Our guide to the best iMessage games is here to offer some ways to play with your pals while you’re texting. From classic pool to some truly engaging word games, this list has something for everyone, and better still, almost all the entries are free to play. With the increasing popularity of mobile gaming, iMessage games provide a unique way to bond with friends and family through friendly competition, while also enjoying the convenience of messaging.
For more titles perfect for lifting up a boring afternoon, check out our picks for the best Jackbox games, party games, rhythm games, bowling games, basketball games, and golf games. Or, if you’re someone who prefers picking up handfuls of cards, see our list of the best mobile card games. Who knows, maybe you can convince the family to play Magic the Gathering?
Here are the best iMessage games:
- Cobi Hoops
- Game Pigeon
- Boggle With Friends
- Chess42
- 8 Ball Pool
- Hang Man
- Letter Fridge
- Truth Truth Lie
- Trivia Crack
Cobi Hoops
There’s nothing like shooting hoops with friends, and Cobi Hoops allows you to do that even on a rainy day with no basketball court for miles. In this game, you can take on your friends and the clock as you race to land as many baskets as possible in thirty seconds, with the winner unlocking new courts and player costumes to keep things interesting.
With a bonus game mode to keep your hoop shooting skills up to par, there’s plenty of scope for talking smack to your friends while showing them how to throw for three-pointers.
Game Pigeon
Game Pigeon’s compendium of games has plenty of options for taking on your friends, from shooting pool to aiming for the bullseye in darts. It’s a pretty experience, as most iMessage games are, but these minigames can be real time killers if you’re looking to play something with a pal without booting up your console.
Better still, new games arrive in Game Pigeon regularly, so by the time you’re reading this, there’s probably already something new to check out. So, get to it!
Boggle with Friends
Ah, Boggle. You can’t go wrong with Boggle. Boggle with Friends offers exactly what it says on the tin, a mobile version of the classic game you can pick up and play with your friends via iMessage. It’s that simple.
It doesn’t sound too competitive, but anyone who’s played with family or friends will know that Boggle quickly turns even the closest of relatives into enemies. So if you’re willing to risk a fallout with grandma, this might be the one for you.
Chess42
Like many of the titles on our list of the best iMessage games, there are no prizes for guessing what Chess42 consists of. The best thing about Chess42 is that there’s no messing around, no sign-up or account necessary, you just need a contact with the game installed and you’re ready to go.
Still, if this slightly light-on-content app doesn’t get your brain going, maybe something in our play chess guide might. That list includes some Chess-inspired puzzle games to really get the brain working.
8 Ball Pool
8 Ball Pool is the iMessage version of the classic Miniclip game with all the fun bits left in. You can take on your friends and contacts with a wide selection of fancy balls and cues, or even take part in tournaments, all while you trash-talk your friends over messages.
While other iMessage games might include pool as an option, 8 Ball Pool is still the best in the business for potting stripes and solids. Plus, it’s a nice touch of nostalgia for those of us who grew up playing Miniclip games.
Hang_Man
It’s one of the oldest word games going, so old that most of us played with pen and paper long before making the leap to mobile, but that doesn’t mean Hang_Man still isn’t a fun word game worthy of taking on with friends.
With single-player, two-player, and online options, there are multiple ways for you to engage with this morbid puzzler. Better still, Hang_Man has separate categories for the word in question, so you can customize the way you want to play.
Letter Fridge
Letter Fridge is your classic word search with a difference. As the name suggests,
