If you are in India, physically meeting friends and family is still a distant dream. We can now only reminisce about the days of wine and dine with friends, the board games, the card parties, the clubs filled wall to wall with people. Don’t the old days seem almost unreal?
Personally, what I miss the most is hugging my loved ones.
Unfortunately, by the looks of it, the pandemic won’t be over anytime soon. But if the last year has taught us anything, staying indoors is still the most crucial thing to stay safe. So, we, at The Wonk, have curated a quintessential guide on fun ways to socialise in isolation. Here’s what you need:
Checklist
- Personal Laptop and/or Smartphone
- Internet connection
- Zeal to socialise and/or friends to socialise with
- Earphones – so that you don’t annoy people around you
Now that you are ready with the essentials, let’s get to the fun part of this article. Here is the cheat sheet to having fun with your friends and folks, virtually:
- Get Mindful and Fit together
Times like these can create a sense of anxiety and stress. Get your friends together and join in on apps like Headspace, Nike, Fitbit, Apple Health. Signing up with your friends can make fitness a lot of fun. You can undertake challenges together, match your scores, motivate each other, and come out of this pandemic healthier and fitter.
- Virtual Book Club
The digital space can be overwhelming and tiring for the eyes. So why not go old school. Pick up a book. You and your friends can start a virtual book club – read, discuss, exchange ideas, and give each other books.
Bonus tip: Write new endings or storylines for your favourite books. Sounds interesting? Here are a couple of examples to get you started:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/delhibookclub/
https://www.instagram.com/reesesbookclub/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1834761276539430/
- Telepathy or Netflix Party
Wishing you could Netflix and chill with that tinder date? Well, we can’t guarantee the ‘chill’ but yes, you can enjoy a collective viewing experience with your friends, dates or folks through platforms like Teleparty or Netflix Party. It is your basic Chrome plugin that you can download. So if you are a macOS user, you might have to download Chrome first.
- Virtual Gaming
If you haven’t tried this yet, you are definitely missing out on a lot of fun.
Virtual gaming has kept a lot of us sane during the lockdown.
Gaming applications like Ludo King saw the peak of their revenue during the 2020 lockdown. But that’s not your only option, here are few more games to keep you entertained and connected while staying indoors:
- Codenames
- Love spy games? Here’s one that will become your absolute favourite. The plot is that among the 25 secret agents who can only be identified by their codenames, you have to identify and make contact with your agents before the other team does. Don’t get hassled, there will be clues given by the ‘spymaster’!
- Scattergories
- It is nothing but a Categories game, online! It’s that one-word game that every little kid grew up playing. Challenge your friends for this one and we’re sure that this will rattle your brains. No need to share your screen for this one, you’ll find everything on the website itself. To start, you have to choose a category from the topics, create the game and send the links to the players who want to join. The last person standing with words to add to the category wins!
- Online Bingo
- Many celebrities like Matthew McConaughey have been seen calling out numbers in this online Bingo! All you have to do is create a virtual game on the Online Bingo website with as many players as you please. All players must have a password from you in order to log into the game. You can enjoy the game from any device, so if your laptop charger magically went missing before your call, don’t worry!
- Guess Who?
- This one is a family game that will bring members of all ages to play together and bond. Similar to the game, Among Us, you are assigned a character and the others have to guess who you are. Rules can differ according to the preferences that you can set before you play. We are sure that this game will leave everyone laughing!
- Skribbl.io
- My sister introduced me to this game and we had a delightful time playing it. Remember ‘Pictionary’? This game is similar to that. Your drawing skilling will be put to good use in this game. Yes, it will be unfair to the ones who cannot draw! The game is easy. You just have to create a private room with your party, choose a word from their list and try your best to draw it in 80 secs while the other party has to guess what you are drawing! The quicker a person guesses correctly, the more points they get.
We are sure the above ideas will get you and your group vibing virtually in no time! Do write to us and tell us how you liked playing these. If some other games or activities helped you through the pandemic, please mention them in the comments below!