July 30th marks the International Day of Friendship—the time of the year to show our appreciation towards the people who serve as our families outside the home. This is the day to cherish the bros, pares, dudes and chongs who stuck with us through thick and thin. Unfortunately, this pandemic is refusing to let us meet those important people in person.
But we can’t let this gap stop us from having fun. Because of technology, distance has become meaningless and can be overcome by just a touch of a finger. If you’re looking for things you can do with your friends on your next hangout, here are a few virtual activities you can try.
Watch Parties
This was already common prior to the pandemic, but it remains a simple way of spending time together online nonetheless. There are a variety of applications that are tailored to allow groups of people to watch the same thing simultaneously. Yes, no need to synchronize your plays and pauses anymore.
These applications also support different video streaming platforms for your viewing convenience. Invite your friends to watch films and TV shows next time. You can also open a voice call while watching so you can verbally communicate with them along with it.
Co-op Video Games
Online multiplayer games are popular among gaming streamers. It’s an excellent way to test your teamwork, or at least the strength of your friendship. Some people end up shouting at each other, but what’s a game between friends without a little malding?
These usually range from paid to playable online, and for a different number of players. For a big group of friends, you can open roleplay servers in various games such as Minecraft, or just games that will test each other’s patience such as Pico Park. Of course, there are also other things to play. If you’re booking some one-on-one time with your bestie though, games like It Takes Two will be fun to try.
Guessing Games
If you’re looking for a more chill time, guessing games are the simplest but most entertaining way to hang out. Open up a voice channel on your discord server or just start a video conference call and you’re good to go.
Playing charades, Pinoy henyo or “never have I ever” are some of the easier things to try online. If you’re looking for something that’s guaranteed to make everybody chuckle, you can choose to play drawing games such as skribbl.io or Gartic Phone. The former works like an online Pictionary, where you guess what someone is drawing. The latter, on the other hand, is a game of telephone that alternates between passing drawings or words.
Tabletop Games
Board games and card games are things that we normally can only play face to face. However, the internet’s dependable game developers will always find a way to help everybody access them virtually.
Official (and bootleg) versions of classic tabletop games like Uno and Monopoly can be found online. Some other stuff you can try playing are word games like Codenames and bluffing games such as Town of Salem.
Virtual Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are not only limited to a physical activity where you solve puzzles through collecting evidence. Much like tabletop games, these are available to access through the internet. Read your brainpower and conduct investigations with your friends through virtual escape rooms.
There is no limit to the things we can do in order to have fun and socialize with the people important to us. Hopefully, you found your next hangout activity somewhere in these suggestions.
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