If you fancy some writerly, wordy, or just plain silly games to play on Zoom with your friends and family over the holidays, here's a selection of six, starting with the most writerly, ending with the silliest!
I've learnt a lot about adapting games and working out what's fun on Zoom through adapting the writing courses for online teaching One of the best discoveries was working out how to do pass-around games (Consequences etc) when we're not sitting around a table. I was also amazed by how joyous playing collaborative games is, on Zoom. Collaborative games are always good for a laugh, but online they have this wonderful extra thrill.
Most of the games use minimal tech stuff, just faces on screen and voices. I've found the less tech stuff we do on Zoom, the more we get the sense of human connection, so I avoid too much screensharing etc. That said, if anyone in your group is hard of hearing, definitely use a screenshare or the chatbox where I suggest that as an option: the lively babble of a group Zoom call can be tricky to separate into voices.
Elevenies (writerly)
In a nutshell: Each person writes different lines of an elevenie poem and then the group puts them together at random
The best bit: Assembling the elevenie poems from everyone's lines and seeing the hilarious or uncannily apt results
Players: 2+
Ages: 7+ (depending on writing level)
Abilities: Mixed
You'll need: Pens; plenty of strips of paper (cut an A4 sheet in half lengthways and then into strips)
Zoom tech: Just screens and voices, but you can use the chat box to assemble the final elevenies.
How to play
An elevenie poem has just eleven words total, across five lines:
Line 1: 1 word: a noun (a thing, place or person)
Line 2: 2 words: what it does
Line 3: 3 words: where it is
Line 4: 4 words: further explanation
Line 5: 1 word: a feeling about all this
- Assign each person a line. If you can't divide your group by 5, then give some people more than one line, making sure their lines aren't next to each other - eg X gets 1 and 3, Y gets 2 and 5, Z gets 4. (More ideas on how to divvy up the lines below)
- Each person writes three different versions for their line, each on a different strip of paper. Eg if I have line 1, I might write "baubles", "parrots", and "centaurs" each on a different strip.
- Each fold your strips and muddle them.
- Put together your first elevenie: in order, from lines 1-5, each person takes a slip from their pile at random and reads it out, to put the elevenie together. (Add it to the chatbox as well if you're using that.)
- Repeat for the rest of the strips of paper, so you create three elevenies.
- For the next round, give everyone a different line of the poem to write.
If you have 5 players, or exact multiples of 5, you can create one elevenie at a time and then switch lines - but make sure everyone writes their line first, so the results truly are random. Here's how I'd divide the lines for different numbers of people:
- 2 people: 1, 3, 5; 2 & 4
- 3 people: 1 & 3; 2 & 5; 4
- 4 people: 1 & 5; 2; 3; 4
- 6 people: two sets of the 3-people version
- 7 people: one set of the 3-people version, one set of the 4-people version
- 8 people: two sets of the 4-people version
- and so on
The example in the photograph was a pass-around elevenie I did with my nieces, Isabel (then 11, black pen) and Harriet (then 8, orange pen). Remember that we couldn't see what each other were writing!
Ex Libris (writerly)
In a nutshell: The reader reads out the back cover blurb of a
novel, each person writes a first line for it, and then tries to guess
which is the real first line. (This is a homemade / online version of
the game invented by Leslie Scott and designed by Sara Finch.)
The best bit: The giggle of writing dramatic first lines and the thrill when someone thinks yours is the real one
Players: 4+ players (just about manageable with 3)
Ages: 10+ according to the inventors; I'd say from 13+ for the youngsters to hold their own
Abilities: Equalish
You'll need: 3+ fiction books from your shelves per player OR e-reader / online equivalent so long as you have both the back-cover blurb and the first line; pen; paper.
Zoom tech: The chat box to private-message the reader in each round
How to play
Take it in turns to be the reader for each round.
- The reader reads out the back-cover blurb of a novel.
- Everyone invents a first line for the novel, and sends it by private message to the reader, using the chat box. The reader types out the real first line and sends it just to themself.
- The reader reads out all the first lines, including the real one, and everyone votes for the one they think is real. (If anyone has difficulty hearing, the reader can also cut and paste all the lines into a fresh chat message, making sure not to paste the senders' names)
- You get 1 point if you vote for the real first line and 1 point for each person who votes for your first line.
Change reader for the next round, and keep playing for as long as you like, or until you reach an agreed score (eg 20), or until you run out of books!
Mad Libs (writerly)
The best bit: Reading the absurd or uncannily apt final story
Players: 3+
Ages: 7+ (adaptable to younger kids)
Abilities: Mixed
You'll need: pen; paper; a Mad Libs blank (You can write your own or download a free printable one here)
Zoom tech: Just screens and voices, but you can use screenshare to assemble the final story
How to play
- The Storyteller goes around the group, telling each player a number and what kind of word to come up with - eg "Tessa, #1, an adjective. Andrew, #2, a noun." The players write down their words.
- The Storyteller asks the players for all their words in turn, and writes them down in the blanks. (If you're screensharing, you can screenshare the story template and type into it so they can see where their words go.)
- The Storyteller reads the final version aloud for everyone.
Grammar terms
Some people weren't taught grammar terms at school and/or get anxious about words like "noun", "verb", "adjective". If you're using a downloaded printable template, it'll use those grammar terms, so you can explain them or use alternative terms like this:
- noun: a thing, person, or place. eg a spider, a rock, an aunt, a desert. (Grammar fans: that's common nouns, which is what the Mad Libs stories want). Test: can you put "the" in front of it?
- verb: a doing word, eg to run, to dawdle, to laugh, to scribble. Test: can you put "I want to" in front of it?
- adjective: a describing word, eg beautiful, big, square, antique, blue, Italian, wooden. Test: can you put it in the gap: the _________ pirate?
You can also avoid grammar terms by writing your own Mad Libs story.
Writing your own
If you have some time and fancy some playful writing, this is huge fun. The easiest way is to write a very brief story (you can steal the plot of a fairytale or famous story) and then pick 2-3 words to blank out in each sentence and write what type of word they should be. You can use grammar terms as above or be more specific - eg "an animal", "a noise", "a body part", "an object", etc.
25 letters (wordy)
The best bit: The yeeha! when you manage to wrangle a word and the bewilderment of why on earth someone wants a J and where on earth you can put it
Players: 2+
Ages: 7+
Abilities: Mixed
You'll need: Paper and pens
Zoom tech: Just screens and voices, but you can use the chat box if anyone can't hear the letters clearly
How to play
Your aim is to make 3, 4, or 5 letter words.
- Each draw your own 5-by-5 grid on a piece of paper.
- The first person chooses a letter. You each have to write it somewhere in your own grid; you can choose where.
- The next person chooses a letter, and so on round, each person taking a turn, until all 25 squares are filled.
- You get 3 points for a 3-letter word, 4 points for a 4-letter word, and 5 points for a 5-letter word. (If you have younger players, you can also have 2 points for a 2-letter word.)
- Words can overlap (eg JIGIN can be both "jig" and "gin") but one word can't contain another (eg MIXER can't be "mix" and "mixer")
Answers & Questions (getting silly)
The best bit: When answers uncannily match the questions - or are wildly off-piste; also, finding a book of Answers years later and puzzling over this mysterious homemade I Ching type thing.
Players: 3+
Ages: Any (presuming they can speak already)
Abilities: Mixed
You'll need: Nothing, or pen and paper if you don't trust each other
Zoom tech: Just screens and voices, but you can use the chat box
How to play
- The first person Thinks Of A Question, but doesn't say it out loud. This can be anything from "What shall I make for dinner?" to "What is the purpose of existence?"
- When you've Thought Of A Question, announce this to the group and Telepathically Transmit it. You may wish to rub your temples and hum mystically to aid the process of Telepathic Transmission.
- When each person has Received The Question, and Divined Their Answer, they say they're ready.
- The Questioner announces their Question and each person tells them their Answer.
- The Questioner chooses the person with the best Answer, who then gets to ask the next Question.
Trust issues!
Sadly, the world of Spiritual Communication is full of ghastly charlatans who may use smoke and mirrors, or just outright lies, so depending on how much you trust the group, you can adjust how to play:
- Maximum trust: All the Answerers genuinely will say their original Answer, no need for proof
- Medium trust: All the Answerers have to write their answers down, so they can show it as proof. (Still, real mountebanks might have several answers written down. So...)
- Zero trust: All the Answerers have to write their answers in the chat box and press Enter at the same time, on the count of 3, before they hear the question
We generally play on maximum trust, although one year my partner had a bunch of heartshaped notebooks left behind at the restaurant, so we used those. I found it years later and was utterly confounded by these strange notes I'd scrawled to myself! That's it in the picture, in my Box Of Odd Things. (And in case it's not abundantly clear, I don't believe in telepathic powers!)
Toy Charades (very silly)
The best bit: TOYS! ON CAMERA!
Players: 2+
Ages: Any
Abilities: Mixed
You'll need: TOYS!
Zoom tech: Just screens and voices; if you're playing in teams, you can use the chatbox and/or breakout rooms to decide what stories the toys should enact, and the chatbox to give members of the opposite team their story titles
How to play
To narrow it down, you can decide in advance a category of things you're going to act out in charades - eg Shakespeare plays, Fairytales, Disney films, Greek myths, etc, whatever suits everyone in your group equally. Depending on people's toy collections, you might add an extra rule that toys aren't allowed to act in their own stories - so if you have an Elsa doll, she can't act out Frozen.
- Choosing the story:
For just 2-3 people, you can each take it in turns to choose your own story for the toys to enact.
If you have a group of 4+, you can divide into 2 teams and come up with a list of stories for the other team's toys to enact. Use the chatbox private-messaging or breakout rooms to talk in private with your team. Then private-message one person on the other team to tell them which story their toys will enact. - Enacting the story:
The person directing the toys must mute themselves, so they don't accidentally make sound-effects and Ewok noises that would give the game away. They should also try keep their face off screen: the toys are the stars here. The toys act out the story to the best of their ability while the rest of the team guesses. (Or, if you're playing with 2-3 people, while the rest of the group guesses) - Timing
For each round, set a timer for 3 minutes. If no-one guesses within 3 minutes, alas. If someone guesses, the other team must be ready to immediately send you another story for your toys to enact. (If 3 minutes is too short for your group, adjust it to whatever suits.) - The winner:
Really the winners here are the toys, the stars of the show. But if you're really committed to the whole "points mean prizes" thing, you get 1 point for each story your group guessed, and the team with the most points wins. The winning teams' toys should then perform a victory parade, possibly singing their favourite songs.
I hope you have a splendid, writerly, wordy, and frequently silly festive season and I'd love to know how your games go, to read any elevenies you create, and to see any screenshots of the toys acting.
