{shortcode-5bb97e502657e258de969be2a1cfdff518c2fa88}At this point, have you played more games of skribbl.io and Among Us than you can count? Is singing karaoke with the least musically-inclined people in the world over an unstable internet connection destroying your eardrums? If so, here are a few recommendations for your next (and unfortunately, not the last) virtual social!
A Cook-off
If you have never made anything besides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before, here is your chance to actually learn how to cook! Pick a recipe that you and your group will follow together, and set up a time to prepare the dish together over Zoom. Cooking helps you understand various world flavors, and you obtain life skills such as eating healthy and cleaning up after yourself. Making your own food is also much safer than eating out at a restaurant due to a certain infamous global pandemic. We appreciate you for social distancing and #flattening #the #curve.
We’ve all seen America’s favorite game show, or at least can hum the theme song passive-aggressively when our friend is taking too long to complete a task. In a Jeopardy tournament, contestants are given general informative clues and must respond in the form of a question. This game is the perfect opportunity for you to flex your obscure knowledge on U.S. history or world geography, or at least pick up some new facts in your weak areas. To raise the stakes of the contest, you can make a pact in which all the losers pay an Uber Eats meal for the winner — if bragging rights isn’t enough for your friends to bring their A-game in Jeopardy, a food delivery order most definitely will.
Like Jeopardy’s theme song, many of us also know the Kahoot! music, which interestingly spurs a huge sense of competitiveness. Kahoot! has a plethora of pre-made quizzes on just about every topic you can think of, from sports trivia to Disney movies to women of science, and there is no fee to participate. If you’re not completely satisfied with any of the offerings, you can make a quiz of your own!
Never Have I Ever
Think you know your friends well? Wait until you engage in a juicy game of Never Have I Ever! This activity requires zero equipment, screen-sharing, or preparation; all you need is a mutual pledge of honesty. While others are being shy and making innocent statements such as “Never have I ever been to the Quad,” hit ’em with a hard question from The Oprah Magazine, like “Never have I ever binged an entire series in one day.” (Yeah, some of us have ~questionable~ study habits. What about it?) For first-year students, if you’re playing with a blockmate, take this opportunity to dig information on your friend with something like, “Never have I ever borrowed clothes without asking.” If said friend puts their finger down, you’ll have to consider establishing some ground rules.
Now that you’ve solidified your relationships with all the aforementioned ideas, why not completely demolish them in an intense game of Werewolf? Werewolf is a multiplayer role-playing game based on deceit and shrewdness (like Mafia!), and it’s always fascinating to see who the best actor is. Be warned: due to the ruthless atmosphere of One Night Ultimate Werewolf, this game may set your friendships back several months.
Now that you have these suggestions under your belt, round up a few friends over Zoom for some virtual quality time! With these ideas, you’ll finally have a not horrible time on a video chat.