobody feels stuck when someone has to leave, and the host can switch to a different game between rounds.

Your nickname and avatar are remembered on the same device, so returning takes even fewer taps.