Play These Virtual Games With Your BFFs When You Can't Spend St. Paddy's Day Together
There's rarely a holiday you and your BFFs don't celebrate together. As a crew, you dress up like your favorite TV show characters for Halloween, cook a yummy meal for Friendsgiving, and swap flowers on Galentine's Day. Despite most likely not being in the same room this year, the tradition will continue on St. Patrick's Day with virtual St. Patrick's Day games and a shenanigan-filled Zoom call.
Although you'd love to spend the holidays with each other in person, you know it's much safer to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines, and celebrate in your individual homes. The CDC notes that virtual celebrations help to prevent you and others from contracting and/or spreading the coronavirus, which is still deeply impacting the world. Of course, this gives you the opportunity to get creative and virtually hang out with all the members of your friend group, no matter how far away they live, and play these virtual St. Patrick's Day games that are pure gold.
To get started with the shenanigans, you'll first want to read the rules for "Shamrock, Paper, Scissors" or "My Lucky Charms" a few days prior to your virtual hang. Gather any items you need to play these virtual St. Patrick's Day games. You may want to distribute the rules to your BFFs ahead of time, too. Then, plan the Zoom meeting, and get ready to have the raddest virtual gathering yet.
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01"Shamrock, Paper, Scissors"
"Rock, Paper, Scissors" is a classic game to play with your BFFs, and this version gives it a spirited twist. To play, you'll want to set up a bracket with your crew. The bracket will help you decide who's facing whom, and ultimately pick a winner. During each round, all BFFs should watch one face-off at a time so there's no confusion.
Here's the catch: The loser of each face-off has to add a song to a paddy playlist that the winner will get to name and distribute to the other members of your crew. This playlist can be played during your next virtual gathering, say, for a birthday, holiday, or post-work happy hour.
02"Color Me Green"
Your friends will never turn down an opportunity to be artsy, which is why you should play "Color Me Green." This game is an at-home Instagram photo shoot combined with a contest. To start, you'll want to split your crew up into pairs. Each duo gets five minutes to plan out a photo shoot idea, and 10 more to gather the supplies they may need and get dressed. There's only one rule: The color green must make an appearance in the final photo.
Each duo can use FaceTime or Zoom to snap their photos, and hop on a separate call from the virtual party if needed. Once the photos have been taken, each pair gets 10 more minutes to edit and post their photo on Instagram, along with the caption, "Who did it better? One like is one vote," and the other pairs' handles. At the end of your party, see who has the most likes and is, therefore, the winner.
03"Those Hoppy Days"
The hoppiest days are still ahead of you and your BFFs who are 21 and over. You haven't played "Those Hoppy Days" yet, which is a virtual beer tasting designed by your BFFs. It goes like this: Each friend picks a drink that every other friend should grab at the store or via Drizly ahead of time. They could choose drinks they already enjoy, or one with Irish ties like a Guinness Extra Sout ($3, Drizly), or a St. Patrick's Day vibe like Angry Orchard's Green Apple Hard Cider ($2, Drizly).
Once everyone has joined the FaceTime or Zoom, you'll taste-test the drinks as a group and give them a rating. Snacks like chocolate-covered pretzels with green sprinkles, and potato skins are encouraged.
04"My Lucky Charms"
You feel so lucky to have your BFFs in your life. They're always down to spend hours on FaceTime or Zoom, and play exciting games you found on the internet. Play "My Lucky Charms" on your St. Patrick's Day Zoom by having each BFF buy a box of Lucky Charms cereal ($3, Target) and put aside the marshmallows.
During your gathering, have each friend take a turn picking a marshmallow out of their separate stash. Each one represents a different activity that friend will have to do. So, if you pick a shooting star, you have to do a TikTok dance on camera.
The pot of gold means send a friend a dollar on Venmo, and the moon means write down an affirmation. If you pick a heart, say something you love about a BFF, and if you pick a rainbow, post on your Instagram story. Got a red balloon? Reveal a truth. Got a shamrock? Take a sip of your drink. The horseshoe is a "skip," and the unicorn is a wild card.
05"Finding Gold"
Do you and your pals play Animal Crossing: New Horizons ($60, GameStop) on your Nintendo Switches? If so, then you know the golden nuggets are a rare and amazing find. Leading up to your virtual St. Patrick's Day hang, collect a bunch of them by hitting rocks with a shovel or axe, and then hide your collection around your island for your BFFs to find.
During your virtual hang, use a Nintendo Switch Online trial or membership to visit your BFFs' islands. Go hunting for gold and see who ends up with the biggest "pot" at the end of the party.
06"Clover Conversations"
If you haven't already heard, PowerPoint parties are in. (They're the best way to get your friends laughing and talking about the most random topics like which Disney character each friend is.) For St. Patrick's Day, play "Clover Conversations," and ask each of your BFFs to prepare a funny PowerPoint presentation related to the holiday. Their topics could be "Rating My Favorite Shades of Green," or "How to Prepare the Best Potato Dish." Their slides can feature all the best memes and GIFs, too.
07"Spring Shenanigans"
Spring has almost sprung, so you may want to take your virtual St. Patrick's Day event outside. That's totally fine, because you and your BFFs can play "Spring Shenanigans" in your individual backyards.
Essentially, this game is a spring-themed obstacle course. The steps include: decorating a cupcake with a clover, mixing a St. Patrick's Day drink, tossing a horseshoe, and unwrapping five chocolate gold coins. The friend to complete it all first, wins.
