Telegram is a social media software founded by Russian Pavel Durov. What makes telegram unique is its privacy-focused encrypted communication, which was done way before popular chat app WhatsApp has made encrypted chat a feature. Thanks to its variety of built in functions and capabilities, and partly due to WhatsApp's recent privacy fiasco, more and more people are using Telegram.
In addition to being just a chat app, it can be a platform to play online games with your friends. The games are absolutely free and doesn't even need to be downloaded! As long as you and your friends have Telegram, you'll be able to spend countless hours bonding through different games without ever worrying about storage space.
1. Avalon
Minimum Players: 5
Average Game Length: 20 mins
One of the most popular board games from the Resistance series. Avalon splits players into 2 camps, loyal servants of Arthur fighting for good and evil followers of Mordred. Every role has their own abilities. At the start of each round, a specific number of people will be voted by majority to complete a quest. If the group chooses a corrupted one to join a quest, they will most likely be met with failure.
Good wins the game when any 3 quests out of 5 are done successfully, while Evil wins when any 3 quests end in failure. But, since the bad never play fair, Evil can also win by correctly assassinating Merlin at the end of the game.
To start the game, add Avalon Bot into the group containing you and your friends and type /start. The game requires discussion, deception, accusation, and logical deduction to achieve your goals. If you forget your role during the game, /role will refresh your memory. Afraid that it might get boring after a few rounds? /startchaos takes you and your friends to the next level with more diverse roles and more exciting gameplay.
2. Quizarium
Minimum Players: 2
Average Game Length: 15 mins
A basic, but fun trivia game! You and your friends compete with each other to be the first to answer trivia questions with a 1 minute timer for each question. Categories include history, music, movies and many others. A round can last anywhere from 10 questions to unlimited questions. The faster you answer, the more points you score. If nobody is able to answer within a minute, the answer is revealed and the game goes on.
The fun part about this is there are no penalties for wrong answers, so your imagination is the limit. Don't laugh at your friends' insane ideas because it might just land them the right letters to complete the answer! To start the game, add Quizarium bot into your group and type /start.
3. Dreamers
Minimum Players: 3
Average Game Length: 20 mins
Dreamer, sometimes known as "Dixit" or "Imaginarium" is like charades but with pictures. The idea is you and your friends take turns being a lucid dreamer. The lucid dreamer then goes into various bizarre looking dreams (by receiving pictures) and will have to explain their dreams (pictures) in a story, with different sentences relating to different images. The player that gets the most pictures correct wins the game.
There are plenty of artistic pictures that will challenge your creativity. It is quite a relaxing game to play with friends and family if you immerse yourself into the "dreams". Remember to use hints like lyrics or movie scenes as you don't want to make it too easy for your friends to guess. To start the game, add Dreamers bot into the group and type /start.
4. Hangbot
Minimum Players: 1
Average Game Length: 5 mins
You've probably played the classic word guessing game Hangman. Here's the Telegram version for it! The game gives you random words and you may guess the alphabets that you think should appear in the word. But, it's not just about random guessing as a wrong guess will take away 1 "life". When you run out of "lives", the game ends.
You can play this with your friends, but also just by yourself, which makes this the perfect game to pass time. To play the game, just search for Hangbot and start the game with it or invite it to your group and type /start.
5. Werewolf
Minimum Players: 5
Average Game Length: 15 mins
Mafia or werewolf, we've played this immensely popular social game at least once in our lives. Telegram now allows you to play a version of this game on the app and the good news is everyone in your group can play it together. Forget about gamemasters or moderators as the app does everything for you! Telegram's version of Werewolf has more than 30 roles, each with their own unique capabilities. For example, if the Prince gets voted out, he reveals his identity and can "revive" back into the game.
Telegram's Werewolf is perfect for those who have played the regular version countless times and wants some exciting new roles thrown into the mix. In the regular version, normal villagers would have nothing to do but wait and vote, but in Telegram's version, everyone is special! To start the game, add the Werewolf Bot into your group and type /start. This game also includes a /startchaos function for additional gameplay experiences.
So, while many of us are still staying at home due to the pandemic and are starting to miss our friends, tackle boredom together by getting onto Telegram and starting one of the games. These 5 games should be enough to last you for quite some time!
