Holi Party Games for the Evening After the Colours

Why Browser Games Suit the Holi Evening

Nobody wants anything complicated after six hours of colours. A board game with a rule book will stay in its box. With a browser game there is one link: the host creates the room, friends join as guests from their own phone, tablet or computer, with no account and no app, and anyone who wakes up late from the nap joins between rounds. Every game here is free in the browser.

A Virtual Holi with Friends in Other Cities

You cannot throw gulal over a video call, but you can spend the evening together:

• One invite link, everyone on their own phone. Same screen, same turns, wherever they are.
• Do not share your screen. The host is a player too, and their screen shows their secret word.
• Call on the laptop, game on the phone. Running both on one phone tends to switch the camera off when you change apps.
• Pick a time that works abroad. On 22 March 2027, 7 pm in India is 9:30 am in New York and 1:30 pm in London. Breakfast for the friend in the US, but still Holi.
• Turn the actor's camera on for Charades. The others can only guess what they can see.

Holi Party Games for Friends

Old friends are happy to accuse each other of lying, which is what these run on:

• Imposter - everyone gets the secret word except one player, who has to bluff. A round takes two to four minutes. 3 to 12 players.
• Mafia Lite - hidden roles, night moves and a vote, and nobody has to sit out as narrator. 3 to 8 players.
• Lie Detector - one player answers a question and secretly marks it true or false, then everyone questions them and votes. 3 to 12 players.
• Vote Party - "who is most likely to" prompts, and the group votes. 3 to 12 players.
• Charades - dumb charades, now with everyone on their own phone. 2 to 12 players.

The Holi Stories Round

Every group has its Holi legends: who got thrown in the pool, whose face stayed green until Wednesday, who should not have had the second glass of thandai. Make them a round of 2 Truths 1 Lie. Everyone writes three Holi stories on their own phone, two true and one invented, and the rest vote on which is the lie. With old friends this round runs longest, because every true story starts another one. Follow it with Finish the Sentence, where everyone writes an ending to the same line and the group votes for the funniest. 3 to 12 players.

Holi Games for the Family at Home

Early evening, when the whole house is in one room and too tired to move:

• Pictionary - one draws, everyone guesses. Works for kids and grandparents together. 2 to 10 players.
• Horse Race - tap to sprint, about a minute a race. The kids will want ten in a row. 2 to 12 players.
• Snakes & Ladders - no rules to explain to anyone. 2 to 8 players.
• Connect 4 - a quick match for two while the chai is being made. 2 to 4 players.
• Mixed languages at home? Turn on Own Language in Room settings, and in Pictionary and Charades each player reads the words in their own language. Other games use the room language.

A Plan for Holi

Holi decides its own schedule. Games go in the gaps:

• 21 March, after Holika Dahan. A few rounds of Horse Race back home from the bonfire while you plan the morning.
• 22 March, morning to early afternoon. Colours. Phone in the bag, no games.
• After the bath and lunch. Connect 4 or Snakes & Ladders from the sofa.
• 6 pm, family. Pictionary and Charades.
• 7 pm, friends on the call. The Holi stories round in 2 Truths 1 Lie.
• Late. Imposter or Mafia Lite for whoever is still awake.

A Big Group or a Housing Society Party

Most of these games take up to 10 or 12 players. For a society or a big friends group, run two rooms, each with its own link, rather than one long queue. To bring everyone together at the end, play Group RPS, rock paper scissors for up to 20 players at once.