Virtual Improv Games

Press the button for three improv games rewritten for a video call, each with its skill and who goes next.

Same Sentence, New Meaning1. The chat, or one of the pair, supplies one dull sentence, such as the bus leaves at four. 2. The two players hold a scene in which that is the only sentence either may say. 3. Everything else comes from tone, pauses and faces, which a close camera shows well. Who goes next: the pair names the next two players, or plays again with a new sentence. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Status Swap1. One player starts as the boss of the scene and fills the picture. The other starts small and sits low in theirs. 2. Play a scene in a shop or an office. 3. Line by line, trade places, so that by the end the small one fills the picture and the boss has shrunk. Who goes next: the player who ended small picks the next pair, or the two swap parts. Skill: listening. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Gibberish Hello, Real Feeling1. The first player says a name and greets that player in made-up sounds with one clear feeling: delight, suspicion, relief. 2. The named player answers in the same feeling, also in made-up sounds. 3. They then greet a new name with a different feeling. Who goes next: whoever is greeted. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.

How it works

These 37 virtual improv games are stage exercises rewritten for a video call, where there is no circle, sound arrives late and a mute button exists. Each one says how the group knows who goes next.

Read the full guide

Start in gallery view

Begin with one of the 9 warm-ups in gallery view. A call has no circle, so the turn passes by a name said aloud or by a list of names typed once in the chat. Leave a beat after each line: sound arrives late.

Then give two players the screen

In the 10 two-person scenes the rest of the call watches, in most of them with cameras off so that the pair is all there is to see, and feeds ideas through the chat. The 9 frame games treat the edge of the picture as the wings of a stage.

Tips

Type the name list in the chat once, and reuse it as the order for the whole session.

Questions and answers

Can you do improv on a video call?

Yes, with changes. Turns pass by name because nobody can point, lines need a pause because sound lags, and the camera frame replaces the stage: players enter it, leave it and lean in to speak.

What is the yes-and rule?

A player accepts what another has said (yes) and then adds to it (and). On a call that includes accidents: a frozen picture or a barking dog becomes part of the scene.

Do these work on any video call app?

Most do: they need cameras shown in a grid, a chat and a mute button. Two need one thing more. New Name, New Character has players rename themselves on screen, and A Secret in a Private Message needs private messages.

How many people can play improv games online?

From two to about twenty. One Line, Three Distances and This Is Not a Mug work with two, and warm-ups such as Echo on Mute take a full class or team.

Which games suit a work team that has never done improv?

Start with Ten, Five, Two, One and New Name, New Character, then Yes, And the Plan Grows. Nobody performs alone in those, and each takes three to eight minutes by our estimate.

All 37 games

Warm-ups in gallery view 9

Catch What You Are Thrown 1. One player mimes throwing a ball at the camera and says who it is for. 2. The catcher catches it as it was thrown: heavy, tiny, sticky or hot. 3. Before throwing it on, the catcher changes one thing about the ball and shows the change in how they hold it. Who goes next: the player the thrower names. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
The Chat Is the Circle 1. The host types every name in the chat as a numbered list. That list is the circle for the whole session. 2. Send one sound down the list, each player copying the sound of the name above. 3. Send a second sound up from the bottom at the same time, and see whether both arrive. Who goes next: the next name on the list in the chat. Skill: listening. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on and the chat open.
Echo on Mute 1. Everyone mutes except one player. 2. That player makes one big move with a sound, such as a yawn that turns into a roar. 3. All the others copy the move at once, silently, as large as their picture allows. 4. The leader names the player whose copy was boldest, and that player leads next. Who goes next: the player the leader names. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.

Show all 37 games (34 more)

Warm-ups in gallery view, continued

Gibberish Hello, Real Feeling 1. The first player says a name and greets that player in made-up sounds with one clear feeling: delight, suspicion, relief. 2. The named player answers in the same feeling, also in made-up sounds. 3. They then greet a new name with a different feeling. Who goes next: whoever is greeted. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
New Name, New Character 1. Everyone changes their name on screen to a job and a mood, such as Nervous Pilot or Proud Baker. 2. In turn, each player says one line in that character’s voice. 3. The player after them greets the character by name and says where they last met. Who goes next: the new names in alphabetical order. Skill: being specific. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
One Clap, Many Windows 1. With no countdown, the whole call tries to clap once at the same moment. 2. Watch shoulders and breathe together. The sound will arrive ragged because of the delay, so judge by the pictures. 3. Try three times, then try two claps in a row. Who goes next: everyone at once. Skill: listening. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Sound Machine, One Window at a Time 1. The first player starts a short sound and a move that repeat like part of a machine. 2. One at a time, in the order of the list in the chat, each player adds a part that fits the rhythm. 3. The host speeds the machine up, slows it down, and then switches the parts off one by one. Who goes next: the order of the list in the chat. Skill: listening. Players: 5 to 15. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Ten, Five, Two, One 1. Everyone greets everyone else on the call out loud, with waves and names, and has ten seconds to do it. 2. Do the same greeting again in five seconds. 3. Then in two seconds, then in one. Keep every wave and every name, only faster. Who goes next: everyone at once. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Zip to a Name 1. A call has no circle, so a name does the pointing. The first player claps toward the camera and says zip and another player’s name. 2. That player claps at once and sends zip to a new name. 3. Speed up. Anyone who hesitates or calls someone who has left the call starts the next round. Who goes next: whoever is named. Skill: listening. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.

Two-person scenes 10

A Secret in a Private Message 1. The host sends each of the two players a private message with something their character wants, such as to borrow the car. 2. They play a scene and go after it without naming it. 3. The watchers type their guesses in the chat when the host stops the scene. Who goes next: the first watcher to guess both wants. Skill: being specific. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on and the chat open.
The Call Within the Call 1. The two players are two characters on a video call of their own. The chat chooses how they know each other. 2. One of them has news that the other does not want to hear. 3. Play it for two minutes, using what a call really has: a bad angle, a pet, a doorbell. Who goes next: the player who got the news picks the next pair. Skill: being specific. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Dub the Muted Player 1. One player mutes and plays a character with mouth and hands. 2. A second player, camera off, supplies the voice, matching every move of the lips. 3. The muted player has to act on whatever the voice makes them say. Swap after two minutes. Who goes next: the dubber becomes the next muted player. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: one camera on, the rest off.
Emotion From the Chat 1. Two players begin a plain scene, such as returning a library book. 2. The watchers type one-word emotions in the chat. 3. Every half minute the host reads one out, and both players take on that emotion at once without changing the story. Who goes next: the host picks the next pair. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on and the chat open.
Late to the Meeting 1. One player shuts their eyes. The host holds a card up to the camera that names a kind of meeting, such as a lighthouse keepers’ committee, and then puts it away. 2. The first player opens their eyes, apologizes for being late and joins in as if they knew. 3. The other player runs the meeting and drops clues without naming it. Stop when the latecomer says what it is. Who goes next: the latecomer hosts the next meeting. Skill: being specific. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Same Sentence, New Meaning 1. The chat, or one of the pair, supplies one dull sentence, such as the bus leaves at four. 2. The two players hold a scene in which that is the only sentence either may say. 3. Everything else comes from tone, pauses and faces, which a close camera shows well. Who goes next: the pair names the next two players, or plays again with a new sentence. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Status Swap 1. One player starts as the boss of the scene and fills the picture. The other starts small and sits low in theirs. 2. Play a scene in a shop or an office. 3. Line by line, trade places, so that by the end the small one fills the picture and the boss has shrunk. Who goes next: the player who ended small picks the next pair, or the two swap parts. Skill: listening. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Stuck Video, Scene Goes On 1. Two players start a scene in a place suggested in the chat. 2. When the host claps, one of them freezes like a stuck video, in the middle of a word. 3. The other carries on and explains the freeze as part of the story. 4. On the next clap the frozen player moves again and agrees with whatever was said about them. Who goes next: the host picks the next pair from the chat list. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Three Lines: Who, Where, What 1. The first line says who the other player is: Grandpa, you made it. 2. The second line says where they are. 3. The third line names what is wrong or wanted. 4. Stop there. Three lines are a whole exercise, and the next pair goes at once. Who goes next: pairs go down the list in the chat. Skill: being specific. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 8 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
The Voice With No Picture 1. One player is on camera. The other keeps their camera off and plays a voice with no body: an intercom, a satellite navigator, the player’s own conscience. 2. The chat chooses where the scene happens. 3. The player on camera treats the voice as real and does what it suggests, within reason. Who goes next: the voice goes on camera next. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: one camera on, the rest off.

Whole-group story games 9

Couplet Chain 1. The first player says one line of a poem about an everyday thing. 2. The next player says a line that rhymes with it, and then starts a fresh line. 3. The player after that rhymes with the fresh line. Easy rhymes are a gift to the next player. Who goes next: the order of the list in the chat. Skill: listening. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.
Last Word, First Word 1. One player says the first sentence of a story. 2. The next sentence has to begin with the last word of the one before. 3. A player who starts with any other word begins a new story. Who goes next: each speaker ends by naming the next. Skill: listening. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.
Narrated in Windows 1. One player narrates a story and names other players as its characters. 2. A named player acts that part in their own window, on mute, as the narrator describes it. 3. The narrator has to use whatever the actors do, and after a minute hands the story to one of them. Who goes next: the narrator hands over to an actor. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 8 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
One Word Each, in Name Order 1. The group tells one story a single word at a time. 2. The order is the alphabetical order of first names, said aloud once before starting. 3. Say the word that the sentence needs, not the funny one you were saving. 4. End when someone says the end across two turns. Who goes next: the alphabet of first names. Skill: listening. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.
Tell It Back in Six Sentences 1. After any story game, the group tells the same story again from memory. 2. Six players give one sentence each, and nothing new may be added. 3. Go in reverse order, so the player who spoke last in the story speaks first now. Who goes next: the list in the chat, read from the bottom. Skill: listening. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.
Ten Lines at Once 1. The host gives a first line. 2. On a count of three, every player types one next sentence into the chat and sends it at the same moment. 3. A narrator reads the lines aloud in the order they landed and joins them into one story, treating every line as true. Who goes next: the narrator names the next narrator. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 8 min. On the call: cameras on and the chat open.
Then the Evening Edition 1. The first player announces a small newspaper headline about a made-up town. 2. Each player adds the next headline, which has to follow from the one before and name a person, a place or a number. 3. After one lap the last player reads the weather. Who goes next: the order of the list in the chat. Skill: being specific. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.
Vacation Slides in the Gallery 1. One player presents the slides from a trip. 2. Each time the presenter says next slide, everyone else strikes a frozen pose in their window. 3. The presenter looks across the gallery and explains what the picture shows, using every pose. Who goes next: the presenter picks the best pose, and that player presents. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 8 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Yes, And the Plan Grows 1. The first player proposes a plan for the group: let us open a bakery. 2. Each player after that begins with yes, and, then adds one detail that builds on the line before. 3. Nobody blocks, corrects or starts a new idea. Stop when the plan is ready to open. Who goes next: the order of the list in the chat. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: microphones on, cameras optional.

Games that use the camera frame 9

Calm Above the Desk 1. One player reads the news, and the picture shows them from the chest up. 2. A second player, as a reporter, describes something going wrong below the desk that the camera cannot see. 3. The newsreader has to react to it and stay calm from the chest up. Who goes next: the reporter reads the news next. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Enter, Line, Exit 1. Everyone starts out of the picture. 2. In turn, each player enters their own frame from one side as a character, says one line that tells us who they are, and leaves by the other side. 3. On the second lap, the same characters react to a storm. Who goes next: the order of the list in the chat. Skill: being specific. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Handed Across the Edge 1. One player holds up an imaginary object, shows its weight and pushes it out through one side of the picture, naming who receives it. 2. That player pulls it in from the edge of their own picture at the same weight and size. 3. They use it once, then pass it on. Who goes next: whoever the giver names. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Hands Only Scene 1. Two players tilt their cameras down until only their hands and the desk show. 2. They play a scene with their voices while the hands do all the acting: counting money, hiding a note, waving goodbye. 3. Give the hands a job in the first line. Who goes next: the pair names the next two players. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Lean In to Talk 1. Three or four players hold one conversation in character. 2. Only the player who is leaning closest to their camera may speak. 3. To take a turn, lean in. To give one, lean back. Nobody talks over a lean. Who goes next: whoever leans in. Skill: listening. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
One Line, Three Distances 1. Each player takes one short line, such as I found your keys. 2. Say it from the back of the room, then at arm’s length, then with one eye filling the screen. 3. The watchers say who the character seemed to be at each distance. Who goes next: the last speaker names the next. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
This Is Not a Mug 1. Each player picks up one thing from the desk. 2. Hold it up and use it as three things it is not: a mug as a telescope, a hat, a doorbell. 3. No explaining. The watchers call out what they see, and a use counts when someone gets it. Who goes next: the player who guessed last. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 5 min. On the call: cameras on, gallery view.
Three Characters From Below the Frame 1. One player ducks below the picture and rises as a new character, with a new voice and a new way of holding the shoulders. 2. A second player asks that character two questions. 3. Duck and rise twice more, each time as someone clearly different. Who goes next: the interviewer ducks next. Skill: being specific. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.
Your Room Is the Set 1. Two players play a scene. 2. Each has to treat whatever is really behind the other player as part of the place: so this is the captain’s bookshelf. 3. The player whose room it is agrees and adds a detail. No virtual backgrounds. Who goes next: the watchers pick whose room is next. Skill: accepting an offer. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. On the call: two cameras on, the rest off.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for groups that practice improv on a video call. These are exercises that drama classes and improv groups pass on by word of mouth; every call version and all the wording here are ours, and the player ranges and times are our estimates. Checked on 2026-10-03 against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): the yes-and rule, that a player accepts what another has stated and then adds to it, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_and_...; passing a clap around a circle with the word zip, the stage game behind Zip to a Name, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_(game). The other exercises have no article there and are given as one way to play. No app, show, theater or performer is named in any game, and no game makes a player the butt of a joke. Three games are call forms of exercises that the in-room improv list of this site also has under other names (a narrated story acted out, a line that begins with the last word of the line before, a latecomer who has to work out the occasion). Compared by script on 2026-10-03 with every other list on this site, the in-room improv list included: no game name is repeated. Licence: own work