Best phone games to play with friends in the same room

Last reviewed: 15 September 2026. Store facts checked on that date. Swipeloot is our own game — read that recommendation knowing where it comes from.

Everyone on their own phone

Swipeloot (iPhone, Android)

Our game, so weigh this accordingly. Treasures and traps float across every screen; you swipe the treasure to score and swerve the traps to survive, and the round is over in 60 seconds. One person taps Play with Friends and reads out a four-letter room code; up to eight players enter it on their own phones — no accounts, no sign-up, just a name. Rounds get faster, a skull looks almost exactly like a pearl by round five, and a good eight-year-old will beat you.

• Free, no forced ads (the only advert is a video you choose to watch for extra orbs); the only purchase is optional orbs.
• 1 to 8 players. Made for mixed ages — the same round works for a child and a grandparent.
• The honest limitations: it needs an internet connection in every mode, and it's a reflex game — if your group wants to talk and think rather than swipe, Spaceteam or Psych! will suit you better.

How to play, and every treasure and trap.

Spaceteam (iPhone, Android)

"A cooperative party game for 2 to 8 players": each phone shows a panel of absurd controls, and instructions for other people's panels, so the room ends up shouting "set the Gyroscopic Flange to 4!" at each other against the clock. It connects over the same Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (all-Android or all-iOS only), or the internet with a shared team password, and the official FAQ says a phone hotspot or a router with no internet is enough for local play. Free, with a single £2.99 purchase to unlock the upgrades. Rated 9+ on the App Store. The FAQ warns that public Wi-Fi with client isolation can block it.

Psych! Outwit Your Friends (iPhone, Android)

Everyone on their own phone makes up fake answers to a question; you score for spotting the truth and for fooling others. Free with ads ($2.99 removes them) and paid question decks, including adult ones. Rated 13+ on the App Store and Teen on Google Play — the game itself is clean, but the bluffs people type aren't always. Worth knowing: as of 15 September 2026 the iPhone version was last updated in August 2023, and the Android version sits at 3.8 stars.

Gartic Phone (browser, iPhone, Android)

Telephone with drawings: write a sentence, the next person draws it, the next describes the drawing, and the result is revealed at the end. "Create a room and invite friends with a link or QR code." Free; the Android app lists ads. Needs the internet. Rated 13+ on the App Store, Everyone on Google Play — content is whatever your friends draw.

DUAL! (iPhone, Android) — for exactly two

Two phones on the same Wi-Fi become one battlefield: shots fired off the edge of one screen arrive on the other. A real trick that never stops being satisfying. Strictly two players, free with a $2.99 full unlock; Bluetooth play is marked as beta by the developer.

One phone, passed round

Heads Up! (iPhone, Android)

One player holds the phone to their forehead and the others act out the word on the screen. It needs no network between players at all, which is why it works anywhere. Paid on the App Store ($1.99) and free with in-app purchases on Google Play; most themed decks cost extra, and the adult decks are opt-in purchases so the defaults are family-safe.

Out of the Loop (iPhone, Android)

A social-deduction game for 3 to 9 players on a single device: everyone sees the secret word except one person, and the questions are meant to smoke them out without giving it away. "All you need to play is a single device and a few friends." Free with word-pack purchases, rated 4+, and — with no network, no account and no setup — the best pure "we're all sat here, what shall we play?" option.

Phones as controllers for a TV or laptop

The Jackbox Party Pack (TV, console, PC, iPad host; any phone to play)

The reference party-game format: one person owns the pack and runs it on a screen everyone can see; players go to jackbox.tv on their phones and type the room code — no app, no account. Each pack is around $29.99 and holds five games for up to 9 players plus a big audience. It needs an internet connection and, importantly, most packs carry a Teen rating with a family-friendly filter you switch on rather than the default.

AirConsole (browser or TV app as the screen; phone app as the controller)

Open airconsole.com on a computer or TV and connect the phone app to play a catalogue of 170+ games. The free tier allows two players with ad breaks; the Hero subscription (about $7.99 a month, or a one-off lifetime) lifts that to unlimited players and no ads, and only one player in the room needs it. Rated 13+.

Kahoot! (host screen + phones)

Not a party game by design but the most-used quiz in the world: the host runs a quiz on a big screen and players answer on their phones by entering a PIN — no app needed. Free for up to 10 players a session; the host needs an account and the room needs internet. Rated 4+.

BombSquad (Android; iPhone only as a controller)

An eight-player physics brawler with fifty million Android installs — but there is no iPhone version of the game itself, only a controller app that was last updated in 2016. If your group is all Android, or you have an Android TV or tablet as the screen, it's a riot; otherwise skip it.

At a glance

Which one should you pick?

• Mixed ages, everyone has a phone, you want it loud and fast: Swipeloot.
• You want to co-operate rather than compete: Spaceteam.
• No signal, or you're on a plane: Out of the Loop or Heads Up! on one phone; Spaceteam over a hotspot.
• There's a TV and someone's happy to pay: Jackbox.
• Only two of you: DUAL!.
• You'd rather draw than shout: Gartic Phone.

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