A game night in the browser
Needs 4 people
Sixteen games at one table, and the video stays on while you play. Nothing to install, so nobody has an excuse.
Things to do with friends, and how to actually make them happen
Ideas online
Things to do with friends online: virtual hangout ideas
Online plans have a bad reputation because the usual one is a video call with nothing in it. Twenty minutes of news, then silence. Give the call something to do and it stops being a duty, which is when friendships across countries actually survive.
Written by Let's Hang · Updated 20 September 2026
Make it happen with Let’s Hang
Different places. One table.
Choose a time your friends can make. When enough people join, meet here for a catch-up, a game or a little show-and-tell.
- Times shown in each person’s timezone
- Video and chat in one room
- Make a weekly plan worth keeping
Long-distance friendship activities that fit real life
When friends live in different places, choose a rhythm you can repeat rather than waiting for a perfect free evening. A twenty-minute breakfast catch-up, a monthly show-and-tell or a short game after work can be enough. Agree that missing one session does not mean leaving the friendship behind.
Pick an activity that works for the person with the least time or energy. Keep a quiet option ready and ask whether everyone wants cameras on. A video call can be a proper hangout without filling every minute or making people explain why they are tired.
Find a fair time across time zones
Offer a few possible times and check how they appear for each friend before settling on one. When no slot is equally convenient, rotate who gets the early morning or late evening. Recheck around daylight-saving changes, because countries do not all change clocks on the same date.
Put the chosen time in the invitation instead of relying on a message saying “eight tonight”. For a regular catch-up, choose the weekly repeat option when setting up the hangout. Keep the first session short and adjust the routine together after trying it.
The call needs a middle, not just a start
A call with a game in the middle lasts twice as long as one without, and nobody notices the time. Playing gives quiet people something to say and gives everyone a reason to come back next week.
The room that opens with every online hangout already has the middle in it: faces on camera, a chat running beside them, and a game on the table when the talking slows down. Nothing to install, so the friend on a borrowed laptop can still join.
Time zones are the real enemy
When friends are spread across countries, the hard part is the hour. Offer two or three times, let everyone tick what works in their own zone, and the hangout lands on the one that suits most people.
Then make it repeat. A weekly slot that opens by itself beats a perfectly planned evening that happens once.
16 ideas, and what each one needs
Tap one and the form opens with the activity and the number of people already in it. Share the link, and it's on once your people are in.
See all 16 ideas at a glance
A pub quiz with secret answers
Needs 4 people
Everyone types an answer, nobody sees the others, then they turn over at once. The questions never repeat for anyone.
Poker with play money
Needs 4 people
No money, all the bluffing. Faces on camera is what makes it worth it.
Ludo or Last Card
Needs 3 people
The games everyone already knows, so nobody spends ten minutes reading rules.
Watch something together
Needs 3 people
Share your screen with its sound, pause when somebody is talking, and say what you think out loud.
Show and tell
Needs 3 people
Everyone shares their screen for five minutes: the flat they might rent, the holiday photos, the thing they built. It is the best conversation starter online.
Act it out
Needs 4 people
Charades on camera, which is much funnier than it sounds and works with people of any age.
A weekly call that opens by itself
Needs 3 people
Tick every week and the next one is already there. Whoever can make it, comes, and nobody has to organise anything again.
A virtual museum curator challenge
Needs 3 people
Each choose one artwork from an online museum collection, then share your screen and build a tiny imaginary exhibition together. Give the exhibition a name and explain why the pieces belong together. Use the museum’s own descriptions when checking facts.
- Time to set aside
- 45–60 min
- Budget
- Free collections available
- Before you invite
- Choose an accessible online collection
A three-song time machine
Needs 3 people
Bring three song titles linked to different moments in your life. Tell the story behind each choice and build a shared listening list. People can play tracks through their own services; the call is for the stories and conversation.
- Time to set aside
- 45 min
- Budget
- Call free; music access separate
- Before you invite
- Choose three tracks
A make-it-from-paper challenge
Needs 4 people
Agree on paper, tape and ten minutes. Build a bridge or a freestanding tower, then show it on camera. Compare what worked and try one improvement together. Different materials are fine if you judge invention rather than exact height.
- Time to set aside
- 30–45 min
- Budget
- Supplies you already have
- Before you invite
- Set a simple build challenge
A hometown postcard tour
Needs 3 people
Each friend brings a few photos of an ordinary place they like near home: a park, market or favourite view. Show the pictures and explain one detail a visitor would miss. Avoid displaying private addresses or other people’s personal information.
- Time to set aside
- 45–60 min
- Budget
- Free
- Before you invite
- Choose three public-place photos
A one-sentence story relay
Needs 4 people
Choose a setting, then take turns adding one sentence to a shared story. Keep each turn short and read the whole thing aloud after ten minutes. For the next round, change genre halfway through and see how the group rescues the plot.
- Time to set aside
- 30 min
- Budget
- Free
- Before you invite
- Pick a setting and turn order
A draw-from-description game
Needs 3 people
One person describes an imaginary creature while everyone else draws without asking to see a picture. Reveal the results together, then swap the speaker. Keep descriptions concrete enough to follow but leave one absurd detail open to interpretation.
- Time to set aside
- 30–45 min
- Budget
- Paper and pens
- Before you invite
- Agree on short rounds
A small project body-double session
Needs 2 people
Start by naming one manageable task, work quietly together for twenty-five minutes, then take a five-minute break to catch up. End by sharing what moved forward. This is companionship while doing your own work, not a competition to be productive.
- Time to set aside
- 40–60 min
- Budget
- Free
- Before you invite
- Choose a task and a timer
An art puzzle and catch-up
Needs 3 people
Choose a collaborative puzzle from Google Arts & Culture and open it separately from the call. Talk while you work through the picture, then look up the artwork together. Check the game’s current sharing instructions before sending the puzzle link.
- Time to set aside
- 30–60 min
- Budget
- Free activity; internet needed
- Before you invite
- Pick a puzzle on Arts & Culture
How it works here
Nobody has to be the first to say yes.
- 1.Pick the idea and say how many people it needs.
- 2.Send one link to your people. They tap "Count me in".
- 3.It's on once enough of them are in. Everyone gets the invite, the place and a reminder.
If too few people join, it quietly does not happen. Nobody shows up alone, and nobody has to cancel anything.
Create a hangout onlineOr pick another activity
Twenty to choose from, or name your own. The form opens with it already picked.
Other guides
Things to do with friends at home
Things to do with friends on a budget
How to organise a volleyball game that actually happens
How to plan a dinner with friends that does not get postponed
How to organise a hike with friends
How to run a game night that people come back to
How to organise a football match with friends
Hangout ideas for two friends
Rainy-day hangout ideas with friends
Hangout ideas for a large group of friends
Plan an anime night with friends
What does “hang out” mean?
PowerPoint night ideas for friends
Things to do with friends without drinking
Questions people ask
What can long-distance friends do when schedules barely overlap?
Start with a short live catch-up rather than a long activity. Between calls, agree on a shared prompt such as a photo of your week, then bring those stories to the next hangout. Let friends skip a week without turning attendance into a test.
What can you do with friends online for free?
Play a game while you talk. Every hangout here opens a room with video, chat, screen sharing and sixteen games, free and in the browser, with nothing to install.
How do you keep a long distance friendship going?
Make it repeat and keep it small. A weekly slot with three people who can actually make it beats a big call that has to be organised from scratch every time.
Pick one and send the link.
Free, nothing to install, and it's on once your people are in.
Create a hangout onlineHow people use Let's Hang · Meeting in person · Game night online