Games to play online with your grandchildren (or grandparents)
A video call with a six-year-old can run out of things to say in about four minutes. A game gives you something to do together, turn by turn, with plenty to talk about. Here's how to play a grandchild or a grandparent online for free, with no accounts and no downloads, and which games suit which ages.
By Brasslight Games ·
How it works: one link, no accounts
Every two-player game on Suvi has a page for playing a friend online. Open it and a game is made for you straight away, with a link and a short code. Send the link in a text message or an email, or read out the code during a phone call. When the other person opens it, the board appears on both screens and you take turns, each on your own device, wherever you both are.
Nobody signs up, gives an email address or downloads anything. It works in any up-to-date web browser, so Grandma can be on a tablet in Leeds and her grandson on his parents' laptop in Toronto. Only someone with your link or code can join, and once they are in, the room is full.
The best games for mixed ages are quick to explain, short enough for a young attention span, and still fun for the grown-up. Some we'd start with:
Four in a Row: drop counters, get four in a line. Simple enough for a young child, with enough tactics to keep an adult awake.
Dots and Boxes: the pencil-and-paper classic. Join two dots on your turn, finish a box to score and go again.
Sea Battle: hide your fleet, then take turns calling shots. Lots of suspense and lots of shrieking.
Mini golf, darts and bowling: aim and flick. No rules to learn, and luck helps the youngest win now and then.
Checkers and chess: for older children, teenagers and grandparents who fancy a proper rivalry. Online games have no clock, so nobody is rushed.
Doodle Guess: one person draws, the others guess, for two to four players. The only game here for more than two, so it suits a cousins' get-together.
There are more on our games to play online with friends page, including a race on the same daily puzzle for a grandparent and a teenager who both like word games.
Setting it up the first time
The first game is the only fiddly one, and it helps to do it with a phone call going so you can talk each other through it.
Choose the game together beforehand, so nobody spends the call looking for it.
Whoever is more confident opens the page and sends the link. Children usually have a parent's phone or tablet; a quick message to the parent with the link works well.
Put the call on speaker or use a second device for the video, so the game has the whole screen.
Add the game to your home screen afterwards (your browser's share or menu button), so next time it is one tap away.
If a link won't open, read out the short code instead. Codes use no vowels and no characters that look alike, so they are easy to say and type.
Keeping it fun for both sides
Let the younger player choose the game. Children enjoy a game more when it was their idea, and you'll learn which ones they like. Keep games short and stop while it's still fun: three quick games of Four in a Row beat one long game of chess that ends in tears.
When there is a big gap in skill, there are a few gentle ways to even it up. Pick games with some luck in them, such as Sea Battle or the sports games. Talk through your own moves out loud so a child learns why, not just what. And it's fine to let a small person win sometimes, as long as you don't make it obvious.
For teenagers, flip it round: ask them to teach you their favorite. Being the expert for once is a treat, and you'll get a proper game out of it. The running score that rematches keep can turn into a family fixture: the Sunday Four in a Row championship has a nice ring to it.
Playing in the same room
When you are together, every board and sports game also plays two on one device: choose Two players and pass it back and forth. And for a grandchild who wants a game when nobody is free, each one plays the computer at three levels, from Easy up.
Word games and puzzles work across the generations too. Doing today's Word Search or Mini Crossword at the same time and comparing notes on a call is a gentle way to share something every day, and every daily puzzle is the same for everyone.
Safety, in plain words
Suvi is made for grown-ups, and everything on it stays within a PEGI 12 rating: no gambling, no adult content and nothing frightening. For a child, the right way to use it is the way this article describes: playing with a grown-up they know, who sets up the game.
Online play is invite-only. There is no lobby of strangers to join, no typed chat and no photos. In a game you can only send a few ready-made messages, such as hello, nice one and good game. Nothing anyone types is shown to anyone else, except a guess in the drawing game, which must be a real dictionary word. Player names are letters only and are checked, and the person who opened a room can remove a player. You can read the details on our safety page.
There are no pop-up adverts in any game, and playing someone online is free.
Questions
Does my grandchild need an account to play?
No. Neither of you signs up for anything. One of you opens the game's page for playing a friend online and sends the link; the other opens it and the game starts.
Can we play on different devices?
Yes. One of you can be on a phone and the other on a tablet, a laptop or a desktop computer. Anything with an up-to-date web browser works.
Can strangers join our game?
No. Only someone with your link or code can join, a game is for two players (four in the drawing game), and there is no public lobby.
What if the connection drops?
The game waits five minutes for whoever dropped out. Open the same link again, or reload the page, and you carry on where you left off.
Which game is best for a young child?
Four in a Row and Dots and Boxes are the easiest to explain, and the sports games need no rules at all. Try a game together on one device first, then play online.
Play on Suvi
Four in a Row — Drop discs, line up four. Play the computer or a friend on the same screen.
Dots and Boxes — Draw lines, close boxes, take another turn. Play the computer or a friend on the same screen.
Sea Battle — Hide your fleet, hunt theirs. Play the computer, or a friend online, each on your own device.
Checkers — Jump, capture, crown a king. Play the computer or a friend on the same screen.
Chess — Full chess for two: play the computer, a friend on one screen or online, with or without a clock.
Doodle Guess — Draw for your friends, guess theirs: 2–4 players, each on their own device.
Mini Golf — Six holes of crazy golf: banks, sand, water and a windmill. Play the computer or a friend.