31 Fun Things to Do on FaceTime With Friends

How to play games on FaceTime (SharePlay, screen share, or just talking)

FaceTime gives you three simple ways to play games with your friends, depending on how much energy you have.

First, zero-prep verbal games need nothing except your cameras on. These work great when someone is lying in bed, walking home, or multitasking. Talk, guess, or call each other out.

Second, you can use Apple Screen Share. Tap the screen during a FaceTime call, press the Share button (the icon showing a person in front of a rectangle), and choose Share My Screen. This lets your call see any puzzle, browser tab, or photos app you open.

Third, SharePlay lets everyone run the same app in sync. If you open a SharePlay-compatible game or streaming app during a call, FaceTime asks if you want to play together, and each person sees their own view on their own iPhone. If you want more activities across group chats, check our favorite apps for friends to stay connected throughout the week.

8 no-prep talking games

No apps, no downloads, no setup. They are perfect for two people or a whole group chat call when everyone is feeling lazy.

1. Would You Rather

Take turns asking ridiculous two-choice questions. Make them hyper-specific to your crew or wildly inconvenient. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

2. Who is Most Likely To

One person asks a question like who is most likely to lose their keys on a night out. On the count of three, everyone points at their screen or shouts a name. Best group size: 3 to 8 people.

3. Two Truths and a Lie

Say three statements about your week or your childhood, two true and one fake. The other callers guess the lie. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

4. 20 Questions

Pick a secret object, person, or place. The rest of the call gets 20 total yes-or-no questions to figure out what you are thinking of. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

5. Never Have I Ever

Hold up five or ten fingers. Players take turns stating things they have never done. If you have done it, put a finger down until one winner remains. Best group size: 3 to 7 people.

6. Hot Takes

Drop a controversial opinion about food, music, or campus life, then give everyone sixty seconds to defend or destroy it. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

7. Word Association

Pick a starting word and go clockwise. Each person has one second to shout the next related word without stuttering or repeating. Best group size: 3 to 6 people.

8. Paranoia

One player texts a secret question to another caller, like who has the best music taste. That person answers the name out loud on FaceTime. To find out the question, the group must vote or flip a coin. Best group size: 4 to 8 people.

7 guessing and drawing games

Visual chaos, plus a test of how well your friends know each other.

9. FaceTime Charades

Mute your microphone and act out a movie, person, or inside joke using physical gestures. The first person to type the correct answer in the chat wins. Best group size: 3 to 8 people.

10. Emoji Sentence Decoding

Text a row of emojis into the FaceTime group chat. The rest of the call must race to decode the song title or movie plot. If you love texting challenges, you can also explore native iMessage games between calls. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

11. Apple Notes Pictionary

One person shares their screen and opens a blank drawing canvas in the Apple Notes app. Pick a word secretly, start sketching with your finger, and let everyone guess. Best group size: 3 to 6 people.

12. Hum That Tune

Mute your background noise and hum a well-known melody without singing any real words. The first person to name the track gets the point. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

13. Read My Lips (The Mute Challenge)

Mute your mic, look straight into the camera, and speak a complete sentence normally. Everyone else has to read your lips in real time. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

14. Guess the Photo Zoom

Crop an everyday photo in your camera roll until only an abstract texture remains. Share your screen and zoom out slowly while friends yell guesses. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

15. Celebrity Impression Roulette

Write five famous names down. Each player gets thirty seconds to imitate a voice or mannerism until the call identifies the celebrity. Best group size: 3 to 6 people.

6 SharePlay and watch-together ideas

SharePlay keeps everyone in sync without awkward countdowns or echoing audio.

16. Heads Up via SharePlay

Download Heads Up from the App Store and start it during your FaceTime call. Cards appear on your screens simultaneously so you can give clues without lag. Best group size: 3 to 8 people.

17. Apple Music Listening Party

Start a shared session in Apple Music through SharePlay. Everyone on the call hears the exact same second of the track, and anyone can queue up tunes. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

18. TikTok and Reel Screen Share

Instead of sending twenty clips into the group chat, share your screen and scroll your For You page together. You get live reactions instantly. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

19. Shared Streaming Movie Night

Open a streaming app that supports SharePlay, like Disney+ or Apple TV. The video plays in sync for everyone, pausing automatically if someone takes a break. It is one of the top habits for staying close to a long-distance best friend. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

20. Browser Codenames

Open an online word board like Codenames in Safari, then share your screen. One player acts as the spymaster while the rest of the crew deliberates out loud. Best group size: 4 to 8 people.

21. GeoGuessr Challenge

Screen share a round of GeoGuessr. Let the group inspect street signs, trees, and road markings together to figure out where on Earth you dropped. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

5 quick challenges and competitions

Short, high-energy rounds that get people off the couch and moving around their rooms.

22. The 60-Second Scavenger Hunt

The host names an obscure household object, such as a yellow sock or a souvenir mug. Everyone drops their phones, races to find it, and holds it up to the camera. The fastest grab scores. Best group size: 3 to 8 people.

23. Staring Contest

Pick two players to look straight into their front-facing cameras without blinking or laughing. Pin both video boxes side by side to judge fairly. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

24. Wikiracing

Everyone opens Safari on their phone. Start on the same random Wikipedia page and see who can reach a designated target page first using only article links. Best group size: 2 to 6 people.

25. Try Not to Laugh

Fill your mouth with a sip of water. The remaining players take turns telling terrible jokes or playing goofy audio clips to force a spit-take. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

26. Tongue Twister Battle

Search a difficult tongue twister and set a ten-second timer. Each person must repeat it five times fast without tripping over a syllable. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

5 low-key hangout ideas

Sometimes FaceTime is just hanging out while doing your own thing.

27. Silent Body-Doubling Study Session

Keep your cameras on while you work through assignments or chores on mute, no talking required. Having friends on screen holds you accountable without creating conversational noise. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

28. Cook the Same Recipe

Pick an easy meal, set your phone on the kitchen counter, and cook together step by step, then compare your results once you finally sit down to eat. Best group size: 2 to 3 people.

29. Closet Show-and-Tell

Grab the weirdest purchase you ever made, a favorite jacket, or your oldest sentimental item. Spend two minutes explaining the backstory to the call. Best group size: 2 to 5 people.

30. Room or Desk Tour

Flip to the back camera and show off your setup, recent room updates, or posters. It feels much more personal than sending photos. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

31. Craft or Lego Build Night

Set up your phones while assembling a Lego set, sketching, or painting. It provides easy background chatter without any social pressure. If your group is split across cities, pairing this with other apps for long-distance friends makes keeping in touch effortless. Best group size: 2 to 4 people.

Tips for keeping a group FaceTime fun

FaceTime calls get chaotic when more than five people try to talk over each other at once. Three rules keep game night smooth.

First, designate one person to run the game. Without someone calling on people or keeping score, everyone ends up talking at the exact same moment.

Second, match everyone’s energy. If someone just finished an eight-hour shift, do not force a high-speed scavenger hunt. Switch to a chill movie watch party or casual hot takes instead.

Third, know when to end the call, because once conversation winds down and people start checking other devices, the smartest move is to wrap up on a high note instead of letting the silence linger.

Where Bobble fits: know who is free before you ring

The hardest part of a FaceTime hangout is figuring out who is actually sitting around bored versus who is swamped at work or asleep, and randomly ringing four people in a group chat usually ends in declined calls and awkward voicemails.

Bobble solves that by showing your close friends as 3D bobbleheads at the top of your phone. Built for your inner crew, the app uses live statuses like home, gym, asleep, or vibing to music so you instantly see what everyone is up to without bothering them. You can check who is free right now, send a wave bobble reaction, and start your FaceTime games when the timing is right.

Bobble lives right in the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and newer, keeping your real friends visible without opening an endless feed.

Make your Bobble →