Party games when you have no dice, cards or bottle
Most party games need a prop nobody brought. A deck of cards, two dice, something to spin, a way of keeping score — all of it is replaceable by one phone in the middle of the table, provided everyone can see the screen.
This page covers which tool replaces which prop, and the setup details that decide whether a game keeps moving or stalls into an argument.
Which tool replaces which prop
Five tools cover the props a games night usually turns out to be missing.
Choosing who goes next
Enter everyone playing and spin to pick a person, or switch to pair mode when the game needs two. Because the players are named, it works on a video call and at a table too crowded to spin anything.
Turn on avoid-last-pick for groups of four or more. Back-to-back repeats are the fastest way to make a game feel rigged, and exclusions let someone sit a round out without being deleted from the list.
Spin the Bottle OnlinePlaying without a deck
Cards are dealt from a real deck structure, so a card that has been dealt is gone until you reset. Games that depend on cards being used up behave correctly rather than repeating.
Turn on manual reveal for anything with suspense, and stack several decks when a large group would otherwise run the deck dry mid-round.
Random Card GeneratorBoard games with missing dice
Two six-sided dice is what almost every board game in the cupboard asks for, and both faces are shown alongside the total so backgammon and Monopoly both work.
Agree before you start whether your game moves on the total or on each die separately, because it changes how doubles are handled.
Roll Two Dice OnlineSettling a two-way choice
Assign a side to each option out loud, then flip. For anything that matters, use best-of with an odd number of tosses so one unlucky flip does not decide the evening.
Hidden reveal is worth turning on with an audience — the result lands as a moment instead of a flicker.
Coin Flip OnlineKeeping score across rounds
Add each player or team and set point buttons to the values your game actually awards, so a single press is correct. Undo reverses the last entry when somebody presses the wrong button.
Put the presentation view on a TV if you have one and keep the controller view on your own phone, so the audience sees the score rather than the controls; accidental score changes still need to be undone.
Online ScoreboardSetting up so the game keeps moving
Enter every player once, at the start, and use exclusions when someone steps out. Deleting and retyping names between rounds is what actually kills the pace of a games night.
Decide the rules of the mechanism before the first round: whether winners come off the wheel, whether the previous player can be picked again, what a tie means. Changing any of that after a result people dislike is how arguments start.
Playing with people who are not in the room
Every tool can be shared as a link, which is the difference between a video call game and everyone reporting their own rolls. Both sides then read the same result.
Who can act on a shared session depends on its access settings and the roles you hand out, so a viewing link lets people follow along without taking over the game.
What the tools do not supply
None of them provide game content. There are no truth or dare prompts, no quiz questions and no rules — the spinner picks a person and the deck deals cards, and the game itself stays with you.
Nothing here is a gambling device. There are no odds, no stakes and no certified record of results, so keep it to games where the prize is who washes up.
Party game questions
How do we play spin the bottle without a bottle?
Enter the players by name and spin. Because the tool picks from a named list rather than pointing in a direction, it works on a phone in the middle of the table or over a video call.
Can we play card games without a deck of cards?
Yes. Cards are dealt from 1 to 8 combined decks with jokers optional, and dealt cards are removed until you reset, so the deck depletes the way a physical one does.
Does it come with truth or dare questions?
No. The spinner chooses who goes next; the prompts, dares and rules come from your group.
How do we pick two people at once?
Use pair mode on the bottle spinner. One spin selects two players, which is safer than spinning twice because a single spin cannot return the same person for both slots.
How many people can play?
Up to 50 named players on the bottle spinner and up to 50 teams or players on the scoreboard, which is well beyond what fits around a table.