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Games to play over text can be some of the most fun things to do when bored with friends.

Texting games are all the rage and are at the top of the list of fun things to do on your phone.

We've tried all these games to play over the phone, and, we have to say, these are the best SMS games to try out yourself.

Let's dive in!

Contents

Best - #Best

Best

SMS-Based - #SMS-Based

Question-Based Games

Exciting - #Exciting

Exciting

Printable List - #Printable-List

Printable List

FAQs - #FAQs

FAQs

How to Pick? - #How-to-Pick?

How to Pick?

More Fun- #More-Fun

More Fun Games

3 Best Games To Play Over Text

Are you bored at home? Stuck in school? In the middle of a boring meeting? In a long-distance relationship? These are the best games to play over text without any reason. All you have to do is pull out a smartphone and start typing.

1. Rock, Paper, Scissors

How to Play

We've all played this in our childhood in person. This is a popular game. You're probably surprised to see this as a fun texting game, but this is one text game you don't want to miss. Rock, paper, scissors over text can be played easily with the hand emojis on your keyboard. Use the fist for rock, the 5-finger-hand for paper, and the peace hand sign for scissors. Make sure to send the characters at precisely the same time to determine the winner.

Best For

You can play rock, paper, and scissors anytime in any situation because it's fast and straightforward. You can even forget the hand signs and use the rock, paper, and scissor emoji on your keyboard.

2. Unpopular Opinions

How to Play

Unpopular opinions are more of a way to start bizarre conversations. You and your buddy go back and forth, stating unpopular opinions about any random topic. The catch - they can't be what everyone else is thinking about on the subject.

Best For

This one is best played while watching popular videos on YouTube. Read through the comments and give your unbiased, unpopular opinion to your friend. This one is a great texting game because there's no correct answer!

3. Emoji Translation

How to Play

Get your emoji keyboard ready for this. Emoji translation is one of the more challenging and hilarious games over text. You send your opponent many emojis that translate into a message and have to figure out what it says. Make sure your chosen words aren't easy. You can even put in a dare if the second player takes a wrong guess. You'll need some deductive reasoning for this particular situation. The number of guesses is all up to you.

Tip: You can make this more enjoyable by putting a fun twist and turning it into an emoji story builder.
Best For

Since this one is challenging, it's probably best to save it when you don't have any distractions. You'll have to search for the actual emoticon to make sure your message is clear.

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7 Questions Based SMS Games

Have questions? Ask them through text with these question SMS games. We've got all the best ones that you can easily play over the phone. 

4. Truth or Dare

How to Play

Through text, truth or dare questions are fascinating and can be played just like if you were actually with your friends. Ask the second person a truth question that they've got to answer truthfully - make sure it's something they rather not answer. If they don't want to answer, give them a dare question. To make sure they do the dare, have them record themselves through video or take a snap.

Best For

You should probably play this one when you're safe at home with no one around, just because you never know what the dare will be. This one can also work well if you're trying to be flirty with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

5. Trivia Game

How to Play

We all enjoy a good guessing game. You can play trivia questions over text, but no cheating! Ask your texting partner a trivia question from any category, and if they get it right, it's their turn to ask you. If they get it wrong, you get to ask them another one. It's a great game as long as you're both being honest. Whoever gets the higher number of points wins!

Best For

Trivia questions, much like riddles, can be played whenever. Ask your friend a trivia question while you're having a conversation through text, or make a challenging match out of it. It's all up to you.

6. Would You Rather

How to Play

Another awesome drinking game that you can play over text is would you rather. Ask each other a bunch of would you rather questions that are hard to answer, just as much as they are interesting. Give the other player two equally bad options (or good), and let them figure out which one they'd instead do.

Best For

Would you rather is a classic game to play when you run out of things to talk about? It can also be a great conversation starter, especially when getting to know someone for the first time or even when you're flirting with your crush!

7. 21 Questions

How to Play

Have you ever wanted to know someone you're talking to more personally? Your crush? Your girlfriend? We'll, with the 21 questions game, you can ask whatever you like without feeling awkward about it. A personal question works best here, so no worries! In this one, you have 21 chances to ask the other person 21 things about themselves, and it's up to the first player to answer them honestly. Once you've asked your 21 questions, it's the other texter's turn to ask you. This one is some personal trivia activity.

Best For

This is one of the best games to get to know all the things you want to know about a person without directly asking them. 21 Questions gives you a fun way to get to know someone without looking like you're trying to interrogate them. Plus, if you're trying to get your flirt on, this is the perfect opportunity.

8. Most Likely To

How to Play

Most likely to questions can be a great group chat party game. Get a group of your pals in a group chat and ask who's most likely to do a sure thing. Then everyone answers with the name of who in the group they think is most likely to do that. It gets pretty hilarious if you've got some ridiculous questions. They say this is even a test of friendship. Come up with more fun questions aside from who's most likely to become an actor or actress and who's most likely to marry or kiss each other.

Best For

Play this one when you've got a group chat going and nothing interesting to talk about. It's sure to start up some interesting convos.

9. Never Have I Ever

How to Play

Never have I ever is another excellent group chat activity. This is the perfect thing to do if you want a good laugh. One person says the phrase "never have I ever," followed by something crazy that you don't think anyone would do. Then, everyone responds with "I have" or "I have never."

Best For

This a fun game to get all your friends together and get them chatting away. It's an easy way to start a conversation between friends who aren't that close.

10. What If Questions

How to Play

What if questions give you a challenging scenario to answer. You'd feel like you're in a movie with each hypothetical scenario. This one is easily played through text but not so easy to answer. The point of this is to give your buddy a tricky situation and see what they would do in that situation. It's like a puzzle for them. For example, you could ask, "What if you could be famous but poor forever. What would you do?". The key is to make the other guy think about what they'd do in this type of scenario that you've created for them.

Best For

What if questions are all about making the other person think about things differently. It could be worse, and it could be better than the life they're living now. The what-if activity is best played with someone who likes to look at life more creatively.

3 Exciting Texting Games To Play Over The Phone

Take games to the extreme with these exciting games to play over the phone. These get pretty interesting when you figure out how to play them through text.

11. Hangman

How to Play

Hangman is a fantastic activity to play over text. If you're willing to give up the stick figure, you must try this one. The key is to use underscores to type out your single word, phrase, sentence, or even song lyrics so your opponent can guess what it is. Each time they guess a letter correctly, replace the underscore with that letter.

Best For

This random word game takes a little time to get used to over text. Give yourself some time to get the hang of the text message hangman before you play it any time. Once you do, you can play this one on any occasion.

12. Riddles

How to Play

Of course, you probably know how riddles work. They're fun to say, but they're even more exciting to text. You and your buddy can take turns sending riddles to each other and solving them. It's up to your if you want to give hints or not. If you're unsure what riddle to offer, the internet is your friend. Take score to figure out who got the most right. Wrong answers from your texting buddy can even get a dare.

Best For

Riddles can be sent at any time, whenever you feel like it. You can also solve them at any time. There's no need to keep going back and forth. This one can start and stop whenever you like.

13. Guess the Song

How to Play

Music lovers will enjoy this one! You can already guess by the name what this one's all about. Choose a song and send random lyrics to the person you're talking to. They then have to guess what song you're thinking about. Let's hope you don't come up with songs from famous celebrities only. Playing will be more fun if you can set a time limit.

Best For

This one is best played when you're able to listen to music on your phone. It's so much fun this way, so when your friend guesses wrong, you can send them the song via text message.

Downloadable and Printable List of Games To Play Over Text

Here is a downloadable and printable jpg/pdf list of games to play over text (right-click the image and select Save Image As...):

Frequently Asked Questions

Have some other questions about how these games over text work? We've got the answers.

How do you make games over text more exciting?

To make games over text more exciting, add more players, like in a group chat. You can also send pictures to let the other texters know how you feel about what you're playing.

What are the scoring rules for texting games?

With some games, you don't need to take score, but if you want to make it more exciting, add a point for each question or guess they get right. 

What are texting games I can play with my girlfriend?

Truth or dare and never have I ever are perfect games to play with your girlfriend over text. You can play just about any of these and make it unique by making it personal, like asking questions you'd like to know about her or picking a sweet song for her to guess.

How To Pick The Best Games To Play Over Text

Which games are the best? Well, that's for you to decide. But, how do you decide which games to play over text are best, those that won't end up in boredom? We've got tips for that down below.

1. Who Are You Playing With?

Who are you playing with? Figure out what the other person (or people) likes to play instead of just choosing one of your favorites. Do they like a challenge, or is a simple one more of their taste? Choose games you'll all like to play. Sometimes, not knowing the next person's sentences make the experience more enjoyable. You also have to consider if you're playing with adults or teens. They have different tastes.

2. Where Are You Playing?

You can play all of these games from wherever you have a phone signal, and your phone is with you, of course. But, keep in mind that some of these games are more complicated than others. So, you won't be able to play some of them if you're a little busy at the moment.

3. When Are You Playing?

Timing does matter. If it's too late and you're tired, these games won't seem as fun and exciting. Pick a time when you're free, so you're able to play these games to their full potential.

More Fun Games To Play

We've got plenty of more games for when you're off your phones and face to face.

  1. Check out our site for the most exciting minute it to win it games for adults.
  2. For the funnest party board games, head over to Gamertelligence to give your party guests an unforgettable experience.
  3. Need some Christmas party games to get into the holiday season? Gamertelligence has them all.

In Conclusion

Weren't we right when we said we have the best games to play over text? These SMS games will give you tons of things to do when bored with friends.

When you need fun things to do on your phone, these texting games are the ones to play. Go ahead and try them out for yourself and see how entertaining they are. Happy texting!