Two-Player Games You Can Play Over the Phone

When my kids were growing up, one thing we always looked forward to was family game night. We would take turns picking games, while munching on snacks and joking around. My kids are grown now, and not all of them live near me, so family game night as I knew it no longer exists.

Out of my four kids, my oldest daughter seemed to enjoy it the most. Unfortunately for me, she no longer lives nearby. A few months ago, she moved out of the States and to New Zealand. Just recently, she told me how much she missed playing games. That gave me an idea.

Although we can't play in person, there are games we can play over the phone, so now we have mother/daughter game night. We try to do this once a week with a video chat. I print out the various games and mail them to her. Here are the games we are playing in case you're looking for some.

Bingo

There are several online sites where you can print out free bingo cards. I have opted for cards with the numbers 1-75 as that seems to be the easiest. The process is simple. I print out cards for both of us, making sure the cards are different.

Then, I take small slips of paper and write the numbers 1-75, with each slip of paper containing one number. I fold all the pieces of paper up, put them in a bowl, and when it's time to play, I simply pull the numbers out, one at a time. Whoever gets five in a row first wins.

Battleship

If you're looking for something that has some strategy involved, you can find free printable Battleship games online like the one you see above. While the bottom half of the sheet is where I'll put my battleships, the upper part is where I can guess where my opponent's are hidden. Out of the games I've sent my daughter so far, this is her favorite.

Connect 4

Another game with strategy is Connect 4. The idea is to connect 4 dots in a row. Your dots drop down from the top of the game, landing in the first available circle. As the game stacks upward, the goal is to get four dots in a row while preventing the other player from doing the same.

I may not be doing the best job describing how this is played, but you can get further instructions online. You'll need two different colors for the dots: one for you and one for your opponent. Since you're doing this over the phone, I suggest you number each dot first, as it will make it easier to explain your placement each round.

Hangman

Hangman is a simple enough game to play, and how difficult it is depends on what you make the hangman about. I recently mailed my daughter a sheet of paper with four hangman games on it, with the lines for the letters needed drawn out. I like to use a theme when I play as it narrows the game down a bit. The theme I chose for her is Disney movies.

The most common way to play is that you're allowed to miss six letters. One for the head, one for the body, two for the arms, and two for the legs. However, some people prefer to play with allowing for eight missed letters.

I play games over the phone with my daughter because she lives so far away. However, there are many other reasons for two people to play this way. Maybe two people are bored and looking for an interactive way to have fun with each other.

Perhaps someone is home sick and is looking for something fun to do. Possibly it's a way for two people to get to know each other better in a casual environment without having to be face to face. For whatever reason, there's a nice assortment of free, printable games that you can share with someone else over the phone.