Games to play on a video call: Zoom, Teams and FaceTime
By eggverse · · 5 min read
To play games on a video call, keep the call open for faces and voices and run the game separately on each person’s device. Send an eggverse room link in the meeting chat or your group chat, and two to eight people can play together in a browser. It works the same way on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and FaceTime, because the game never has to run inside the call.
Why not just share your screen?
Sharing one screen to the call means one person controls the game while everyone else watches a stream, and the game’s sound can come back through other people’s speakers as echo. That is fine for a quiz someone reads aloud. For games where everyone acts at once, it is better for each player to have the real game on their own screen, while the call carries the conversation and the faces.
Set it up before the call starts
- Open the game page and choose Play with friends to create a room.
- Post the room invitation in the meeting chat, or in your usual group chat if that is easier. Friends can also type the code on Join a room, where the EGG- prefix is already filled in, so they enter only the five digits.
- Decide which device each person uses. A laptop for the call plus a phone or tablet for the game works well, so nobody squeezes the game and the meeting onto one small screen.
- Turn the game sound down or wear headphones, so the call’s microphones do not pick it up.
If someone joins the call and plays on the same phone, the game will take most of the screen. That can work, but a second device for either the call or the game is more comfortable. Cameras are optional; none of these games needs one.
Games that are better with faces
A video call adds something a group chat cannot: you can see who is trying not to smile. These games make good use of that, and all of them hold two to eight players in a friends room.
| Game | What you do | Why it suits a video call |
|---|---|---|
| The Yolk’s On You | Play cards face down and claim a rank, truthfully or not | Bluffing is better when everyone can see your face |
| Incognitegg | Hide in a painted crowd while one player seeks | Watch the hiders try to keep a straight face |
| Spoons | Pass cards, match four, then grab a spoon | One grab changes the whole call |
| Egg Stack | Take turns dropping eggs onto a tower | The group can cheer or groan at every landing |
| Crackle Floor | Keep moving while every tile cracks | Short rounds for a quick break in a long call |
| Shellbound | Defend a relic together through waves | For calls where people prefer a shared goal |
The Yolk’s On You is the card game Cheat. On your turn, play one to four cards face down and claim a rank. Everyone else has three seconds to call the bluff; if any card is wrong, the player takes the whole pile, and if every card matches, the caller takes it. On camera, three seconds is a long time to keep a straight face. With only two friends, Benny joins as a third player.
In Incognitegg, one player seeks with a magnifying lens while everyone else hides as their own egg in a red hat among thousands of shoppers. Seventy five seconds a round, and everyone takes a turn seeking. On a call, the hiders’ faces are often the best clue in the room, even though the game itself never sees them.
Spoons asks you to keep four cards, pass one left and match four of the same rank to take the first spoon. Once one spoon is gone, everyone can grab. Miss a spoon or grab before you qualify and you are out. Incoming cards pass automatically after four seconds, and with two friends, two bots fill the table.
Egg Stack is a precision stacker that friends play in turns: tap to drop an egg, line up each landing and keep the tower balanced. For a fast break in a long meeting, Crackle Floor is one round of last egg standing, and Shellbound gives a team a relic to defend together.
Notes for each app
On Zoom and Microsoft Teams, the meeting chat is the easiest place to post the invitation, so people can open it without hunting through other apps. On FaceTime, send the link in your group’s usual messages. In every case the call only carries voices and faces; the game itself does not depend on which app you use.
Planning this for coworkers? Our online holiday party plan for work has a 30 to 45 minute agenda and room rotation for teams larger than eight.
Quick answers
How do you play games on a Zoom call?
Keep the call for video and voice, and send everyone a browser game room link in the chat. On eggverse each person plays on their own device, so nobody needs to share a screen.
Can you play games on FaceTime?
Yes. Stay on FaceTime and open the game link on a device. If the call and the game are on the same phone, a second device for one of them is more comfortable.
What games can we play on Microsoft Teams?
Any browser game with a room link works next to a Teams meeting. The Yolk’s On You, Incognitegg, Spoons and Egg Stack each hold two to eight players per room.
Do players need to download anything?
No. The games run in a web browser on phones, tablets and computers.
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and FaceTime belong to their respective owners. eggverse is independent and not affiliated with any of them.