Party games

Party games where your phone is the controller

A phone-as-controller party game shows the action on one shared screen and turns each player's phone into their controller. On Bossfeed you open a game on a TV or laptop, everyone scans the QR code, and you are playing in under a minute.

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Play a party game

How it works

  1. Open a game on the big screen. Use any screen with a web browser that everyone can see: a smart TV, a laptop plugged into the TV with an HDMI cable (the usual TV video cable), or a browser tab cast to the TV from a phone or laptop. It shows a room code and a QR code.
  2. Everyone scans the QR code. Point a phone camera at it, or type the room code, then pick a name. That takes under a minute for a full room.
  3. Play toward the screen. The phone is the controller and the TV is the show, so people look up and at each other.

What the phone does in each game

Because the phone is a full touchscreen with a keyboard, it becomes whatever controller the game needs. In phone-as-controller play, also called second-screen play, that looks like this:

  • Marble Rush: a steering control for left and right.
  • Surviversus!: a thumb stick plus one button.
  • Boss Draw: a drawing canvas with colors, brush sizes and undo, then a text box for guesses.
  • Boss's Bluff: a text box for your lie, then a list to vote from.
  • Final Boss Fiesta: a dice button on your turn, then a stick and one button for the minigames.
  • Board Game Night: your own cards or pieces, so private hands stay private.

What you need

  • One screen everyone can see, with a web browser. A smart TV works, a laptop on an HDMI cable is the most reliable, and casting a browser tab also works. See smart TV browsers and screen casting.
  • A phone for each player, on any current browser.
  • A decent connection. Same wi-fi is simplest, but any connection works because the room is joined by code.

Keeping the controls quick

Every tap travels from the phone to the screen, so delay matters. The word for it is latency. Keep phones near the router, pause big downloads, and keep the host device plugged in and awake. If a game feels sluggish, move the host to a laptop with a cable.

Couch multiplayer without the controllers

Couch co-op used to mean one controller per player, which capped the room at around four. Phones lift that cap, so eight people can share a couch game in a browser, and nobody has to buy anything. That is the main idea behind local multiplayer on Bossfeed.

Our party games

Marble Rush

Marble race · 1 to 8 players · about 2 minutes a race

Thirty-two marbles pour down a mountain course on the big screen. Each phone steers a team of four, nudging one marble at a time left or right and switching to whichever of yours is furthest ahead. Short, loud and easy to join mid-evening.

Play Marble Rush

Surviversus!

Survival arena · 1 to 8 players · about 6 minutes a match

A cartoon survival battle royale. Steer with one thumb while your weapon fires on its own, pick a power-up each time you level, and outlive a closing storm. Also plays solo against bots, and the menu opens on a public 30-player Royale.

Play Surviversus!

Boss Draw

Draw and guess · 2 to 8 players · about 20 minutes

One player picks a secret word and draws it with a finger on their phone while the TV shows the canvas. Everyone else races to type the answer. Hints appear late in the turn, and the game plays in ten languages, including English, Spanish, French and Chinese.

Play Boss Draw

Boss's Bluff

Bluffing trivia · 2 to 8 players · about 12 minutes

A prompt about history or art appears on the TV with a blank in it. Everyone secretly writes a believable lie on their phone, the TV mixes the lies in with the real answer, and the room votes for what it thinks is true. You score for spotting the truth and for every person your lie fools.

Play Boss's Bluff

Final Boss Fiesta

Party board game · 1 to 8 players · 15 to 40 minutes a board

Roll the dice on your phone and hop around a picnic-park board on the TV, then everyone plays a quick minigame. Win minigames for Gems, spend Gems on Trophies, and most Trophies wins. Bots fill empty seats.

Play Final Boss Fiesta

Board Game Night

Table games · 1 or more players · varies by game

Chess, checkers, Four in a Row, Texas Hold'em, FINAL, a memory match and more. Play solo against bots, pass one phone around, or put the board on a TV and join from phones.

Play Board Game Night

Questions people ask

Which phones work?

Any phone with a current web browser, iPhone or Android. There is nothing to install.

Does it work on a smart TV?

If the TV has a web browser, open the game page on it and it becomes the shared screen. A laptop connected to the TV with an HDMI cable, or a casted browser tab, works just as well.

Can I play alone?

Surviversus and Final Boss Fiesta play solo against bots, and Marble Rush and Board Game Night also work with one player. Boss's Bluff and Boss Draw need at least two.

What if a scan does not work?

Type the room code shown on the screen into the join page instead. It is the same room.

Keep reading

Jackbox Games, Kahoot and other names mentioned here belong to their owners, and Bossfeed is not connected to them. Rules and prices of other products change, so check their sites.