Most of us had only heard how the Spanish flu or the plague rattled the world in the early 20th century. The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the entire world and its the first time that most of us have seen how a micro-organism can force the entire humanity to bend on its knees. Industries like Automobile, Tourism, E-commerce have been completely shut down and only the essential goods manufacturers are operating along with healthcare workers and police to fight and help slow the spread of the deadly virus. While most of us are in a complete lockdown and practising social distancing it has been very difficult to deal with this sudden solitary confinement. All of our travel plans, rooms booked in hotel and flight tickets stand cancelled. No longer can the couples book a room in hotels and spend time with their partners neither the businessman can travel for business meets since all the hotels and transport in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and other major cities are completely shut down. Many of us have been stranded alone in faraway cities and are very bored due to this loneliness. After all, Man is a social animal.
While a few of us from the gaming community are well adept to such circumstances and can spend several hours in a day playing their favourite games, the majority of our friends and family are getting bored with nothing to do at home. Well, don't lose hope as we, the gamers, are here to save the world from boredom. We have come up with a list of Top 10 multiplayer games from each platform like android, iPhone, PC and console that can be played over the internet. Just hang in there folks and invite your friends and family and socialise. You don't need to be an expert gamer to play some of these, just try them and who knows you would be the next online sensation streaming your content over YouTube or Twitch.
Let's get started with the list ranked on ease of playing from most easy to difficult.
1) LudoKing- One of the best board games of the 90s is now available on android and iOS. Developed by Gametion Technologies Pvt Ltd, a maximum 4 players can play this game which consists of 4 tokens for each player. A dice is used to move the tokens out of the designated houses around the board and the first player to lodge his all 4 tokens is called the Ludo King. The game isn't very tactical and is just meant for fun. Anyone and everyone can play it. The game isn't too demanding and can be played on any android or iPhone hardware. Just ring up your friends and meet up online. If your friends aren't available you can also play with a bot and pass the time.
2) UNO- UNO is one of the most simple yet entertaining card games. We all have our memories where we spent hours playing UNO with family in our hotel room near the beach while on vacation or with friends while travelling by train. This classic card game that we have played numerous times during house parties, get-togethers is now available as an online multiplayer game. The PC version from Ubisoft Entertainment has in-game video chat support making it the foremost choice to play with your friends. The PC version on stream costs only Rs 499. Free UNO games are also available on the Play Store and App Store.
3) QuizUp- QuizUp is a trivia app that matches random strangers from around the world to compete on a clocked quiz on several topics. The best part of QuizUp is that it has a huge array of topics to choose from and is suitable for almost all age groups. What makes QuizUp more exciting is that it also has a social network that lets you add and communicate with people that are like-minded and who share your love for a certain genre. QuizUp is more suitable for those who think gaming is not their cup of tea. Come on geeks, show the whole world who's the boss.
4) Words With Friends 2- Words with Friends is one of the games that does not require any special skill level which makes it user friendly for a huge population. Be it your friends or your family members. However, this requires knowledge of words in English which makes it fun as well as educational. This game requires a minimum of 2 persons to play. The game tests your word power and is the best exercise for your brain. A letter is issued to each of the players and the one who forms maximum meaningful words is the winner. Hurry up and test your vocabulary and spellings and challenge your friends to outdo you. This game is available both on the Android Play Store and the iOS App Store.
5) 8 BALL POOL- We all have memories of playing pool with our friends and countless hours that we spent playing. Now, 8 Ball Pool is an app that brings all those memories back again with its online avatar. Round up your friends and start this pool party even in this lockdown. Don't be sad if you don't know how to play pool since there are guidelines that mark your aim and the trajectory. Just go on potting the balls in the hole and the player who pots the last ball wins. This game is surely recommended for couples to liven up the mood. If your friends are busy you can play with real people that are already there on the platform. 8 Ball Pool game is available both on Android play store and iOS App Store.
6) Mini Militia- First-person shooters or FPS games are a long time hit with gaming fans worldwide. Mini Militia aims to capitalise on this by presenting the FPS game in a different band, easy to play avatar. Just a couple of tries and you will get the rhythm of the game. A very exciting range of weapons and played in a limited space this game finishes in just a couple of minutes and so it requires quick thinking and firepower. There are multiple re-spawns so you don't need to sit idle after being eliminated soon.
7) Real Racing 3- Coming from the reputed online games developer EA sports, this game lets you drive real exotics onto real sports tracks of NASCAR and F1 round the world. The game is free on Google Play Store and is definitely worth trying. You can earn virtual coins that can be used to upgrade your vehicles and purchase new vehicles. Unlimited race options with friends online make this game entertaining. Also, the graphics are so real that you will feel you are driving those supercars. Give it a try folks.
8) FIFA- This game also comes from the stables of Electronic Arts and is available on Origin for PC and Consoles. This game marks the epitome of perfection and is developed in collaboration with FIFA. The game updates annually and provides a very lifelike experience of playing football as your favourite heroes. While serious gamers go drooling over the effects and game mechanics, couples can definitely spend some time playing this game together while being locked up in a room. You wouldn't want to miss out on the chance to be the football manager of your favourite teams and take buy and sell decisions of your favourite stars.
9) PUBG- PUBG was the first game that raised the interest among gamers for battle royal titles. PUBG or PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS is the most played multiplayer game on mobile devices as well as PC and console. The game is inspired by a Hollywood flick by the name of Condemned starring WWE's Stone Cold Steve Austin. The game features 100 players who are dropped in on an island where they get weapons and equipment along with intermittent airdrops to hunt their enemies. The play area continuously decreases with time and that increases the intensity of the gameplay. The last person alive wins the chicken dinner. The game can be played in solo mode or 2, 3 or 4 player lobby. The game requires the presence of mind and a strategic brain to counter-attack your enemies. The game allows for live voice chats which makes it even more tactical and interesting. However, the game is very hardware intensive. Though, a lite version is also present for mobile and PC platform to let users with basic setups enjoy this title. This game is hugely popular on streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. So invite your friends to your lobby and go shooting.
10) COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE- This multiplayer title is the leader of FPS titles and is leading the charts with the most number of active players since its inception in 2012. The game's origin dates back to 1999 when it was released as Counter-Strike 1.6 by Valve. The game is still hugely popular and was repackaged as CS: GO in 2012 to meet with the competition of other FPS titles. The game does require top hardware specs and is available only on PC platform on steam. Yet, the game is free to play and one of the most logical game. Players in teams of 5 meet up on a small map with two bomb sites as terrorists and counter-terrorists for 15 rounds each. The first side to win 16 rounds wins the map. The teamwork on this game is exceptional and this game is played on a professional level. It is very popular with college students. I even used to carry my laptop on my work tours and used to play the game during night in my hotel room in Bangalore where the Wi-Fi reception was very good. With this much free time call back your buddies and relive your college days with this masterpiece.
You are the best judge of your gaming capabilities. Choose the title that you feel most comfortable with and start playing with friends and family to pass some time socializing with your loved ones.
Well if gaming isn't your cup of tea there are many more interesting things to do in this lockdown. Read on to know about 10 new TV series You must Binge watch this Lockdown.