It's become a tradition between you and your parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to video chat once a week. During these video chats, you may go around and say what you're grateful for, and talk about what you've been up to. You've thought about spicing things up and looking up virtual happy hour games to play with family, though. There's nothing like some good 'ole fashioned competition to brighten up your day.
Not to mention, your fun-loving family is always up for a challenge, and has been known to dominate kickball games, badminton, and rounds of checkers in the past. Over the summer, when you go on vacay together, you tend to turn everything into a game, from who can make the best s'more to who can ride the coolest wave. You know your family will be up to a ~virtual~ competition then, no matter what it may be.
As a matter of fact, they'll probably start creating teams before you can even finish explaining the rules. They'll be clapping loudly into their camera before you even mention the name of the game. Here are 12 virtual happy hour games to play with your family the next time you video chat.
First up, pull out a white board or a notebook and pen, and get ready to play "Pictionary." This game is pretty straightforward: Your family breaks up into teams. One person draws an image, and the other people on their team have to guess what it is. If time runs out, then no points are scored.
Have you ever seen the episode of The Office where Jim plays "Desert Island" with everyone in the parking lot? Take a note from that episode and play this game with your family during your virtual happy. It requires everyone to take a turn and say three books, films, or celebrities they'd want on a desert island with them.
If your family wants to get a little active while enjoying happy hour, then play "Home Run Derby." Have everyone set up a cup about six feet away from themselves. Then, have them crumple up a piece of paper and see how many times they can get that paper ball in the cup within one minute. The person with the most "home runs" wins.
Did you know you can play "Hide and Go Seek" while on Zoom or FaceTime? It's possible — especially if you have a good eye. To play, close your eyes and count to 10. Have your family hide in their individual rooms, while still being in view of the camera. Try and spot them as quickly as you can.
"Truth or Dare" gets an upgrade with "Truth or Chore." In this game, your family member has to choose between telling the truth or doing a chore around their house like cleaning their dishes or dusting a table. The result? Spilling some quality tea, or having a super clean living space.
Roll out your yoga mat and play a fitness-inspired game with your family members. "Work It Out" is kind of like your own version of Olympics, where you compete with your family in categories like push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks. Whoever gets the most stands on a virtual podium which is up for grabs the following week.
Every happy hour has at least one glass of wine in it, right? If that's the case for your family's happy hour, then play "Wine Not?" In this game, you take on the role of a conossieur and see if you can guess what kind of wine your family member is drinking based on their description of it. Recieve bonus points if you know what the label on the bottle looks like, or the year in which it was made.
Test your family's balance in "All About Balance." This game is another active one you can play with your day ones, and will require downloading a yoga app. From there, you should open the app and find poses your family members can do. After you coach them through the move, see how long each of you can balance in tree pose or a handstand. Per usual, whoever can hold it the longest, wins.
"Would You Rather" will quickly bring you closer together with your family members. It'll reveal who would rather go to the city for vacation rather than the beach, and so on. It may also start some deep or hilarious conversations.
Give your family a tour of your apartment if they've never seen it and would like to. Call this game "Tour Guide," grab a hat or a clipboard, and pretend you're an are quite literally a guide who was hired to bring people around your apartment. Show off the snacks in your cabinet and tell everyone where your chic table came from.
Pull out your stash of adulting coloring books or print out a few coloring pages from the Internet to play "Color Me This." This game is relaxing to its core, and only has one rule: Every person in your group has to color in a picture. At the end, you can decide if you want to send your pages to each other in the mail, or just hang them on your individual fridges.
Last but not least, if you're having a virtual happy hour with your family soon, then use the time to practice your blogger skills. Pull out your makeup palettes and mascaras, and bring everyone through a tutorial in real time. Pass the important role of "Beauty Blogger" onto someone else for the next happy hour.
This article was originally published on
