During a global pandemic, one has very important and vital issues to figure out and take care of, but it’s also important that everyone tries to maintain communication with their loved ones. As we have all heard before, these are truly trying times, and that’s exactly why we all need to have a good laugh once in a whileーeven if it’s because your best friend doesn’t know how to turn off their beach filter background. Even if it’s something that you can’t see yourself doing right now, or you’re simply too busy with classes or work to even try it, here are some activities to keep in mind so you and your loved ones can have some fun next time you decide to catch up with one another.
- Video chat
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It may seem obvious, but a lot of people seem to forget that video chatting is an amazing way to reunite with your loved ones when you can’t be together physically. Whether it’s a full-fledged video call or just a voice call with multiple people, using apps/websites like Zoom, Google Meet, and Discord to make these calls happen is a great way to catch up with the people you love and want to hear about. Also, some of these apps allow you to change your background, share your computer screen, change camera perspectives, and provide you with other fun features designed to add a nice twist to video chat as we know it.
- Play Among Us
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I know most of y’all have heard of Among Us, but just in case, it’s a mystery video game for both computers, mobiles, and recently the Nintendo Switch, that is set in space, where players assigned to be crew members must find impostors that are trying to kill them, and players who are impostors must kill crew members before they are exposed.
The main reason why I’m suggesting this game is due to its simplicity; literally anyone with a phone can play it, even if they have never played a video game before. This way, you can make sure that even your loved ones with lack of technological knowledge can be part of the fun! Besides that, the mobile version is free and the fights you’ll have with your family members because you killed their character will always be hilarious.
- Play Skribbl
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Skribbl, just like Among Us, is a very simple browser game you can play with almost any device. In it, players take turns drawing words suggested by the game. Everyone else, in turn, has to guess what these drawings really are. It comes in various languages and you don’t need to install anything to be able to enjoy it. Also, trying not to laugh at a person’s attempt to draw a cat is always too much fun.
- Have a Teleparty
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Teleparty, formerly known as Netflix Party, is an extension for Chrome Web Browsers on desktops or laptops that allows you to stream content from Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max with friends and family, while also adding a group chat to your screen. Although all of the invited guests must have an account for the streaming service that they’re going to be watching content from, it’s still neat to be able to watch a film with a couple of your friends while having the chat always be visible.
- Try games that you used to play in person
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This is a very subjective option, because it’s very much your own ideas that create it. A fun thing that I’ve been doing with my loved ones while video chatting is playing games we used to play when we were all together. Of course, some rules and game mechanics will have to be changed to fit the new online format, but figuring out how to do it is part of the fun!
A very easy example of this is to play Charades, a game in which you have to guess what word or words a person is acting out. You may have problems with the lag, but personally, seeing a person paused for a couple of seconds in a teapot pose trying to get others to guess a film is hilarious.
Another example of this could be the game called Stop, where each person has a paper with categories such as name, occupation, food, things, country, animal (or more if you wish) written on it and then each player takes a turn randomly selecting a letter of the alphabet which you’ll have to use to fill in all of the categories in every round. Each player with a unique word gets ten points and players with repeated words get five points until the end of the game. It may sound a bit complicated, but once you actually start playing it, it’s very easy and fun.
With this all said, get to chatting, playing, or viewing!