What to do with friends: 9 ideas that actually work

There's always that moment, around the second drink: the news has been shared, the work stories are done, and a silence settles in. Nobody is actually bored, but the evening has lost its momentum. That's exactly when you need something to do — not a fully planned night, just one idea that gets everyone going again.

Here are nine ideas that genuinely work with friends, from the simplest to the most ambitious. None of them need special equipment, and most work just as well around the same table as they do remotely.

1. The game where everyone suggests a video (and chance decides)

The idea is almost too simple, which is exactly why it works: everyone suggests a video from their phone — a music clip, a famous scene, three minutes of nonsense — and a random draw decides which one you all watch. It starts at the same moment on the main screen and on everyone's phone.

What makes it good isn't the video: it's the draw itself. There's a little burst of suspense every three minutes, nobody hogs the selection, and above all nobody is responsible for the choice — so nobody gets judged on their taste. That's what makes people brave enough to suggest anything.

That's the whole idea behind AperoRoom: it takes a minute to start, with no app to install.

2. A homemade music quiz

Three seconds of intro, and the first person to name it scores. All you need is a speaker and a bit of bad faith. The trick to making it last: mix eras and genres, otherwise the same people win every round.

Doing it remotely is slightly trickier — everyone has to hear the track at the same instant. We cover how in our guide to the online music quiz with friends.

The theme-tune variant

TV and cartoon theme tunes are lethal: everyone has the reference, even the ones who "know nothing about music". It's the variant that makes the most noise.

3. Improvised karaoke

No machine needed: instrumental versions with on-screen lyrics exist for almost everything. The only real secret is to open with a song everyone can sing together — otherwise nobody goes first. Our guide to online karaoke with friends explains how to handle the lag when people aren't in the same room.

4. Questions that get people talking

"What's the worst thing you've ever bought?", "Worst holiday memory?". One question per round, everyone answers. It sounds basic, but it produces the best evenings: you learn things about people you've known for fifteen years.

5. The photo quiz

Everyone digs out a photo from their phone — an old school picture, a failed meal, a place — and the others guess the story behind it. Zero preparation, and it usually ends in tears of laughter.

6. The collaborative playlist

Everyone adds two tracks and you listen in order. Watch out for the classic trap: ten minutes in, one person has added fifteen songs and the playlist is now their personal taste. If you want it to stay fair, you need a system where each person only has one suggestion in play at a time.

7. Reaction videos

You watch something nobody has seen before, and you comment as it goes. It's the format that works best when the group is tired and doesn't feel like "playing" anything. More on it in reaction videos with friends.

8. Blind tasting

Three beers, three crisps, three chocolates: taste them blindfolded and guess. It costs almost nothing and fills a good half hour. Works especially well with products everyone is sure they can recognise.

9. The remote get-together, done properly

When half the group has moved away, the evening doesn't stop: it changes shape. The sensitive part is synchronisation — if everyone hits play on their own, you end up ten seconds apart and every reaction lands at the wrong moment. Our article on watching videos together remotely compares the methods that actually work.

How to choose, depending on the group

A small group who know each other well

The talking questions and the photo quiz. You're in intimate territory — the conversation does the work.

A large group, or people who barely know each other

The video draw and the music quiz. These are the two formats where nobody has to speak up to take part — which is what unlocks the shy ones and the newcomers.

A group scattered across the country

Anything synchronised: shared videos, karaoke, music quiz. What matters is that the moment is lived at the same time, otherwise it's not a get-together, it's a phone call.

The one thing to remember

The best evenings aren't the most planned ones: they're the ones where everybody can put something forward without having to impose it. That's the whole idea of participatory video — everyone drops a coin in the machine, and the group discovers the result together.

If you want to try the simplest version, it takes a minute: start your apéro, share the link, and let chance handle the programme.