Games to Play on the Phone With People

Play these games over the phone with your friends.cell phone image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com

The telegraph is one of the greatest inventions in human history. Allowing instantaneous communication across wide oceans, this invention was fundamental in 20th century globalization. From this concept sprung telephones and, more recently, cell phones. Owners of cell phones are now immediately available to friends and family at all times. One of the fringe benefits of such availability is the ability to play games together, even when miles apart.

20 Questions

Play this classic game over the phone with your friends. One of you selects any person, place or object. Others take turns trying to guess the mysterious identity by asking 20 yes-or-no questions. Good questions to ask include: "Is it larger than a bread box?", "Have you ever seen it?", "Is it alive?" and "Is it man-made?" Once the 20 questions are up, each player gets one guess. The correct guesser gets to take a turn answering the questions. This game can be played over cell phones, land lines or through text messaging.

People have been playing these games through the mail for years, making for an easy transition to the phone. Each square on the board is assigned a letter and a number. Simply notify your friend of your move by listing the piece's original square followed by its destination. For instance, one of the most common opening chess moves is "E2 to E4," meaning the pawn in front of the king is moved forward two spaces. Usually both players have a chess board that they update with the most recent move. This method works for chess and checkers and can also be played with cell phones, land lines and text messaging.

Scavenger hunts consist of teams of players trying to find objects or arrive at specific destinations on a list as quickly as possible. Games might take place in a mall, a church or across an entire city. Ditch the list and play with your phones for a more spontaneous adventure. Designate one player as the "game master." The game master starts the game by giving everyone an object to locate or a destination to reach (for instance, "Go to the Wal-Mart on Adams Street"). Once teams reach the destination, they call or text the game master for the next one. The first team to complete all assigned tasks is the winner.

There is a lot of room for variation in mobile scavenger hunts. For example, the game master can randomly notify teams that grabbing their favorite candy bar from a specific gas station will shave five minutes off their finishing times. While cell phones are ideal for this type of game, players can use land line phones at each destination.

These games require cell phones to play, but can be the most fun and convenient. Multiplayer cell phone games like "Monopoly" or "Words With Friends" are quite popular but you have to pay a fee to download the full version and they can only be played on certain phones. The Game Mobile website (listed under References) has a few free multiplayer games that can be downloaded onto most phones. If you are willing to fork over some cash, your options in this category are nearly limitless. With games fitting nearly every style and preference, be sure not to drain the bank as you game with your friends.