Story games to play with friends online
Six writing games you can play with friends, in person or online: exquisite corpse, round-robin stories, one word at a time, and more, with simple rules for each.
Long before group chats, people were writing stories together for fun. Some of these games are a hundred years old, some were invented at sleepovers, and all of them work just as well online. You need no talent for writing, only a willingness to see where the story goes.
Here are six that are easy to start, with rules you can explain in a sentence.
1. Round-robin story
How it works: one person writes the opening, a paragraph or a scene, and passes it to the next person, who continues. Round and round until the story ends.
Why it’s fun: everyone sees the whole story, so it stays coherent, but nobody controls where it goes. Each writer inherits a surprise and leaves one for the next.
Good for: groups of two to eight who want a story they would actually want to reread.
Tip: end your turn on a hook, such as a question, a sound, or a decision someone has to make. It gives the next writer something to grab.
2. Exquisite corpse
How it works: the classic surrealist game. Each person writes a line or a paragraph but can only see the last sentence of what came before. At the end, you read the whole thing aloud.
Why it’s fun: the result is strange, funny and occasionally beautiful. It was invented by artists in the 1920s and is still one of the best party games for writers and non-writers alike.
Good for: laughter, not polished stories.
Online tip: the writer can copy just the last sentence into the group chat for the next person, so nobody peeks.
3. One sentence each
How it works: everyone takes turns adding exactly one sentence. No more.
Why it’s fun: it is fast, it keeps everyone involved, and the limit forces you to make every sentence count.
Good for: a quick game at the end of a call, or with children.
4. Three-word turns
How it works: like one sentence each, but every turn is exactly three words. "The door opened." "Nobody was there." "Except the cat."
Why it’s fun: the story jumps in unexpected directions, and finishing a sentence together feels like a small victory.
Good for: younger players and very short attention spans.
5. The first-line challenge
How it works: everyone gets the same first line, writes a short continuation on their own, and then you read them all out.
Why it’s fun: it is amazing how differently one sentence can grow. Vote for a favourite and continue that one together as a round-robin.
Good for: writing groups and classrooms. You can borrow first lines from our list of 100 story starters.
6. Character relay
How it works: each person creates one character with a name, a want and a secret. The story then passes around, and each writer must bring their own character into the scene.
Why it’s fun: everybody has someone to root for, and the collisions between characters write the plot for you.
Good for: longer stories that will run over days or weeks.
Playing online
Most of these games need just two things: a way to see what has been written, and a way to know whose turn it is. A shared document works, but it is easy for two people to type at once or for someone to "fix" another person’s sentence by accident.
marie was made for turn-based writing. One person holds the pen at a time and everyone else watches the words appear live. You can only change your own words, and friends react and leave notes instead. When someone passes the pen, everyone gets a notification, so the game keeps moving even when you are not all online together. When you are done, export the story as a PDF to keep.