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Level up your long-distance friendships.
By Alice Kelly — Last updated on Mar 03, 2023
Even when you’re physically apart from your friends and family, it’s still possible to connect and have fun together through the use of online multiplayer games.
Download a multiplayer game and get yourself online so you and your friends can race, battle, quiz, and work together to complete challenges and win rewards.
Time apart doesn't have to be lonely, because there’s a game out there for every friend group.
Here are 40 online multiplayer games to play with friends.
1. Joking Hazard
If you and your friends whip out a deck of Cards Against Humanity at every house party, you’ll love this online equivalent. Complete a comic with your choice of hilarious one-liners. The funniest answer wins. Play the game with up to 6 players!
2. Grand Theft Auto V
Join a life of fictional crime with one of the gaming industry’s best-selling video games. In online mode, you can play with up to 30 of your friends when you speed around Los Angeles and complete over-the-top theft missions.
3. Dungeons & Dragons
This game takes place in a fantasy realm where you and your pals must wind your way through fortresses and across the paths of mystical creatures. Loved by characters from "Stranger Things" to "The Big Bang Theory," this game is a cult classic.
4. Mario Kart Tour
Everyone’s favorite childhood game is now available online for more racing antics. Exchange user IDs with your friends and play together as your favorite characters. Try not to fall out over who gets to pick Yoshi.
5. Words With Friends 2
Familiar with Scrabble? This is an online equivalent that will have you stressing out over vowels and consonants. Give your brain a workout while you scramble to assemble words with a random assortment of letters.
6. Werewolf
Werewolf is a similar version to the game Mafia. In the game, you and your friends must identify and eliminate the werewolf or werewolves in your village that are causing all kinds of trouble. Or you could be the vindictive werewolf and wreak havoc on the village.
All in all, it's a fun and intriguing game that everyone will love.
7. Rocket League
Combining car racing and soccer, you and 3 friends get to speed around an oversized soccer field in speedy vehicles. You can upgrade and customize your cars, and take down other teams in online matches.
8. The Sims 4
Though The Sims is often considered a one-player game, with a simple mod you can download, you're able to control the lives of virtual characters. You can visit your friends’ characters, see their houses, and host group parties. Just like real life, except you don’t have to worry about what to wear.
9. Fortnite
Millions of online players battle it out every day in this family-friendly game. The game is constantly updated so you and your friends will never get bored of completing quests on the map and racing to victory.
10. Minecraft
This game has been around for years but its recent resurgence is a testament to just how fun it still is. You and up to 7 friends can build in creative mode or challenge yourself in survival mode. Even young kids can get involved and become budding construction engineers.
11. 8 Ball Pool
This virtual game of billiards will become addictive quickly. You can play with strangers online anytime you want, or link the app to your Facebook to find which friends are playing, too.
12. Forge of Empires
Grab your friends and make a guild together on this role-playing game. In the game, you get to build and protect your empire from other players. It allows you to fight and conquer lands to build the most powerful empire with your friends.
13. NBA 2K23
Shoot some hoops with your long-distance pals and dribble your way to the playoffs. Basketball season never has to end once you and your friends download this game.
14. Best Fiends Stars
This is a puzzle game where you're challenged to match symbols and blast your way through the different levels. You get to collect adorable characters along the way and team up with your friends. You can even challenge them to be your opponent if you don’t feel like working together.
15. Batman: Arkham Origins
Your favorite characters — Batman, Joker, Bane, and Robin — prowl the map in this game and battle one another for supremacy. You can play as a bad guy or be responsible for taking out thugs.
16. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
If you and your friends own a Nintendo Switch, you can get in on the action with this game that allows players to make and manage their village. It’s low-stakes and low-stress, so you don’t have to worry about getting overly competitive with friends.
17. Call Of Duty: Warzone
This is a tactical military game that can be played with up to 150 players in each online round! The concept is simple: stay on the map, stay alive, and take down your opponents. But you do get to switch up weapons, tactics, vehicles, and warfare to keep the game exciting.
18. Castle Crashers
With fun cartoon stylization and hectic gameplay, this multiplayer game is a fun one. Defend your kingdom and crash castles by fighting off opponents and friends to retain victory.
19. Don’t Starve Together
Up to 4 players at a time have to survive his game in a dark and hostile forest by gathering resources, building structures, and fighting off all manner of strange creatures. It’s like a Tim Burton film but in video game mode.
20. Decurse
Farm on enchanted lands with your friends in this multiplayer online game that can be linked to Facebook. You can barter with your pals to get materials and collaborate on challenges.
21. Pokémon Go
Pokémon creatures could be lurking in your back garden, down the street, or even all the way over at your friends' houses. The latest updates have made even more creatures available closer to home. You can even trade with friends online to improve your game.
22. Exploding Kittens
Think Russian Roulette except with furry friends. Players draw different cards, hoping to avoid the exploding kitten card. You and your friends can defuse the situation with catnip and belly rubs by holding on to diffuse cards.
23. Monster Hunter: World
Instead of going up against your friends, the success of this game depends on your ability to work as a team. Go up against gargantuan legendary beasts and explore a vast game world full of adventure.
24. Psyche!
This game is a fun twist on regular trivia quizzes. Each person takes turns coming up with false answers to trivia questions, making them as funny or realistic as they want. Whoever guesses the correct answer among the fake ones earns points. If anyone picks your fake answer, you will earn points.
25. Monopoly
This is a staple at any family game night and has caused many short feuds in my household over the years. You and your friends can battle it out to become real estate tycoons with the online version available on a downloadable phone app.
26. Overcooked 2
You and two friends must manage to cook and assemble meals together in a food truck. The game is simple in its concept, but things get hectic as speeds increase and recipes get more complicated.
27. Gummy Drop
This is a mix-and-match puzzle game that gives you and your friends a chance to explore new cities and travel across fictional zones. Sync up your game account with your Facebook so you can link up with your friends.
28. Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes
In this two-player game, you and one friend are a bomb disposal team diffusing an explosive. Except there’s a catch: Only one player can see the bomb and the other can only see the instructions outlining how to diffuse it. You must work together to be descriptive, quick, and savvy to get the job done.
29. Crucible
You and your teammates will need to work together to take down alien creatures, capture objectives, and pursue your opponents in search of victory. It’s an action-packed shooter game that will have you on the edge of your seat.
30. Scrabble Go
Does this classic board game even need an explanation? Show off your vocabulary with your friends online. You can play remotely with friends by adding them through your phone or syncing the app with your Facebook account.
31. Skribbl
This game is exactly like Pictionary except you’re playing online, so there’s less shouting and more frantic typing. Each player takes their turn drawing a word while their teammates try to quickly guess what it is.
32. Apex Legends
Set in the same universe as Titanfall, this game allows you and your friends to play to your strength on the battlefield, with the goal of demolishing other teams and coming out victorious.
33. Stardew Valley
More gentle than the crazy battle games on this list, you and some friends can move out to the countryside and attempt to build your farms from the ground up. You get to meet and hang with other characters in your village and form a life for yourself.
34. DRL Simulator
This is an online drone racing game where players can set up group competitions and race one another to victory. Who will be the winner?
35. Worms WMD
The Worms franchise has been around since 1995, and this online multiplayer version is just as good as the original. Be sneaky and hide out in buildings, use mounted guns, and get around in a range of different vehicles.
36. Go Fish
Everyone has played this game over a deck of cards at some point in their life and, if not, now is your chance to play it for free from your phone or laptop. This online version allows you and your friends to match up groups of suits and get rid of their cards.
37. Sea Of Thieves
Join your friends on the high seas where you’ll be attempting pirate heists, taking each other’s hard-earned booty, and sailing the open waters.
38. World of Warcraft
This game has had 18 years of success and popularity. To this day, millions of subscribers use the online platform to move through game locations and battle off creatures. You can even get limited gameplay for free if you or your friends can’t agree to purchase it.
39. Fairway Solitaire
While solitaire is traditionally a one-man game, this version takes the card game to the next level. Complete daily challenges and play together with friends to see where you rank on the leaderboard.
40. Jackbox Games
Play a whole bunch of fun trivia games and hilarious challenges with your friends and family remotely on this popular gaming platform. You can share game codes or screen share on Zoom if you want to see one another while you play.
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Alice Kelly is YourTango’s Deputy News and Entertainment Editor. Based in Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more