Playing a music game with friends remotely
A music quiz over video call usually goes the same way: screen sharing lags, the audio arrives choppy or late, and half the group can't hear a thing. The fix is simple: don't send the music through the call.
The problem with screen sharing
Discord, Zoom, Teams and Google Meet are built for voice, not music. When you share a YouTube tab:
- the audio is compressed and cut whenever someone speaks (noise suppression treats it as background noise);
- it arrives one or two seconds late depending on each person's connection;
- the person sharing can't really play, because they see everything.
The fix: everyone listens on their own device
In Who put this ?, the “Online room, everyone on their own screen” mode starts the song directly on each player's phone or computer, at the same time. The call is only for talking, laughing and accusing each other, and the audio is full quality for everyone.
Setup in 4 steps
- Start your call on Discord, WhatsApp, Zoom or anything else.
- The host creates a room in “everyone on their own screen” mode, picks the themes and shares the link in the chat.
- Everyone opens the link on their phone (or another tab on a computer), enters a name and adds their YouTube links.
- The host starts the game. Votes happen on each screen; answers and points show up everywhere at once.
Audio tip: if you play on the same computer as the call, wear headphones or lower the game volume with the sound button at the top of the page, so your mic doesn't send the music back to the others.
On Discord
For a Discord server, create a public room: it shows up in the list of open games, so members can join without hunting for the link. For a group of friends, a private room and a link in the text channel are enough.
Streaming?
For streamers playing with their community, presenter mode fits better: the music only plays on the host's screen, captured in the stream, and viewers who join vote from their phone without seeing the video.
If the connection fails
The game connects devices directly to each other. It works on most networks (home internet, 4G, 5G). On very locked-down office or school Wi-Fi it can be blocked: switching to mobile data almost always fixes it.