10 Fun Phone Text Games to Play with Friends or Lovers

Bored of Minecraft or Pokémon Go? Want to play something a little retro? Looking to spark conversation or get to know someone over SMS? Here are ten fun phone text games to play with friends or lovers.

There is a real tendency to chase the next release, chart topper or the game with the best effects or graphics. I know because I do that very thing. Yet it’s also nice to sometimes kick back and go old school for a while. With most of us having unlimited texts as part of our cellphone contracts, it seems too good an opportunity to waste to not use them up.

Twenty questions

This game is as old as the hills but has stayed around for good reason. It can be tweaked to a particular subject, place, time or anything you like and is a fantastic way to get to know someone or learn about a subject. It can be benign and cover music or movies or more intimate and includes particular likes or dislikes a person may have. The good thing about twenty questions is that it can be about anything.

With a game like twenty questions, you only have to consider two things. The first, your audience. Ask questions they are likely to want to answer and that would offer insight into the person or subject. The second, only ask questions you would be willing to answer yourself as people will often remember a particularly good question and ask it of you.

Storyteller

Storyteller is also known as Story Builder and likely many other names. It is another phone text game that can be tweaked to suit your mood, the person you’re talking to and whatever subjects you want to cover. Like twenty questions, it is a simple game that can go on for hours and turn into something a lot more interesting.

The idea is to come up with a sentence that tells a story and send it. The other person adds another sentence to push the story along and sends it back. This back and forth quickly develops a story that as an individual you would likely never have thought of. If you want to make it interesting, you can specify a certain genre, minimum or maximum number of words or specify that it must contain a certain word or word beginning with a particular letter. The good thing about this game is that it literally is what you make it.

What if?

The What if? game was a staple for road trips or long journeys in our family and works as a phone text game as well as in real life. Another simple premise that allows you to come up with the strangest ideas or explore a theory you have held for ages. It is an exercise of the imagination like Storyteller but with a little more reality mixed in.

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The first person texts the other with something like ‘what if you saw a horde of zombies coming towards you right now’. The other person would speculate what they would do at that moment in time and you either expand and continue the speculation or they then ask you a what if question.

If you’re playing with a friend or family member it gives an insight on their state of mine or outlook on life. If you’re playing with a significant other, you can use it as a segue to broach a subject or test the water for an idea. The opportunities are as many as the subjects up for discussion.

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever is definitely a game where you need to be mindful of your audience. It can be rowdy, raunchy or just plain dumb depending on who you play with. You also have to trust the other person, or people to tell the truth otherwise the game doesn’t work. If you have all that, this is a great way to use up those texts and a couple hours of your time.

The idea is to make a statement of something you have never done. The other person then has to say whether they have done that thing or not. If the other has done that thing, they lose a life. If they haven’t, they make their own statement.

The game plays well enough without rules or limitations as long as you both agree beforehand how many lives you want to play with. You can set limitations to keep it clean, not include family, religion, politics or anything that could get them indicted. It is entirely up to you.

Would You Rather?

Would You Rather? is slightly different than Never Have I Ever but also similar. It is another phone text game where you have to watch your audience and only ask questions you would answer truthfully yourself as people will often fire the same question right back at you. If you’re comfortable with that, this is a great game for getting to know somebody.

The idea is to offer a choice, such as ‘one thousand hot dogs or one thousand dollars’. The other person has to answer truthfully which they would prefer at that moment in time. While very simple, it, like these other games, can be tweaked to learn more about a person. You can get to know friends and family or the likes and dislikes of a significant other in a non-threatening way.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations, also called Acronyms, is a simple but effective game that is more of a brain teaser than any of the preceding text games. This can be played with anyone and works in any situation, social or otherwise.

The premise is to create an acronym out of what you might be doing at the time. You can also create them for things you see, movie titles, songs or whatever. For example, ‘SOTBTY’ is ‘Sitting On The Beach Texting You’. You text SOTBTY to the other person and they have to figure out what it means. They get three guesses before losing a life.

You can tweak it to make it easier or harder as you see fit and you don’t have to use lives or offer multiple guesses.

Where am I?

Where am I? is limited in its application but works best if you’re out in the city or on a road trip texting someone who isn’t with you. It is a shorter game than many of these on the list but can really get you thinking.

The idea is to describe where you are at that moment in time using either limited words or oblique descriptions. The other person has to piece it together to guess where you are at that time. You can limit guesses, allow interrogatives or offer lives if you like and make it as simple or as difficult as you think the other player can cope with.

Kiss, Marry, Avoid

Known by many names across the world, Kiss, Marry, Avoid is a simple game also known as Snog, Marry, Avoid or Kiss, Marry, Kill depending on where you live. It’s a short but fun game that can while away half an hour or so while waiting for something or someone.

The premise is to come up with three names and the other person has to choose which they would kiss, which they would marry and which they would avoid. Depending on who you are playing with, this could be friends, school or college friends, celebrities or whoever. You can tweak this game to your audience and keep it clean, or not as you see fit.

Top Ten

Top Ten is limitless in its scope and can easily while away hours of your life if you let it. You can shorten it to top five or top three if you want to make it faster and shorter. We all love lists and this phone text game is one of the best.

The idea is to make a list of the top ten things and then compare it with the other person. For examples, ‘top ten ways to spend a wet Sunday’ or ‘top ten historical figures you would like to take on a date’. You can then go through the list one by one and discuss, or not as you see fit. This is another road trip or late night staple that can easily burn hours and many dozens of texts.

Quote Me

Our final phone text game is Quote Me. Called many other names in many other places, this is another game that can last for hours depending on what subject you’re discussing. It is a game you need to know your audience for as you ideally need someone who knows a lot about a subject to be able to play it. Other than that, it’s a good game.

The idea is to text a quote from a movie, song or whatever and the other person has to identify it. You can offer clues if you like, limit the number of guesses, offer lives or whatever you want. If you both know a lot about movies, this can be a great game to play throwing movie quotes back and forth as you try to outdo each other. This is one of my personal favorites!

So that’s my ten fun phone text games to play with friends or lovers. Got any more to add? Tell us about them below if you do!