The holidays have come and gone and, unfortunately, so has 2021. That means we’ve arrived squarely into another lockdown. If you’re fatigued by all the isolation and loneliness and want to hang out with your friends, keep reading! Here are five activities you can do remotely.
Jackbox is the perfect virtual game for a big group. It’s available on several devices like a Mac or PC, however, only one person needs to purchase it! Each Party Pack contains about four mini-games that friends can connect to and play from their phones or tablets. There are a variety of fun and competitive games to choose from, including trivia and improv.
- Watch Parties
The great thing about online watch parties is that if you’re going to stare at a screen anyway, why not have some friends join you! Apps like Teleparty and Scener allow you to synchronize your screens and watch shows and movies with friends virtually! This is one of my favourite things to do, especially when I’m not in the mood for a competitive games night.
- PowerPoint Nights
A TikTok classic we should bring back! I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun with friends than I’ve had during a PowerPoint night. The game is simple; every friend makes a PowerPoint and presents it to the group. Some fun topics include: “My Past Fictional Crushes,” “People in the Friend Group as Characters from Friends,” or “Matching Every Friend to an Animal.” For a fun twist, you can swap PowerPoints and have a friend present another friend’s presentation without seeing it beforehand!
- Music & Margarita Nights
Who doesn’t love jamming out to music with friends? After all, wasn’t that half of what we did at bars anyway? Bring this experience home and mix your own drinks while listening to your favourite albums or playlists virtually with friends!
Pictionary meets Broken Telephone in Gartic Phone (which has undergone a few updates over the last couple of years). Now, you can draw little animated doodles, as well as play the classic game of drawing a sentence. I haven’t played that in a while, but I will definitely be hopping onto it during my next game night!
While home isolation certainly isn’t ideal, we can still find creative ways to interact with our friends and make this lockdown a little less daunting.