There are several of you, each at home, and nobody can decide what to do. The reflex is to open some big game that needs installing - except not everyone has the same machine or the patience for a download. Here are 7 formats that work in the browser, for free.
1. "Would you rather?" (the best opener)
Two absurd options, everyone picks, you compare. It is the highest-return ice-breaker there is: silly questions trigger real conversations. On PLOXX the mini-game is built into chats, with a two-player theme vote and a random pick when you disagree.
2. Watch a video at the same time
Not a game, but the most underrated group activity. Watching alone and reacting together are nothing alike. The PLOXX group room has a TV that plays a YouTube video in sync for everyone.
3. Two versus two
The format that kills awkwardness: instead of facing a stranger alone, you are with a friend facing another duo. With four people, someone is always there to keep it going.
4. Team battles
Build a team with the people you like, gear it up, and challenge other teams. That gives a reason to come back, unlike a one-off match you forget.
5. The drawing game
One draws, the others guess. An unkillable format, and drawing skill is irrelevant - it is better when it goes wrong.
6. Speed challenges
First to find a word, type a sentence, react. Thirty seconds, and it revives an evening that was falling asleep.
7. Meet other players
When your group runs out of steam, the simplest fix is adding new people. One click, one stranger, and you are off on something else.
What it takes to actually work
- Zero installation. If one person has to download 3 GB, the evening is dead. Favour anything that runs in the browser.
- Zero signup. Every form loses half the group.
- Short rounds. Ten mini-rounds beat one two-hour match nobody finishes.
PLOXX ticks all three: browser, no account, short formats. Start a round or read our ideas for when you are bored.