For many in the UK this year Christmas festivities will be well and truly virtual.

You’re probably sick of the sight of Zoom.

Nonetheless, that’s what we’ll be using to communicate with many loved ones we’re unable to see otherwise.

And really, thank goodness we have the technology to be able to do that.

It’s also not all doom and gloom. Christmas is still going ahead. And your entertainment doesn’t have to be a quiz. We’ve done plenty of those.

This is something a little different to our usual IT solutions stuff but hopefully it’s just as useful!

Here’s a few virtual game ideas you can play with family and friends over a video call this Christmas. If you are feeling extra generous you may want to read through our handpicked best webcams to use for calls blog.

VIRTUAL BOARD GAMES

Open up a Zoom, Teams, Google or other type of video call and then set up one of these games.

MONOPOLY

The easiest way to play this is to get the mobile app and set up a private game with everyone else on the call. Then you can watch people’s reactions as they land on your property.

SETTLERS OF CATAN

This resource gathering board game is a lot of fun and has tons of replayability. There’s a number of options if you want to play it online.

You can play it here on the official site, where you get a few free games or head to Colonist.io which is a free imitation version but still does the job. Click ‘Create’ next to ‘multiplayer’ game in the list and share the link with friends.

CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY

This is a popular go-to for amusing and often inappropriate fun (not really for families although they do have a family friendly version) and many often search for an online version.

The available options for playing this have become pretty limited of late. Arguably the best one still out there is this game clone, All Bad Cards.

Each person can also print out the cards for free from the official website, so if you don’t mind using a load of paper this may also be an option!

VIRTUAL PARTY GAMES

Sometimes all you need is a simple party game. Obviously, there are many you can do just with yourselves and the camera such as Charades but there are others that have useful tools online to help you play them.

SCATTERGORIES

This game involves players coming up with as many words as they can think of in a particular category, starting with a particular letter.

To make things easier you’ll want a generator. We recommend using this one, with its cool design and ease of use.

PICTIONARY

A classic party game that can be played even when you are not in the same room as everyone else.

There are a few ways you can do this, including holding the piece of paper you’re drawing on, up to the screen.

To come up with the topics themselves you could either use a generator or just come up with your own.

However, to play a completely virtual version of the game, you could use Google’s Jamboard. This allows you to draw (badly) on your screen with the mouse. Here’s how to do that:

1. Someone with a Google account, opens up Jamboard from the Google apps menu.
2. Create a new board using the plus sign in the corner.
3. Share the link with everyone else on your video call (you can use it with Zoom or anything else).
4. Now everyone can use the board simultaneously.
5. To see the board, either the host can share their screen throughout or allow everyone to share when it’s their turn to draw.
6. After each go, clear the frame or open up a new one.

ARTICULATE

Another classic game that you don’t have to be in the same room to do.

This involves players describing things to their team without saying the word on the card.

You can use this online site, started as a result of the lockdown, to generate random cards for the game. It helps if one person has the board so that you can see each team’s progress and you know which colours to pick.

But you can also just play by selecting a predetermined number of rounds and picking a different colour each round.

PSYCH!

A free mobile app which involves you giving fake answers to real trivia questions. Funniest answers win.

QUIPLASH

This isn’t free but only one person needs to own the game. You can get it here. It’s not dissimilar to the previous game and requires a bit of wit and creativity.

Once one person has it, they can set up a room and share the code with the rest of the group.

HAVE FUN PLAYING… OR DON’T

We hope you found something here to play with friends and family over the Christmas period.

But if you’ve had enough of Zoom for one lifetime, then that’s fair enough. Another thing you might want to do this year is… Switch off.

We’ve been getting pretty good use out of our computers this year so it might be that it’s time to do something else instead, like… watching the telly…??

If you enjoyed this list, give it a share or let us know on social media.