On a recent trip to Australia, I had a bit of downtime so my friends and I decided to look for some mobile games we could play with each other, either on one device or with multiple devices.
What followed was a deep dive through the App Store and Google Play Store. We tested over a dozen games across several days...
...and we managed to narrow it down to a handful of local multiplayer mobile games that are well worth your time.
And best of all, they're all either free or $0.99, so neither you nor any of your friends will need to break the bank to have fun!
7. Dual
Number of phones required: 2
Dual was the least enjoyable game that made the list, but it was still fun for a couple of minutes. Just don't expect to kill a whole afternoon playing this one with your friends.
Basically, you each play as a little spaceship and you attempt to shoot your opponents ship. Their ship is on their phone, yours is on yours.
It's pretty cool to see the shots travel across the two devices. It's simple, but fun enough.
6. 12 Orbits
Number of phones required: 1 (but more is better)
In 12 Orbits, each player mans a section of the phone, and the goal is to pick up the little white dots to leave a dot of your color that'll take out the other ships if they hit it.
The trick comes from the movement. You tap the screen to enter an orbit and tap again to fly in a straight line.
Because everyone is playing on the same screen, this can get a little tight on a phone and we'd definitely recommend a tablet if you have one available.
We managed to play with four people on an iPhone 7 Plus, but any more than that would have been too crowded.
5. Out of the Loop
Number of phones required: 1
In Out of the Loop, all but one player knows what something is, and one person is left out.
Everyone is given questions to ask specific players about the secret, and the person who is out of the loop needs to try to answer in a way that won't give away the fact that they're out of the loop.
We played a round where the word was cupcakes. There were questions like how many can you stack, and would you smell this for the rest of your life.
We managed to figure out who the faker was. It's a really fun game that only requires one phone, which is great.
4. Psych!
Number of phones required: 1 per player
Psych! is a game that's all about tricking your friends into thinking your answer is true. Of course, you can also choose to ignore the objective and just be as funny as possible.
Whichever way you decide to play, you're sure to have a blast. It's similar to the board game Balderdash—or the recently popular Fibbage series in the super popular Jackbox games!
Here's an example of how the game goes to help you wrap your head around it: the game will tell you a movie title and your job is to come up with a plot that the other players believe to be real.
You get a point for each player who guesses your plot and you also get a point for guessing the correct one.
3. Evil Apples
Number of phones required: 1 per player
Evil Apples is very similar to Cards Against Humanity, but with much less setup and cleanup, since the cards are all digital. It's a really fun game, just make sure you're playing it with a group of people who aren't easily offended!
Like Cards Against Humanity, your goal is to fill in a phrase with the cards you're dealt. You want to be as funny (and offensive) as possible.
Each round, one player sits out and judges the answers. Their discretion determines who gets points for that round, and then it rotates through a set number of rounds until there's a winner.
2. Spaceteam
Number of phones required: 1 per player
Spaceteam has been around for quite a few years, but the core design is timeless. It'll see you and your friends screaming what sounds like random nonsense to anyone on the outside.
However, you'll actually be shouting out very important commands that'll help your ship reach its destination.
The game board features the ship's progress on the top of the screen and a bunch of buttons with gibberish written near them. This gibberish is the names of the buttons, switches, or knobs.
Each player's device will flash a command, and the other players need to check to see if their device has that command and execute it. It usually breaks out into chaos, and it gets progressively harder as you beat each level.
1. Heads Up!
Number of phones required: 1
Heads Up! is definitely the game we had the most fun playing together, and we spent a really long time digging into all the different modes it offers.
There are modes that let you speak and some that force you to mime out clues without any sound. All of the games are fun for groups of friends of any size.
Basically, you hold your phone up to your forehead so everyone on your team can see the answer.
They'll then give you clues based on the rules of the game, and the person with the phone to their head needs to guess as many as they can within the time limit.
Party Time With Mobile Games!
It's time to get a group of friends together and show the world that your iPhone or Android smartphone aren't devices designed to disconnect you from the real world.
Instead, your devices can serve as a gateway to lots of fun with your friends in the world!
