Fun games to play at home in Dubai
With the UAE implementing a 24-hour sterilisation program across the country, we’ve all got the chance to spend a lot more time indoors and take a step back from our fast-paced lives. With so much of time on our hands, now is a great time to reconnect with loved ones and engage in some fun indoor activities together! Here’s a list of some great family games to play at home to help make the most of your time while social distancing in Dubai.
LIST OF INDOOR GAMES TO PLAY AT HOME WITH FAMILY THAT DON’T REQUIRE A BOARD
When asked “what are some fun indoor activities for adults?,” board games are usually the immediate answer. But what do you do when you don’t have any board games at home? We’ve got some fun solutions for you. Here are some great family games to play at home that don’t require any game boards
MINUTE-TO-WIN IT STYLE GAMES
No game board? No problem! You can use household items to create your own fun challenges which have to be completed in under one minute. Here’s how you can turn everyday items to create some fun minute to win it games to play at home.
- Plastic cup stack – If you have unused plastic cups lying around after that huge party, you can repurpose them for this game. The aim of the game is to perfectly stack the plastic cups into a tower under one minute.
- Face the cookie – This is a fun indoor game to play with kids. For this game, all you need is a cookie. To start the game, place a cookie on the player’s forehead and ask them to use only their face muscles to get it into their mouth. Players are not allowed to use their hands in this game, which makes it amusing and interesting.
- Shake it off – If you want to get active while playing games at home, Shake it off is a great minute-to-win-it style game. Just fill an empty tissue box with ping pong balls and then tape it around someone’s waist. The player then has to dance/shake until all the balls fall out.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. You can get creative and make your own minute-to-win-it style games with any unused items you may have at home.
PICTIONARY AND CHARADES
Pictionary and Charades are two of the best games to play at home for adults. These are classic games that guarantee fun for all those involved and don’t require a lot of planning or props; all you need is a paper and pen! These games are easy to play too. The main rule is you aren’t allowed to talk. You can only use your actions and drawing skills to communicate the movie/word to your team. For every correct guess, your team is allotted points.
The best way to play these family games at home is by dividing into teams. These games can be made more interesting by adding a wager like getting the losing team to clean all the dishes for a week!
MEMORY GAMES
If you are looking to play educational games at home, memory games are interactive and fun. With memory games you get to have fun and improve your memory. It’s particularly great if you have little ones in the house. For toddlers, you can have a simple colour matching game by colouring the underside of bottle caps. Have pairs of each colour and ask your child to match the colours accordingly. For the older kids, you can take it a step up by getting them to match the names of the colours with the colour itself, or, matching animal sounds with its respective animal.
ONLINE GAMES TO PLAY AT HOME WITH FRIENDS
Not being able to head out to meet your friends shouldn’t stop you from enjoying some quality time with them. Online gaming is one of the best online activities in Dubai to connect with friends or family who aren’t with you. Here are some online games to play at home with friends during quarantine, that guarantee a fun bonding session.
SKRIBBL
Can’t get enough of the traditional game of Pictionary? On skribble.io you can enjoy a virtual game of Pictionary with your friends at any time of the day! Just create a private room and set the parameters of the game like the number of rounds and time limit, and then share the link with your friends. Once all the players join the link, you can start your game.
This free multiplayer game, which can be accessed via phone and desktop, works just like Pictionary. Players are given a word which they must illustrate within the time limit. Other players must then correctly guess the word that is being illustrated. Points are awarded based on how quickly players can correctly guess the drawing. At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.
If your friends aren’t available, you can join a general game and play with people from around the world.
QUIZUP
Known to be ‘The Biggest Trivia Game in the World’, QuizUp helps you increase your general knowledge by challenging friends and players online.
On this online multiplayer game, users compete against each other over the course of seven rounds of timed multiple-choice questions of various topics. The game starts by choosing a topic of interest. Currently, there are over 1,200 topics available to users to choose from. After you pick a topic, you can either challenge a friend to a match or be paired against a random player, who may be in another country. Players earn points based on the accuracy and speed of their answer.
This is one of the most productive games to play with friends indoors as it helps you interact with friends and improve your knowledge skills. To start playing QuizUp, download it on your phone from the App Store or Google Play Store.
LUDO KING
Ludo is another classic game that can be played online with the help of the mobile app Ludo King. Available for free on the Google Play Store and App Store, Ludo King is a great way to pass the time with friends and family too. This free-to-play multiplayer game is just like the classic version of Ludo, where each player gets a chance to roll a dice and accordingly move forward their game piece. The first player to get all their game pieces to the final leg of the game, wins. You can play with two or four players and even initiate games with players from around the world. The app also has an option to play against a bot to help sharpen those ludo skills.
GAMES YOU CAN PLAY BY YOURSELF
If multiplayer games aren’t your cup of tea, here are some fun games to play at home by yourself that are educational and fun
DUOLINGO
Been holding off that new year’s resolution to learn a new language? With Duolingo, you can learn over 30+ languages, through interactive sessions. It’s available on mobile and desktop and can be accessed without charge. If you want to step it up, you can opt for the premium service for a fee.
When you start a language session with Duolingo, you can select your proficiency level, based on which you’ll be provided with a curated selection of bite-size learning sessions. The app gamifies learning by awarding points for every session you complete. You can even earn more points by completing daily goals. The app also allows you to connect with friends and see their progress in their language session.
4 PICS 1 WORD
4 Pics 1 Word is a puzzle-like game that tests your logical thinking. When you initiate the game, you’ll be presented with four pictures which all have something in common. Your goal is to find out what’s the common factor between all four pictures. Available for Android and iOS systems, the game has over 3,600 levels with never-ending updates. So, you’ll always have a challenge waiting for you when you open this application.
As you can see, there are plenty of great games which you can play at home to connect with friends and family, while being indoors. Another great way to pass the time during quarantine is trying out these online classes in the UAE and picking up a new skill like cooking, painting, etc.
If you are looking specifically for kids, here are some interactive kids activities to keep your little ones busy at home during social distancing.
What have you been doing to pass the time while at home? Let us know in the comments below! And if you want to stay updated with our most recent articles, subscribe to MyBayut.
