Games to play on Discord.

1. The imposter word game (ours)

One person opens Side Eye in a browser, starts a room and drops the link in the channel. Everyone opens it on their phone or in a tab, types a name, and the round runs itself: each phone holds its own card, the clue order is shown, clues are typed or just said, then the vote on each phone and the reveal. Three to twenty players, free, no account, nothing added to the server.

• Hold to reveal shows nothing unless you are holding it, so streaming your screen leaks nothing.
• Typed clues build a board everyone can scroll back through.
• Screen-share the TV page if you like a big sign in the call: whose turn it is and the tally, never a card.

Start a room

More on playing online, and the rules.

2. Two truths and a lie

Each person states three things about themselves. The channel votes on the lie, in the chat so nobody talks over anyone. Good for a server where people half know each other.

3. Twenty questions

One person thinks of something, the rest ask yes-or-no questions, twenty at most. Needs nothing but voices and works at any size.

4. Categories in the chat

The host names a letter and five categories: a country, an animal, a food, a band, a film. Everyone has one minute to type their five in the chat at once on the host’s go. Points for answers nobody else had.

5. Would you rather

Ask one, everyone answers on the count of three, and the minority explains itself. A good warm-up before something with a winner.

6. Werewolf with a narrator

The host sends each player their role by direct message and narrates the nights. Mute everyone during the night, unmute for the day. Works from seven players; a long one, so start it early. How it compares to the imposter game.

7. The quick-fire quiz

Ten questions, answers typed in the chat, scores read out at the end. Rotate the quizmaster each round so one person does not do all the work.

8. One word at a time

A story told round the call, one word per person per turn. Falls apart within a minute, which is the point.

9. Hum the tune

One person hums, everyone else types their guess in the chat. First right answer hums next. Push-to-talk helps here.

10. Guess the desk

Everyone sends the host one photo of something within arm’s reach. The host posts them one at a time; the call guesses whose is whose.

Making a Discord game night work

• One host who explains each game in a sentence and starts it.
• Push-to-talk, or a game where turns are built in. Calls cut over each other.
• Keep a browser-tab game ready for the moment the energy drops; a Side Eye room takes thirty seconds to open.
• A big server splits into two rooms rather than one of twenty-five.

Questions