Games to play together when you’re miles apart

How to play on two devices

1. 1

   Create a room and pick a game

   No email needed. There are three games: Guess My Answer, Two Truths and a Lie, and Pick Our Date. If you go for Pick Our Date, long-distance mode is already switched on.

2. 2

   Send the invite link

   Drop it into whatever chat app you already use. Your partner opens it on their own device and you approve their entry, so nobody else can wander into the room.

3. 3

   Answer together or apart

   Play at the same time while you’re on a call, or take turns: one of you answers before bed, the other over breakfast. Answers and votes stay hidden until the reveal.

4. 4

   Open the result and talk

   The game shows facts only: who picked what and where you matched. Talk it over on your call or in the room’s text chat.

Which game fits your situation

All three games work long-distance, but each has its own rhythm. Here are six common setups and what suits each one.

• You have half an hour on a call tonight

  Open Guess My Answer while you talk. In each of the five rounds you pick your own answer and, separately, guess what your partner will pick. Once you’ve both answered, the round opens for both of you at the same moment — the perfect time to ask “what made you think I’d choose that?” At the end you get two numbers: how many answers each of you guessed, and how many times you picked the same thing.

  The couples deck is written for people who know each other well; the new-acquaintance deck is lighter and stays away from anything personal.

• You’re seven hours apart

  When one of you is waking up as the other goes to bed, Two Truths and a Lie is the easy choice. You write three short statements about yourself and mark the false one whenever it suits you; your partner does the same on their own clock. Then each of you picks the statement you don’t believe, and once both guesses are in, the answers are revealed. Instead of “morning, how are you?” you wake up to three facts, one of them made up.

  One game is one full exchange. If you want more, start another round.

• You’ve got five minutes at lunch

  No need to wait for a free evening. Open the room, answer the current round of Guess My Answer and close the tab. Progress is stored on the server, so when you come back in the same browser the game picks up where you left it. Your partner answers on their own break, and the round opens.

  The site doesn’t send reminders. You see that your partner has answered when you open the room, so a quick “your turn” in your usual chat helps.

• You want a date, not just a chat

  Go for Pick Our Date — long-distance mode is set for you. You choose the time and the spending level, you both get the same set of scenarios that work from two different places, and each of you marks them “Yes”, “Maybe” or “No” on your own. Only options nobody turned down make the result, and the final pick has to be confirmed by both of you.

• One of you is swamped all week

  A work trip, exams, night shifts — the game won’t close while you’re out of touch. It waits up to 7 days with no activity at all, so once your partner is in the room, they can answer on Saturday the move you made on Tuesday. Nobody needs chasing; their turn simply stays open.

  A single game lasts no longer than 30 days in total.

• You speak different languages

  The site runs in English and Russian, and two people in the same room can each play in their own language: you see the questions in English, your partner in Russian. Guess My Answer is the easiest start, because the options are ready-made. In Two Truths and a Lie you write the statements yourselves, so agree on a language first.

Long-distance dates from the game’s own set

These are real scenarios Pick Our Date draws on in long-distance mode. Each one lists how long it takes, what it costs in plain words and what to prepare.

• Three objects with a story

  Each of you takes two minutes to find three things at home that have a story, then shows them on camera. A quick way to peek into someone's room and life without awkward questions.

  15 minNoneLong distanceAt home

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A video call
  • Three objects from your room

  Step by step

  1. Start a video call and set a timer for two minutes.
  2. Find three things each: the oldest, the most useless, and the one you'd never part with.
  3. Take turns showing one object at a time and saying where it came from.
  4. Ask each other one question about the object that caught your attention most.
  5. Guess what the other person would have shown as a fourth.

  A simpler version: One object each: whatever is closest to you right now, and why it's there.

  Spending: No purchases.

  How to adapt it: Works without video: send photos and tell the stories by voice or text. Nobody has to show anything with a private or sad story behind it.

• A story, one sentence at a time

  Write a story in turns: one sentence is yours, the next is theirs. Nobody controls the plot, and ten minutes later you share one ridiculous tale.

  15 minNoneLong distanceTogetherAt homeOutside

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A chat, a call, or just the two of you side by side
  • A notes app to save the result

  Step by step

  1. Pick a hero from whatever you can see: a pigeon outside the window, a neighbor with an umbrella, a forgotten mug.
  2. Open with the first sentence and pass the turn; every turn is exactly one sentence.
  3. Add a new rule every five sentences: now each one needs a number, a smell, or the word “suddenly.”
  4. Stop at sentence twenty — the last one goes to whoever didn't start.
  5. Read the whole thing aloud or send it in one piece, and give it a title.

  A simpler version: Six sentences between you — three each, no extra rules.

  Spending: No purchases.

  How to adapt it: Works anywhere and in any position: seated, lying down, out on a walk. You can play by text only or voice only, and stretch it across the whole day.

• Five shots from where you are

  You both get the same list of five prompts, photograph whatever is around you right now, and send them at the same moment. Two sets of pictures show what one evening looks like in two different places.

  15 minNoneLong distanceAt homeOutside

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A phone with a camera
  • A chat

  Step by step

  1. Write a list of five prompts — for example: something round, something older than you, the view straight up, your shoes, the coziest spot nearby.
  2. Set a timer for seven minutes and shoot without going far from where you are.
  3. Send all five photos at once when you're both ready.
  4. Guess which prompt each of the other person's photos answers.
  5. Pick the two photos that look best side by side.

  A simpler version: One prompt: photograph what's directly in front of you and caption it with a single word.

  Spending: No purchases.

  How to adapt it: Every shot can be taken without getting up. If taking photos is awkward, describe your five finds in words — it's the same game.

• A walk together on the phone

  Each of you steps outside and does a lap around your own block while you talk on the phone. Different streets, same pace — and you each show the other one find.

  15 minNoneLong distanceOutside

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A phone and earbuds
  • Walking shoes

  Step by step

  1. Call each other and head outside at the same time.
  2. Describe the first three things you see, like a radio reporter.
  3. Walk your usual route and narrate it like a tour guide: what used to be here, where you normally turn.
  4. Find one thing worth showing, then send a photo or turn on your camera for a minute.
  5. Say goodbye at your own front doors and agree where you'll “go” next time.

  A simpler version: Five minutes to the nearest corner and back, plus one photo of the sky from each of you.

  Spending: No purchases.

  How to adapt it: Each of you sets your own pace and distance; sitting on a bench or a balcony and describing the view works too. At crossings, watch the road, not the screen.

• Read aloud, taking turns

  Choose a short story or a chapter and read it to each other, swapping every few pages. A calm way to be together when you've run out of energy for conversation.

  30 minNoneLong distanceTogetherAt home

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A story, chapter or long article that takes 20–25 minutes
  • A call, or a spot on the couch side by side
  • Tea or water

  Step by step

  1. Suggest one text each and go with the one neither of you has read.
  2. Get comfortable and pour yourselves something warm.
  3. Take turns reading, swapping every five minutes or at each new section.
  4. Stop whenever you want to say something: this isn't a recital.
  5. Finish by naming one line each that stuck with you.

  A simpler version: One poem or one page — each of you reads a favorite.

  Spending: No purchases: use something from your shelf or freely available online.

  How to adapt it: You can listen lying down with your eyes closed. If reading aloud is hard, play an audio recording of a story and listen together, pausing to comment.

• One mission, two stores

  Each of you heads to your nearest store with the same mission: find a snack you've never tried. You stay on the phone while you browse, then taste at the same moment.

  30 minA littleLong distanceOutside

  Prep and steps

  What you'll need

  • A phone and earbuds
  • The nearest grocery store for each of you

  Step by step

  1. Agree on the mission and its limits: something unfamiliar, inexpensive and ready to eat.
  2. Call each other and walk to your own stores, narrating the shelves as you go.
  3. Take ten minutes to choose, and don't say what you picked.
  4. Step outside, sit on a bench or go home, and reveal your finds at the same time.
  5. Taste yours and describe it well enough for the other to know whether to look for it where they live.
  6. Give your scores and pick the mission for next time.

  A simpler version: Buy your usual favorite snack each and explain to the other what makes it good.

  Spending: Small spend: one inexpensive item each.

  How to adapt it: Alcohol-free. Keep allergies and diets in mind: the mission can be narrowed to fruit or drinks. If getting to a store is hard, pick something unusual from your own cupboards.

Where to go next

• Three games for two: compare and chooseAll three games on one page: rules, how long they take and how they differ.
• Texting games that don’t need you both onlineIf the real question is how to liven up a chat when you reply at different times: rules and games for any chat app.
• Date ideas you both actually agree onA closer look at how choosing a date together works and what happens to “No” votes.
• Guess My Answer: a question game for couplesThe rules of Guess My Answer and sample questions — a good pick for your first evening call.