Party games on the TV with phones as controllers

Updated October 6, 2026 · 5 min read

The best party games put one shared screen in front of the room and a private screen in every hand. The TV shows the question, the drawing or the race; your phone holds your answer, your cards or your controls. You do not need a console or a drawer of controllers for this. A TV with a web browser and the phones already in everyone's pocket are enough.

How to set it up

On the TV, open the browser and go to knockoutonlinegames.com/tv. A code appears on screen.
On your phone, scan the code. The TV becomes the table and the phones become the players.
Pick a game from your phone. Everyone else scans the same code, or opens the invite link, and joins on their own phone.

No browser on the TV? Be the TV turns a laptop, a tablet or a spare phone into the table; plug the laptop into the TV or just prop the tablet up where everyone can see it. If you have already started a room, Show on a TV in the game's lobby puts that room up on the big screen.

There are two kinds of TV games, and they work slightly differently:

Table games show the room on the TV while everyone plays on their own phone: quiz shows, drawing and writing games, social deduction, even board and card games. Hands stay private on the phones.
Controller games run on the TV, and your phone becomes the controller: Add device, then Phone as controller. In the sports games you swing the phone, flick it or roll it. A standard game controller works too, alongside the phones.

Game shows: the safest opener

If you only try one thing, start with a game show. Everyone already knows how they work, they look great on a big screen, and nobody has to be funny or good at drawing.

Quiz Board: six categories, five clues each. Pick a clue, buzz in on your phone, bet big on a Wager tile and win the Final Wager. One to six players.
Top Answers: name the crowd's most popular answers. Two teams race to the buzzer, flip the board and dodge three strikes, then go for the Final Dash jackpot.
Trivia Night: a live quiz for the whole room, two to ten players. Answer fast and climb the leaderboard, or play Quiz Show with phones as buzzers.
Spin to Win: the word puzzle show. Swipe the wheel, call consonants, buy vowels and solve before anyone else.

Writing and drawing games

Once the room is warmed up, move to games where players make the content. These get funnier as the night goes on, because the group starts writing for each other.

Punchline: everyone writes the funniest answer they can to prompts on their phone, then the answers face off and the room votes.
Doodle Bluff: draw a weird secret prompt, write fake titles for everyone else's drawings, then spot the real one.
Most Likely: who is most likely to get lost on the way to their own party? Everyone votes on their phone and the tallies roll in on the TV. Great with three to twelve.
Tint Hint: the clue giver picks one square from a grid of 480 colors and gives a one-word clue. Everyone places a marker, and the TV shows who landed closest.
Great Minds, This or That and Hat Trick are three more crowd-pleasers; Hat Trick is the team game for big groups, with the same names coming out three rounds in a row.

Sports and motion games

Controller games turn the living room into a bowling alley or a boxing ring. Hand out phones, stand back from the coffee table, and keep a grip on your phone.

Bowling: ten-pin on a 3D lane. Swing your phone like a real ball, or flick to bowl. Up to four.
Kart Dash: 3D kart racing with the screen split for everyone on the couch.
Table Tennis: swing your phone like a paddle and time it; a rising swing is topspin. First to 11.
Field Day: six sports-day events and a medal table, from the sack race to tug of war, for up to four.
Darts, Knockout Boxing and Ring Out round out the list: throw your phone like a dart, punch with it, or knock friends off the stage.

For big groups: social deduction

With eight or more people, hidden-role games are hard to beat. Everyone gets their secret role on their own phone, so there is no peeking, and the TV keeps track of votes and rounds.

Inside Job: the Host knows the secret word, and so does the Mole hiding in the crew. Find the word with yes-or-no questions, then vote out the Mole.
Odd Artist: everyone adds one line to a shared drawing, but one of you has no idea what it is.
Palace Plot: loyal courtiers, secret plotters and one hidden usurper, for five to ten.

Tips from a lot of game nights

Charge phones beforehand, or keep a cable near the couch. Motion games use the screen and sensors.
Put the TV's volume up. The game shows have sound for buzzers and reveals, and it makes a big difference.
Give the quiet ones a writing game. Everyone answers privately on their own phone, so the shy player gets the same stage as the loudest one, and is often the funniest.
Let newcomers watch one round. A game show explains itself on screen in about a minute.
Keep a family pick ready. Low Blow has an 18+ After Dark deck and a Party deck for everyone; check which one is on before the kids join.
Mix lengths. A ten-minute quiz between two longer games keeps the energy up.

Friends who are not in the room

A TV game does not have to be local only. Friends elsewhere can open the same room's invite link and play on their phones while the TV shows the table to everyone on the couch. Add a party with voice chat and they can hear the room. For a whole evening plan, see Game night ideas for groups of every size; for games that work best over distance, see Games to play with long-distance friends and on a video call.