Online Drinking Games to Play With Friends Anywhere

Not every night out is possible. Your best friend moved across the country, your group is scattered across dorms, or nobody wants to put on real pants. That is exactly what online drinking games are for.

The trick is picking games that survive a video call. Anything that needs to hand a card across a table or bounce a quarter falls apart the moment your friends are tiny squares on a screen. You want games built for everyone-on-their-own-device.

Here are seven online drinking games that genuinely work over FaceTime, Discord, or any group call. One is purpose-built for it, and the rest are party staples that travel well. Most are drinking-game twists on apps you may already own.

1. NightDare (built for split-screen rooms)

NightDare is the one on this list designed for online play from the ground up. One person starts a game, everyone else joins with a code from their own phone, and you roll dice to race down a snake-shaped track. The Dare Master, your undead host for the evening (and, for the record, completely unaffiliated with the defunct Drug Abuse Resistance Education program), runs every dare and minigame.

You pick an Online session when you start, and the game automatically filters out any dare that needs physical contact, so nobody on the other end of a call gets dealt something impossible. It is free, and you can start a game in about a minute. Best for: a group that wants one game to carry the whole call.

2. Jackbox as a drinking game

Jackbox party packs are the easiest remote party games to turn into drinking games. One person owns the game and shares their screen on the call, everyone else joins from a phone with a room code, and you play Quiplash, Fibbage, or Trivia Murder Party together.

Add your own drinking rules: drink when your answer loses the head-to-head, drink when you fall below a teammate, finish your drink if the final round eliminates you. Best for: a group that already loves Jackbox and wants to spice it up.

3. Picolo

Picolo is a phone drinking game app. Everyone installs it, types in the players' names, and the app deals out challenges, rules, and "who drinks" prompts round by round. It works over a call because the action is all verbal and on each person's own screen.

The free version covers a solid night, and extra packs are cheap if your group burns through it. Best for: a call where nobody wants to learn rules or be the host.

4. Online card party games

The party-card format plays beautifully online. Free sites let you start a private room, share a link, and play a Cards Against Humanity-style game with your group in a browser. No install, no screen sharing, everyone on their own tab.

Drinking rules are simple: the card czar drinks if they pick a dud, everyone drinks on a tie, and the round loser takes two. Best for: a group with a dark sense of humor and a shared browser link.

5. Power Hour over a shared playlist

A power hour is perfect for a remote crowd, because nobody has to be in the same room to take a sip every time the song changes. Start a shared listening session, queue an hour of one-minute song clips, and sip together on every switch.

You need a shared listening app and drinks. The synchronized chaos of everyone drinking at once over a call is half the fun. Best for: pregaming a night out, separately but together.

6. The shared movie drinking game

Sync a movie or show with a watch-party extension like Teleparty, agree on three or four drinking cues, and sip whenever one fires on screen. Pause to argue over whether a cue counts, as is tradition.

You need a streaming subscription everyone shares and a free sync extension. It is the most relaxed option on the list, since the movie does the entertaining. Best for: a chill group that wants a game they can ignore.

7. Trivia over a call

Run a trivia night over your group call. One person reads questions from a free trivia site, everyone answers in the chat or out loud, and wrong answers cost a sip. Bonus drinks for the team that buzzes in first with a confidently wrong answer.

You need a list of questions and a call. It is low-effort, surprisingly competitive, and easy to theme around a holiday or a shared interest. Best for: the friend group that thinks they are smarter than each other.

Tips for a great online game night

Use gallery view so you can see everyone react at once, and keep one device for the call and another for the game when you can. A little lag is fine, but a game that needs perfect timing will frustrate a remote group, which is why turn-based and verbal games win here.

If your remote crew also plays in person sometimes, pick a game that does both. NightDare flips between Online and In-Person modes, and our wider roundup of free drinking games on your phone has options for both kinds of night.

A quick word on playing smart

Online drinking has one real risk: nobody is in the room to notice if a friend is overdoing it. Check in on each other out loud, pour your own drinks so you control the size, and keep water on your desk. The NIAAA's college drinking guide is a no-nonsense reference for pacing, and it is worth a skim before the call.

The bottom line

Distance is not a dealbreaker for game night. Pick a game that runs on everyone's own device, share a link or a code, and toast the camera. If you want one game built to carry a whole online crowd with dares, dice, and a host who never gets tired, NightDare was made for nights exactly like this.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best online drinking game?

For a group on a call, NightDare is built for online play: everyone joins with a code, it filters out physical dares automatically, and the Dare Master runs every round. Jackbox with house drinking rules is a strong runner-up if your group already owns a party pack.

Can you play drinking games over FaceTime or Discord?

Yes. Any game that runs on each person's own device works over a call. NightDare, Picolo, online card party games, trivia, and synchronized power hours all play well over FaceTime, Discord, or any group video app.

What online drinking games are free?

NightDare is free, the classic verbal games cost nothing, and free tiers cover Picolo and online card party sites. Jackbox and most streaming watch parties need a paid product or subscription that one person already owns.

How do you keep an online drinking game fair?

Agree on sip sizes before you start, pour your own drinks, and trust the group. Games that assign drinks centrally, like NightDare or Picolo, help because the app or host decides who drinks, so there is no arguing over the rules across a laggy call.