Tired of solo gaming or endless online battles against anonymous names in a chat? You need to reconnect with the real world, and yet not leave games behind. It’s time for some party games – iPhone-style.
Our selection has something for everyone. There are grandma-friendly new spins on classic games, and titles that assume players at least know how to use an iPhone. Some are chill. Others are less so. The one thing they have in common: they’re all a blast to play.
Heads Up! ($1.99/£1.99)
Charades in fast forward. Instead of holding a card to your forehead and guessing what it says based on clues dished out by friends, you use your iPhone. Get a clue right and you tilt your phone down to move on. Tilt up to pass. And then have a little sit down when you get to the end of an exhausting 60-second round.
Loads of cards are built in, but you can buy more via in-app purchases. And the app optionally records what your phone sees – which you can show your friends to prove they were no help at all when you got a terrible score. On second thoughts, probably don’t do that if you want to keep your friends.
Wavelength (free + IAP)
This rather more relaxed guessing game starts with each player typing clues to match specific positions on a range, such as ‘villain to hero’ and ‘dry food to wet food’. During the actual rounds, everyone but the clue-writer then needs to figure out where the arrow on the scale should point.
It’s good-natured fun, and can prompt entertaining discussions as players try to read the mind of the clue-creator and determine how much of a wizard they think Darth Vader is. At the end of the game, the cooperative nature of Wavelength is further emphasised by the group being awarded a combined score.
7 Second Challenge (free or $2.99/£2.99)
Want to up the pace? This game dishes out challenges and demands they be completed in seven seconds. Some are physical – taking off a sock, for instance. Others are more cerebral, such as spelling your entire name backwards. (That might not sound too difficult, but remember: seven seconds.)
Points are dished out by everyone agreeing whether or not a player succeeded, and totted up over a pre-agreed number of rounds. Plenty of challenges are included, but you can add your own. Extras are also available via a one-off IAP – recommended, since that also removes the momentum-killing ads.
Spaceteam (free or $2.99/£2.99)
One for the sci-fi fans, Spaceteam finds you blazing through space, barely ahead of an exploding star. All you can do is keep your ship moving, which requires you to perform actions. The snag? Instructions the game provides may – and usually do – refer to controls on other people’s screens.
The result is a room full of people yelling increasingly absurd things like “Will someone PLEASE kick the Aerodrum?” while watching their controls gradually fall apart, shortly before having a tiny meltdown in the corner. One thing’s certain: this never happened to Captain Picard.
Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes ($9.99/£9.99)
You know those movies where someone’s in front of a massive bomb that’s about to go off, and they have to choose which wire to cut? Imagine that, but the bomb you’re facing is massively over-engineered – and you don’t have any instructions for what to do. However, your friends do.
The twist is they aren’t allowed to look at your screen, and you’re not allowed the instructions. Cue lots of scrambling through PDFs (or printouts), trying to decipher bizarre symbols, switches and minigames before everyone at your party has a blast in precisely the wrong way.
Get Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes
Exploding Kittens ($4.99/£4.99)
This one exists in the real world as an actual card game, and the barrier to entry on mobile is quite high, given that everyone will have to part with five bucks for the app. But get past that and you do end up with a ridiculous – and, unlike the printed version, animated and noisy – game of cards.
The premise is simple: draw cards from the pile and avoid the exploding kitten. Assuming you manage that, you’ll gradually amass other deranged cards you can use in strategic fashion, all while watching the ‘chance of kitten meter’ rising – along with the tension in the room.
The Jackbox Party Pack ($24.99–$34.99/£24.99–£34.99)
Rather than a game, this one is a series – ten separate titles at the time of writing. What they all have in common is being weird gameshows that you play on a TV (via Apple TV) or an iPad, while each participant uses a browser on their mobile device (Android or iPhone) to input answers.
There’s plenty of energy and silliness on display – and creativity as well, in packs that include tasks such as scribbling T-shirt designs that are then matched to slogans, with hilarious consequences. Not sure where to start? We reckon packs 3 and 7 are the best.
Flappy Golf 2 (free)
Should you and your friends be in the mood for something with a bit more action, this game’s race mode combines side-on fantastical minigolf courses with winged balls. Everyone taps at speed in a mad dash to the hole. The winner is whoever scores the most points.
Up to eight players can take part, and although aficionados are at an advantage, the game’s simple controls give everyone a chance. Should you all fancy something almost as manic but a touch more traditional, try sister title Super Stickman Golf 3 instead.