Corona pandemic
You can do that with friends online
At the moment, friends often only see each other via video chat
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Due to Corona, it is not possible to spend a successful evening with many friends in person. The network offers these alternatives.
The corona pandemic has made it difficult or even impossible to meet friends for months – especially in larger groups. If you are looking for alternatives to pass the time in lockdown at least online, you will find seven ideas here that might be suitable.
Just talk again
Many already know it from their new everyday office life, but why not use the technical possibilities in their free time? Video chats and conferences using tools such as Zoom are now often just a part of it, and in many cases a smartphone or tablet is sufficient for participation, as many providers provide corresponding apps. There are countless alternatives here to see each other while having a nice chat. The free offers from Skype and Google Meet enable video calls with up to 100 participants. This is also possible to a smaller extent via FaceTime, WhatsApp or other solutions. And when the simple online conversation gets boring, the whole thing can be spiced up. For example, why not have a small fashion show?
It could also be exciting to try out the popular "Clubhouse" app, which is based on audio content. Here users can take part in conversations with people from all over the world or just listen. However, problems could arise because the app has so far only been available for iOS and not everyone has free access to the clubhouse, which can currently only be entered at the invitation of a contact who is already there or via a waiting list.
Movie night and escape room
A movie evening with friends is always entertaining. At the end of last year, Amazon Prime Video introduced the "Watch Party" function. Thanks to browser extensions like "Teleparty", which became known as "Netflix Party", this is also possible with other streaming services like Netflix. Friends can watch films and series at the same time. If, for example, a participant presses pause, playback is stopped for all. However, the different alternatives usually only offer a text chat – and the whole thing is only really fun if you are also in a voice chat at the same time.
Before the corona pandemic, so-called escape rooms were very popular. Participants are locked in a room and have to solve puzzles in order to be able to escape within a certain time limit. Crime dinners, which involve solving murder cases, were also popular. Variants of this – such as the "Exit" series from Kosmos – are also available for use at home, but they are often difficult or impossible to play over the Internet. That is why there are now online alternatives, for example from "locked-adventures.de", "Culinario Mortale" or "Stadthelden".
Cooking classes and betrayal
Cooking together can be a real event. But what if you can't cook at all? Virtual online cooking courses such as "München kocht!" or "Grouking" are possible. Here, participants are usually connected to cooking professionals via video conference and are taught how to conjure up tasty menus. With some offers, users even get the ingredients sent in advance, in other cases they have to be obtained by themselves.
Many people urgently need stress relief in Corona times. So why not have a yoga class together via video conference? But where do you start if you have no idea about it? There are numerous offers on the Internet, such as free on YouTube. Friends who are also connected via voice or video chat can watch the corresponding clips together using alternatives such as "Watch2Gether". Group courses can also be booked online in many places.
Last but not least, a game night is of course predestined. Many board games are available as video game variants that can be played with and against each other online. Countless other video games also offer multiplayer modes. How about a round of "Among Us" (PC, Smartphones), for example, which was released in 2018, but has become a real hit in the past few months. Among a group of astronauts who are trying to survive, one or more impostors mingle who must secretly try to kill the other players.