Games to Play With Long-Distance Friends and Partners

Most "games to play with friends online" lists assume you're both free at the same moment. Long distance usually means you aren't. One of you is on a commute while the other is asleep, and a 9pm game night lands at 4am for the other person.

So this list is sorted by the thing that decides whether a game survives a long-distance friendship: when you both have to be there.

• In your own time. One of you moves, the other answers whenever they get to it. These hold up across any time zone.
• Live, on a call. You're both free right now and want to do something together on FaceTime or Zoom.
• The same daily puzzle. You each play it alone, then compare. Low effort, and it keeps a daily thread going.

Full disclosure: we make Where&When, which is in the first section. All prices and modes below were checked against each app's App Store listing in October 2026.

At a glance

Play in your own time

These are the ones to start with. A game that asks nothing of the other person's clock is the only kind that lasts.

Where&When Tournament — a history challenge you trade back and forth

Where&When is our free iPhone game. Each round is an AI-generated scene of a real historical event with no caption. You pin where it happened and type the year, and the reveal tells you what the event was. The pool runs from the 1st century to the 2020s.

Tournament is the long-distance part. You start a challenge and send your friend a link or a six-character code from your phone's share sheet. The server picks five events, and you both play the same five, each on your own iPhone, whenever suits you.

Why it works across time zones:

• Nobody waits on anyone. You send the challenge before you play, so your friend can start the moment it arrives, even while you're still playing.
• The clock is per round, not shared. Each round gives you 60 seconds whenever you open it. Playing at 7am in Lisbon and midnight in Chicago is equally fair.
• You see their guess next to yours, but only after you've played that event. No peeking at answers.
• A notification tells you who won when the second person finishes.
• A challenge stays open for seven days, which is long enough for a busy week.

The app is available in nine languages, including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Chinese, which helps when your friends abroad would rather not play in English.

Words With Friends — the long-distance classic

Words With Friends is the original take-your-turn-whenever game, with three quarters of a million App Store ratings behind it. You play a word, it's your friend's move, and the game sits there until they play. It's free with optional in-game purchases, and its own listing now includes widgets to keep an eye on ongoing matches.

It's the safest pick if your friend is on Android, and the slowest-paced game here. That's exactly why it suits long distance.

Ticket to Ride — a board game over several days

The digital Ticket to Ride ($4.99) has an explicit asynchronous mode. The listing says you can "set up or join an asynchronous game and play across multiple days," with a notification when it's your turn. You can also start a private game with friends.

It's the most substantial game on this list. If the two of you used to play board games in person, this is the closest substitute.

Codenames — turn-based word deduction

The official Codenames app ($4.99, one-time purchase, no ads) uses turn-based matches. You can run several at once and come back when it's your turn. It's a cleverer game than Words With Friends if you both enjoy reading each other's minds.

Chess.com — correspondence chess

Chess.com is free to play against friends. Its daily mode is correspondence chess, where you get a long window for each move rather than a few minutes for the whole game. Play live when you're both around and daily when you're not.

Play live, on a call

When you do find an hour that works for both of you, these turn a FaceTime call into a game night.

Wavelength

Wavelength is a co-op guessing game: one person gives a clue, and the team decides where it falls on a spectrum like hot to cold. It's free with no ads, takes 2 to 10+ players, and the listing says it plays "in the same room or across the world." Because it's cooperative, it's a good pick for a couple or for friends with very different skill levels.

Kahoot! over SharePlay

Kahoot! is best known as a classroom quiz, but its listing describes playing a live kahoot through SharePlay. You start a FaceTime call, pick a kahoot, and everyone joins without a separate host. It's easy if one of you wants to write a quiz about the other's life.

Where&When, at the same time

Tournament doesn't require you to play at the same moment, but nothing stops you. Start a challenge, send it, and play on a call. After each event you see both guesses side by side, which gives you something to argue about before the next round loads.

Play the same daily puzzle

The lowest-effort option. You each do it alone, then text your result.

• NYT Games: Wordle, Connections, Strands and the Mini, all daily and the same for everyone. You can add friends in the app and follow their daily scores, so you don't even have to text your grid. It's free to download, and a subscription unlocks the archive of past puzzles.
• Where&When's Daily Challenge gives every player the same five events each day, so you can compare scores without setting anything up.
• For more of these, see our list of daily history games like Wordle and Wordle alternatives that aren't word games.

For long-distance couples

Most of the games above work as well for couples as for friends. Two picks are built more specifically around a relationship:

• Paired sends a daily question you each answer, and you unlock your partner's response once you've given yours. Its games and quizzes, which it says suit long-distance relationships, are in Paired Premium.
• A standing challenge. Pick one game from the "own time" section and make it a weekly thing: one challenge every Sunday, loser picks next week's. A fixed ritual does more for a long-distance relationship than a library of games you never open.

How to make it stick

Long-distance game habits die from friction rather than boredom. Three things help:

• Send first, play second. Whatever the game, the person who starts it should send it before they play, so the other person is never waiting.
• Use the time difference. Send a challenge before you go to bed. Your friend plays it over breakfast, and the result is waiting when you wake up.
• Keep it short. A five-round challenge or one word per day survives a bad week. A two-hour board game doesn't.

Frequently asked questions

What games can you play with a long-distance friend?

The best ones don't need you online at the same time: Where&When's Tournament, Words With Friends, Ticket to Ride's asynchronous mode, Codenames and Chess.com's daily chess. For live play over a call, Wavelength and Kahoot! via SharePlay both work remotely.

What are good long-distance relationship games?

Anything you can play in your own time and talk about afterward. Paired is built for couples, with a daily question you both answer. A weekly Where&When challenge works well too, because you see each other's guesses side by side and each round ends with the story of a real event to talk about.

What can you play with friends in different time zones?

Asynchronous games, where each player moves whenever they're free. In Where&When's Tournament the 60-second timer is per round, so neither person is disadvantaged by playing at an odd hour, and a challenge stays open for seven days.

Are there free games for long-distance friends?

Yes. Where&When, Wavelength and Chess.com's friend games are free. Words With Friends is free with optional purchases, and Wordle is free in the NYT Games app.

What if my friend has Android?

Words With Friends and Chess.com run on iPhone and Android, and Wavelength's listing says it's cross-platform. For more history-flavored options for a mixed group, see history games to play with friends.