Podcast-inspired party games you can play over video chat
Not being able to have game nights with my friends during the pandemic has been a bummer, but it’s for the greater good and it has encouraged me to just get a little creative. I love podcasts and I listen to a lot of them, and I realized that several of them include games that can be easily modified to be played on Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, or whatever else. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
The IMDb Game / Known For
From the podcast “This Had Oscar Buzz”
This was the first game my friends and I tried over Zoom, and it’s really fun! (Fair warning: it only really works if you and your friends are movie-savvy.) Hosts Joe Reid and Chris Feil play this (sometimes with a guest) at the end of each episode of “This Had Oscar Buzz.” The rules are fairly simple and can be adjusted based on how many people are playing the game. Here’s how my friends and I do it:
Determine an order - do turns go according to first names alphabetically? Oldest to youngest or vice versa? Use the same order throughout the whole game. I use a Google doc to keep track of points, but you could do it however you want.
One person “hosts” each round, and play proceeds in the order determined above. The host names an actor and pulls up that actor’s IMDb page and scrolls to the “Known For” section. This game is all about the first four projects in the actor’s “Known For” section. The host warns the group if any of the projects are television or animated projects, but does not give away any titles.
The first player in rotation tries to guess the first four projects listed in the actor’s “Known For” section. For each title they correctly guess without any hints, the player earns 2 points.
Once the player guesses incorrectly twice, they are told the years of the remaining title(s). So if they have one movie left to guess and it’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you would tell them the movie is from 2008. They begin guessing again, and earn 1 point for each title they guess correctly.
If the first player guesses incorrectly once more, play moves to the next player in rotation. This player is told one co-star from each remaining project. That player may guess, and earns 1 point for each correct guess. Once a player guesses incorrectly, the next person in rotation may guess (with no additional clues).
The round is over once all titles have been guessed correctly or play returns to the first player (who has one last chance to guess if there are still remaining titles). The next round begins with the next player in rotation as host.
You can predetermine the number of rounds ahead of time, or just decide at some point “this is gonna be the last round!”
FYI: the IMDb algorithm is kind of wild and you will be shocked at some of the things that do or do not show up in the “Known For” section, but that’s part of the fun!
Gift Master
From the podcast “I Said No Gifts”
On “I Said No Gifts,” one of the games host Bridger Winegar plays with his guests is to name three (usually either quirky and absurd or excessively mundane) things that you have to give as gifts, and then three random famous people, the catch being that the guest has to choose who gets each gift and why. On the episode I just listened to, with Lauren Lapkus as the guest, the gifts were a Crock Pot, a fancy decorative fountain, and the band Franz Ferdinand, and the recipients were Sigourney Weaver, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, and Korean pop sensations BTS.
You could gamify this with friends in a couple of ways. One would just be to use it as a casual dinner party game; in each round one person is “it” and they take their turn explaining who gets each gift and why, and the game can proceed in a conversational way with each guest assigned three new gifts and three new recipients. Another option would be, in each round, to have all players assign the gifts to the recipients and then reveal their choices, with the most frequently occurring pairings being considered “correct”; each player who made that pairing would earn a point. (Kind of a majority rules thing.) Or you can do it how Bridger does it - the host determines which answers are “correct,” and a guest who matches correctly earns points.
It may help things move more quickly and smoothly to have people submit ideas for gifts and recipients ahead of time, and then pick them out of a hat or through some other easy method when the time comes.
A Gift or a Curse
From the podcast “I Said No Gifts”
Another Bridger game, this one can work much like Gift Master (above). You can use it as more of a conversational dinner party game, or you can make it competitive and assign points for “correct” answers. Play is simple: the “host” of each round names something, and then asks, “a gift or a curse?” Previous topics on “I Said No Gifts” have included house plants, the desert, novelty mugs, art deco, tapas, and scented candles. If you want to assign points, have everyone (before the game starts) get a piece of paper and write GIFT on one side and CURSE on the other. Each round, the host names the thing (for instance, tapas) and then everyone takes thirty seconds or so to choose their answer, GIFT or CURSE. When the host asks for answers, everyone holds up their paper with either GIFT or CURSE showing. Each player who matches with the host earns a point, and then the host explains their reasoning. Play then rotates so that each player has a turn as the host at least once. The player with the most points at the end wins!
A Non-Sports Fantasy Draft
From the podcast “All Fantasy Everything”
On “AFE,” comedian and all-around cutie Ian Karmel and his funny friends do fantasy drafts of everything from sandwiches to superpowers to childhood crushes. It’s fun to listen to, and fun to do yourself with friends! It’s very simple: choose a topic, determine a draft order and style (snake draft?), and then proceed through the rounds until each “player” has a roster of 3-5 people or things. (You determine ahead of time how many rounds there’ll be.) At the end, everyone votes for who has the best roster (you can’t vote for your own) and the winner receives a pre-determined prize (maybe each player Venmos that person $5 or something, or they get to choose the topic for next time!). Super easy, and really fun. You can get creative and you can also debate your friends and defend your choices.
Banana of the Week
Inspired by “Bananas”
“Bananas,” hosted by Kurt Braunohler and Scotty Landes, is all about finding and discussing the weirdest, wackiest, and wildest headlines and news stories. You could make this a weekly event with your pals if you enjoy it - pick one day of the week when you’re all gonna show up on a video chat. Each person has to come with a crazy headline or news story from the previous week. Take turns revealing the headline and describing the news story to everyone else. After all the stories have been shared and laughs have been had, choose/vote on your Banana of the Week - the guest who has brought the best or craziest story. That person is the winner, and logs off either with pride in their own abilities or a pre-determined prize!
STORY CREDITS
Written by Christina Morse
