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10 word games to play with friends
No board, no cards, no setup. These word games work at a dinner table, on a road trip or over a video call, and most need nothing but the people playing.
Updated October 21, 2026
| Game | Players | You need | Video call? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Second | 2–10 | Phones | Yes |
| The categories game | 2+ | Paper, pens | Yes |
| Word association | 2+ | Nothing | Yes |
| Twenty questions | 2+ | Nothing | Yes |
| Ghost | 3+ | Nothing | Yes |
| The dictionary game | 4+ | Dictionary, paper | With some effort |
| Last letter | 2+ | Nothing | Yes |
| I'm going on a picnic | 3+ | Nothing | Yes |
| Hangman | 2+ | Paper | With screen share |
| Describe it | 4+ | A word list | Yes |
1. Last Second
Everyone gets the same category and starting letter, and 20 seconds to type an answer on their phone. Answers that match anyone else's cancel out, so the obvious answer usually scores nothing. Rules get harder as the game goes on, and the reveal, when matching answers bonk into each other, is where the shouting starts.
It's our game: free, no app, for 2–10 players in the same room or on a call. See how it works or start a room.
2. The categories game
The paper-and-pen classic. Everyone has the same list of categories and one random letter, and races to fill in an answer for each before the timer runs out. You only score answers nobody else wrote. Full rules and variants are in our categories game guide, and there are 100 category ideas to get you started.
3. Word association
One player says a word. The next player immediately says the first word it makes them think of, and so on around the group. Hesitate, repeat a word or say something nobody can connect, and you're out. Keep going until one player is left. It's best played fast; the connections people make under pressure are half the fun.
4. Twenty questions
One player thinks of something: a person, an animal, an object. Everyone else takes turns asking yes-or-no questions to work out what it is. If nobody guesses it within 20 questions, the answerer wins. Start broad ("Is it alive?") before getting specific.
5. Ghost
Players take turns adding one letter to a growing string of letters, trying not to be the one who completes a real word. Any word of four letters or more counts. If you think the last player added a letter that can't lead to any word, challenge them: they must say the word they had in mind or lose the round. Each lost round earns you a letter of G-H-O-S-T. Spell the whole thing and you're out.
6. The dictionary game
One player finds an obscure word in a dictionary and reads it out. Everyone else writes a convincing fake definition, while the reader copies down the real one. The reader mixes all the definitions together and reads them aloud, and everyone votes for the one they think is real. You score for guessing the real definition, and for every vote your fake one gets. Also known as Fictionary.
7. Last letter
Pick a category, like animals or countries. The first player names one, and each next answer has to start with the last letter of the one before: cat, tiger, rabbit, turtle. No repeats, and a few seconds to answer. In Japan a version called shiritori uses the last syllable instead of the last letter.
8. I'm going on a picnic
A memory game that goes through the alphabet. The first player says "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing apples." The next repeats the list and adds something starting with B: "…apples and a blanket." Keep going around the group. Forget an item or get the order wrong and you're out.
9. Hangman
One player picks a word and draws a blank for each letter. Everyone else guesses one letter at a time. Right guesses fill in the blanks; wrong ones add a piece to the drawing. Guess the word before the drawing is finished to win. Over a video call, use a shared whiteboard or screen share.
10. Describe it
Split into two teams. One player gets a word and has a minute to get their team to say it, without saying the word itself or a few obvious related words (for "beach": no "sand", "ocean" or "sun"). The team scores a point for every word guessed before time runs out, then the other team takes a turn. Write a stack of words on scraps of paper beforehand, or have someone on the other team choose them.
Which game for which group?
- Big, loud group: Last Second or describe it.
- Road trip: last letter, I'm going on a picnic or twenty questions. No screens or paper for the driver.
- Video call: Last Second, the categories game or twenty questions.
- Quiet dinner: ghost or the dictionary game.
More guides
- The categories game How to play the classic categories word game (also called Stop, Basta or Tutti Frutti), the scoring variants, and a free way to play it on your phones.
- 100 category ideas 100 category ideas for the categories game, grouped by theme from easy to hilarious, plus which letters to use and house rules that make it harder.
- Word games to play with friends 10 word games to play with friends, with quick rules for each and which ones work over a video call. Most need nothing but your brain.