Virtual Birthday Party Games

Birthday games for a video call, using only screen share, chat, mute and the camera: press Pick 3 new games.

All Press Enter: One-Word Toast1. Each guest types one word that describes the birthday person, and does not send it. 2. The host counts down from three. 3. On zero, everyone presses enter together, and the words pour down the chat. 4. The birthday person reads them aloud and asks about any that need a story. Players: 5 to 50. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Human Banner Roll Call1. The host gives each guest one letter of a birthday message. 2. Everyone writes their letter large on a sheet and holds it up. 3. Squares sit in a different order on every screen, so guests must call their letters aloud in the order of the message. 4. Time it. Two tries to get through without a gap. Players: 8 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a marker each.
Whose Voice Said Many Happy Returns?1. The birthday person turns away from the screen or shuts their eyes. 2. The host points silently at a guest, who says, many happy returns, in a disguised voice. 3. The birthday person has two guesses at who it was. 4. Six voices, then count the score. Everyone else stays muted so that no laugh gives it away. Players: 5 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

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How it works

These virtual birthday party games are written for a video call, not adapted from a living room. Each one says what the host shares, what a guest needs at home and how the answers come in.

Read the full guide

Games to play at a virtual birthday party, in order

Open with a chat game such as All Press Enter: One-Word Toast, which works while people are still joining. Put a hot-seat quiz in the middle. End with the cake or a parcel, so the last thing on screen is the birthday person's face.

What to send ahead

The games played around a parcel need the mail: send gifts and parcels a week early. Whose Shelf Is This? needs a photo from every guest.

Tips

Ask one guest to keep score in the chat.

Questions and answers

Which are virtual birthday party games for adults with nothing to prepare?

All Press Enter: One-Word Toast, Six-Word Memories, The Reverse Quiz: They Answer About You and House Gift Pitch need no slides and no mail. Under More filters, No props lists every game that needs nothing at all.

How do you keep a surprise party secret on a video call?

Give the call a dull reason, and ask guests to join early with cameras off. For a surprise call holds games built on the reveal, such as Who Is Behind the Next Black Square? and The Extra Square.

What works for a big call of thirty or more?

Games where everyone answers at once. Camera Off if Wrong, How Many Did the Camera Show? and Guess the Inside of the Cake take forty people, because answers come in by thumb or by chat and nobody waits for a turn.

All 40 games

The birthday person in the hot seat 8

Camera Off if Wrong 1. Everyone starts with the camera on. 2. The host reads a statement about the birthday person. Guests give a thumbs up for true or a thumbs down for false. 3. The birthday person gives the answer, and everyone who was wrong switches their camera off. 4. The last faces on screen win. Everyone comes back on for the next round. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 10 min. Props: a list of true and false statements.
Describe the Photo They Cannot See 1. The birthday person looks away while the host shares an old photo of them. 2. Guests describe it in turn, one detail each, without naming a person or a place. 3. After each detail the birthday person may guess the occasion. 4. Fewer details needed means a better score. Then they turn around and see it. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: old photos to share.
One Sketch, One Guest Recognizes It 1. The birthday person picks, in secret, a memory shared with one guest on the call. 2. They draw it on paper in one minute and hold it up to the camera. 3. Guests unmute only if they think the memory is theirs, and say what it shows. 4. The right guest scores, and anyone who wrongly claims it tells their own memory instead. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a marker for the birthday person.

Show all 40 games (37 more)

The birthday person in the hot seat, continued

Rank It in the Chat 1. The host shares a list of five things lettered A to E: five desserts, five seasons of the year's outings, five chores. 2. The birthday person writes their own order on paper, best to worst, and hides it. 3. Guests type the order they think it is, such as C A E B D. 4. The paper is held up to the camera. A point for each letter in the right place. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a shared list, and paper for the birthday person.
The Reverse Quiz: They Answer About You 1. Each guest thinks of one question about themselves that the birthday person ought to know. 2. Guests ask in turn: where did we first meet, what is my dog called? 3. The birthday person answers aloud with no help. 4. A right answer scores for the birthday person and a wrong one for the guest, who gives the true answer kindly. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: none.
Type on Go: Ten Questions About Them 1. Before the call, the host asks the birthday person ten questions and writes one on each slide. 2. The host shares the screen and reads a question. 3. Guests type an answer but do not send it until the host says go, so that nobody copies. 4. The birthday person gives the real answer. Guests keep their own score. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 15 min. Props: ten prepared slides.
Whose Shelf Is This? 1. A week ahead, each guest sends the host a photo of one shelf, desk or fridge door at home. 2. The host shares them one at a time, numbered. 3. The birthday person guesses whose it is and says which object gave it away. 4. Guests stay muted and keep a straight face until the owner unmutes to own up. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: photos collected before the call.
Whose Voice Said Many Happy Returns? 1. The birthday person turns away from the screen or shuts their eyes. 2. The host points silently at a guest, who says, many happy returns, in a disguised voice. 3. The birthday person has two guesses at who it was. 4. Six voices, then count the score. Everyone else stays muted so that no laugh gives it away. Players: 5 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

Camera games with a prop from the house 8

Card Made in a Minute From the Desk 1. Everyone grabs whatever paper and pens are within reach. 2. On go, make a birthday card in sixty seconds. It needs a front, an inside and a message. 3. Hold the cards up together for a group picture. 4. The birthday person asks to see three of them open and reads the messages aloud. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and pens within reach.
Flashlight Candles 1. Every guest holds a phone flashlight or a lamp under their chin as a candle, with the room lights low. 2. The birthday person blows toward the screen and names a guest, who must switch off at once. 3. Each candle may relight once when the birthday person is naming someone else. 4. Blow them all out within one minute to win. Players: 5 to 25. Time: 5 min. Props: a flashlight or a lamp each.
House Gift Pitch 1. Everyone has one minute to find something in their home that would make a silly present for the birthday person. 2. Each guest holds it up and has fifteen seconds to say why it is perfect for them. 3. The birthday person picks the gift they would keep. 4. Nothing is really sent, which is the joke. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: one household object each.
Human Banner Roll Call 1. The host gives each guest one letter of a birthday message. 2. Everyone writes their letter large on a sheet and holds it up. 3. Squares sit in a different order on every screen, so guests must call their letters aloud in the order of the message. 4. Time it. Two tries to get through without a gap. Players: 8 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a marker each.
Oddest Cup Toast 1. Give everyone ninety seconds to fetch the strangest thing in the house that could hold a drink. 2. Fill it with water or juice. 3. Each guest shows theirs and says where it came from. 4. The birthday person names the oddest, and that guest leads the toast. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: whatever cup, pitcher or vase each guest finds.
Pass It Across the Grid 1. The host calls an order of names. 2. The first guest holds up an object and passes it out of the right edge of their picture. 3. The next guest reaches to the left edge and pulls in a different object, as if it had changed on the way, then passes it on. 4. The birthday person goes last and says what the object has turned into. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: one object each.
Stack a Three-Tier Cake From the Shelf 1. On go, each guest builds a cake of three tiers on camera from books, cans, boxes or cushions. 2. It needs one thing on top to stand for a candle. 3. You have two minutes, and the cake must stand by itself for a count of five. 4. The birthday person awards tallest, most edible-looking and most likely to fall. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: whatever is on the nearest shelf.
Wrapped Mystery, Guess by Shape 1. Everyone has two minutes away from the camera to wrap an everyday object in paper, a towel or a scarf. 2. Back on screen, each guest holds up their parcel in turn. 3. The others type one guess each from the outline alone. 4. Unwrap it on camera. The object that fooled most guessers wins a round of applause. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: something to wrap and something to wrap it in.

Chat-box toasts, guesses and votes 8

All Press Enter: One-Word Toast 1. Each guest types one word that describes the birthday person, and does not send it. 2. The host counts down from three. 3. On zero, everyone presses enter together, and the words pour down the chat. 4. The birthday person reads them aloud and asks about any that need a story. Players: 5 to 50. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Backward Birthday Typing Race 1. The host says a short phrase aloud, such as the birthday person's full name. 2. Guests race to type it backward, letter by letter, and send it. 3. The first correct message wins the round. 4. Play five phrases, each a little longer. The birthday person checks the spelling. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Caption the Grid Screenshot 1. At a lively moment, the host takes a picture of the whole screen of faces. 2. The host shares it back to the call. 3. Everyone types a caption for it. 4. The birthday person reads their three favorites aloud and names a winner. Captions tease the moment, never a person. Players: 5 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
Chat Poem, a Line Each 1. The host types the first line of a birthday poem. 2. Going down the guest list, each person adds one line that rhymes with the line before. 3. Nobody may fix an earlier line. 4. The birthday person reads the finished poem aloud in a serious voice, and the host saves the chat. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
Emoji Memory, Three Symbols 1. Each guest thinks of a memory shared with the birthday person. 2. In turn, they send exactly three emoji that stand for it. 3. The birthday person has two guesses at the memory. 4. The guest then tells it in one sentence. A memory nobody else on the call knew earns a cheer. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: none.
How Many Did the Camera Show? 1. The birthday person turns the camera toward something with a lot of one thing in it: candles on the cake, cards on a shelf, balloons. 2. After five seconds, the camera turns back. 3. Everyone types a number. 4. The birthday person counts for real, on camera. Closest guess wins and picks what is counted next. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Plant an Odd Word in the Conversation 1. Before the call, the host messages each guest one odd word, such as trombone. 2. During the first twenty minutes, each guest must work their word into something they say aloud. 3. Anyone who thinks they heard a planted word types caught and the word. 4. A word that slips by unnoticed scores for its speaker. Reveal them all at the end. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: a word sent to each guest beforehand.
Six-Word Memories 1. Each guest writes a memory of the birthday person in exactly six words and sends it. 2. The host reads them out one by one without saying who sent which. 3. The birthday person guesses the writer. 4. Count the words: a memory of five or seven goes back to its writer for a fix. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

Around a parcel or a cake opened on camera 8

Answer to Unwrap 1. The host mails a box of small wrapped things, each tagged with a question about the birthday person. 2. The birthday person reads a tag aloud. 3. Guests type answers, and the first right one unlocks that parcel. 4. The guest who unlocked it chooses which tag is read next. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: a box of small tagged parcels mailed in advance.
The Giver Mimes the Gift 1. Before a gift is opened, its giver goes on mute. 2. They act out what is inside, or what it is used for, in twenty seconds. 3. Unlike plain charades, only the birthday person may guess, with the parcel in their hands. 4. Right or wrong, they open it. The other guests type what they thought it was. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: gifts mailed in advance.
Guess the Inside of the Cake 1. The cake sits in view of the camera. 2. Guests type what they think it is like inside: the flavor, the color, the number of layers. 3. The birthday person cuts the first slice and holds it to the camera. 4. Anyone with all three right wins. Nearest otherwise. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a cake at the birthday person's end.
Match the Parcel to the Sender 1. Gifts that came by mail are lined up, numbered, with the labels hidden. 2. Each sender gives one spoken clue about their gift without saying which number it is. 3. The birthday person writes a name against each number and holds the list up. 4. Open them in order and count the matches. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: gifts mailed in advance, paper and a pen.
One Parcel, Many Names 1. Mail the birthday person a parcel wrapped in several layers, with a guest's name written on each. 2. On the call, they tear off a layer and read out the name. 3. That guest does a ten-second turn chosen by the birthday person: a toast, a tune hummed, a joke. 4. The last layer has the birthday person's own name on it. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 15 min. Props: a layered parcel mailed in advance.
Remember the Wishes 1. Before the candles go out, each guest says a wish for the year in five words or fewer. 2. The birthday person listens and writes nothing down. 3. After the candles, they repeat as many wishes as they can and say who made each. 4. A wish remembered with its giver scores two, and a wish alone scores one. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
Tear or Peel? Predictions 1. Before any gift is opened, guests type how they think the birthday person will open it. 2. The choices: tear it open, peel the tape, or shake it first. 3. The birthday person opens the gift without looking at the chat. 4. Guests who called it score. Keep a tally over all the gifts. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: gifts to open on camera.
Ten Questions Before the Ribbon 1. The birthday person holds a wrapped gift up to the camera. 2. They ask the giver up to ten questions that can be answered yes or no. 3. They may shake it once near the microphone. 4. One guess, then open it. If the guess is right, the giver takes a bow. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a wrapped gift that arrived before the call.

For a surprise call 8

The Borrowed Toast 1. Tell the birthday person the call is to celebrate another guest and ask them to prepare a short toast. 2. They give it. 3. That guest says thank you, then gives the same toast back, changed to fit the birthday person. 4. Every other guest adds one line of their own. Choose a guest who can change a toast on the spot. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
The Extra Square 1. One unexpected guest, such as an old friend, joins with the camera off and a made-up name. 2. The host says there is one more person on the call. 3. The birthday person asks five questions that can be answered yes or no, and the extra guest answers by typing. 4. After the fifth, they guess, and the camera comes on. Players: 4 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
Frozen Screen Welcome 1. Before the birthday person joins, every guest strikes a pose and holds it, as if the picture had frozen. 2. The birthday person arrives to a screen of statues. 3. They have one minute to make someone move or laugh, using only words. 4. Whoever lasts the minute wins. Then everyone shouts the greeting together. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Guess the Knock 1. Arrange for something to arrive at the birthday person's door during the call: a parcel, a cake, a neighbor. 2. Guests know it is coming, and each types the minute they think the knock will come. 3. Carry on with the party. 4. When the birthday person jumps up to answer the door, the closest minute wins. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a delivery or a visitor arranged in advance.
Hints You Missed 1. In the week before, each guest drops one small hint in ordinary conversation with the birthday person. 2. On the call, guests take turns saying what their hint was. 3. The birthday person says honestly whether they noticed. 4. An unnoticed hint scores for the guest, and a noticed one scores for the birthday person. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
The Quiz That Spells It Out 1. Invite the birthday person to an ordinary quiz night. 2. The host has written the questions so that the first letters of the answers, in order, spell a birthday greeting. 3. Guests answer badly on purpose and say nothing. 4. The first to shout what it spells should be the birthday person. If they have not seen it by the last answer, read the letters aloud. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: a quiz written in advance.
Who Did What? The Plot Quiz 1. Once the secret is out, the host reads a list of the jobs it took: who had the idea, who chose the time, who almost let it slip. 2. For each job, the birthday person names the guest they think did it. 3. The real plotter unmutes and owns up. 4. Count the right guesses out of the list. Players: 5 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: a list of who did what.
Who Is Behind the Next Black Square? 1. Guests join early and switch their cameras off before the birthday person arrives. 2. After the first shout of surprise, the squares stay dark. 3. One guest at a time gives a spoken clue about themselves in a put-on voice. 4. The birthday person guesses, and that camera comes on. Save the guest from farthest away for last. Players: 5 to 25. Time: 15 min. Props: none.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for a birthday where the guests are on a video call. The wording is ours, and player counts and times are our estimates. Each game relies only on screen sharing, a chat box, mute and a camera switch, and no product is named. No outside source was used. Licence: own work