Challenge your mom to a fight this Mother's Day

Last year on Mother’s Day, we baked two-tier cakes, stirred the Dalgona and cleaned our room for the first time in months. The ones living away spent half the day on video call listening to family gossip, without interrupting. But 2020 was different. Lockdown was less than eight weeks old, spending quality time with family and indulging in new hobbies was a novelty.

This year is starkly different. We’ve all sprinted, stumbled and crawled to arrive at the tether ends of patience. And like everything else, our dynamic with our moms has taken a beating too. Locked in without respite,  surviving a day without an argument with each other is a challenge for both of you.

Every movement is a live-action game of Minefield.

Just this morning, my mom stormed into my room, livid. “How many times do I have to remind you to drink the kadha?” Once again, she had kept the glass on my desk, but I didn’t see it, because I quit the desk months ago, and now just work from the bed. Every morning, we move from one debate to another, until she finally says, “Wish you were still going to the office.”

And I won’t be surprised if my mom resonates with Tweak India founder Twinkle Khanna’s Mother’s Day wish, “I want to be free of all responsibilities for an entire day. For the rest of the day, I’d prefer it if you don’t even call me Mummy, and you call me aunty so that I actually feel free of all responsibilities.”

Bottomline: distance certainly makes the hearts grow more patient, if not fonder.

Like for the mother-child pairs who, living in different parts of the world, have been separated for months now, contending with the fears and uncertainties that brings along. Stringent lockdown rules have come in the way of your ‘Surprise Mother’s Day’ visit for the second time in a row, and your plans to cook her a lavish meal burnt away into thin air.

But whether you’ve been the bickering kind or waiting to bridge the gap, we have found a solution to bring you two closer, without much effort: a mobile game marathon.

Since we’re all doom-scrolling anyway —Instagram, shopping websites or the University of WhatsApp — this is a welcome break from the endless scrolls, and can be a family activity that doesn’t involve sharing opinions which can rapidly escalate into World War III.

These multiplayer online games can be played virtually as well as in very close proximity, challenging all kinds of moms — competitive, talkative, strict, argumentative, curious —to put their best move forward.

PS: The online games will also keep the notifications from family Whatsapp groups at bay. Isn’t that incentive enough to download these already?

7 online games to out the fun in ‘quality time’ this Mother’s Day

For the competitive moms: Scattergories

She has ananswer to everything, but this game might leave both of you at a loss of words.

Simply put, Scattergories is Name, Place, Animal, Thing on steroids. Each turn comes with a list of 12 categories of random things: things you see at a circus, fictional villains, sounds you hear in a forest, skincare brands, romantic movies, tools in your dad’s toolbox and so on.

Every turn, a letter is picked, the timer is set, and you have to answer the 12 categories using the chosen letter of the round. While it may sound fairly simple, when the clock is ticking, somehow your ability to think drops drastically.

Plot twist: At the end of the round, if two players have the same answer for any category, both lose a point. And if your letter features more than once in your answers, you score extra points.

People who use “I am bad at spelling” as an excuse to cover their lack of sportsmanship, you just need to shout out your answers, no points lostfor incorrect spellings. This isn’t an English language exam. And there are endless free Scattergories lists to download online to never run out of the questionnaires.

Look out for unique answers that will leave you ROFL.

Download the game here.

For the moms who know the family inside out: Kahoot

She may not be a helicopter mom or an overprotective one, but she just has a superlative attention to detail. That’s how she is. Put her observation skills to test with Kahoot.

Warning: This is one of those online games that require more effort than just downloading the app. But you’ll also reap benefits like revisiting inside jokes, family feuds if you want to go down that road, and a bounty of nostalgia.

On Kahoot, you can build personalised quizzes in various formats. It’s often used by corporates and teachers. Bring the app out of the professional set up, and into your living room with a hint of mischief. As they say, “Tujhe sab hai pata, meri Maa”.

Formulate ghar ka general knowledge questions by covering every subject possible. We have a few prompts for you as well.

Science: “What’s the prescription number of Dad’s left eye?”
Geography: “Where did you take your daughter after she didn’t do well in her Maths exam in 7th grade?”
For a more generic blame game: “Who stole the modaks on the fifth day of Ganpati last year?”

And be prepared to be stumped, when your mom says, “Yeh question hi galat hai“, and gives you a little lesson in your family history.

Create a Kahoot quiz here, and play it on the app

For the mom who hasn’t stepped out of the neighbourhood in a year: Ticket to Ride

She’s missing her annual escape to the hills, you’re missing island-hopping in Bali, and if you’re tired of collecting tickets on Google Pay’s Go India game, we’ve got the ultimate ticket to ride for travel-starved families.

The board game has now made its way to our app stores, and there are multiple adventures to choose from – across the USA, on the Oriental express and even a Stay-At-Home edition, where you can travel from your living room to the napping area via the dining table.

The goal is to build routes between the major destinations on the map. At the onset, you draw cards to find out your destination, and use your engineer’s brain to find the fastest route, while halting at major pitstops to collects points and block your opponent’s journey.

PS: There are no short cuts or secret gallis to reach your destination. And as the adage goes, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey that matters. Bon voyage!

Available on Google Play and App Store

For the mom who is also a true-crime addict: I Am Innocent

You can run, you can hide, but you can’t escape mummy’s eyes. If she is Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and ACP Pradyuman rolled into one, rest assured, she will beat you in this game of investigation.

And if we may, this pick from our list of online games is as close as it gets to being a part of a fictional crime drama. For starters, the icon of the game (a silhouette of a butterfly) is a subtle homage to the poster of The Silence of the Lambs. I Am Innocent, the original detective game uses a compelling storyline with realistic in-game phone calls, chat rooms, evidence file with photographs and documents to crack the case of a serial killer on the loose.

The game is loaded with complex characters, who all come with their share of secrets. These are revealed as you progress by clearing missions while playing multiple mini-puzzles and games.

Disclaimer: The game may pose ethical dilemmas, will require you to hack into (fictional) computers and creates a rather realistic and grim atmosphere. If both of you are into gripping crime dramas, this will keep you up at night testing your patience levels.

Available on Google Play and App Store

For the moms who love an easy, quick fix: Exploding Kittens

We recommend this as the dessert for your online games buffet. It’s easy, doesn’t drag on like Monopoly, and the idea is simple: you explode, you lose, much like the rules of every heated argument or difficult conversation that you’ve tried to have with your mum.

It’s a card game, and because we are using an app, you don’t have to deal with cheaters who mess with the deck.

There are Exploding Kitten cards (one fewer than the number of players) hidden in the deck, and there are diffuser cards to protect you. Keep drawing, and if you draw the Explode Kitten card, you can either save yourself with Diffuse card if you have it, or you lose.

Of course there are other cards that may momentarily help you survive, but not for too long.

Fun-fact: Exploding Kittens is the most-backed project in the history of Kickstarter. For the aam janta, this means everybody loves Exploding Kittens, the game.

Available on Google Play and App Store

For the stricter-than-your-headmistress moms: Spyfall

Remember all the times you told your mom that you were going to Neha’s house when you were actually sneaking to meet Rohan, the alleged love of your life’s place, and got busted every single time?

This game will bring back all those memories of spying as well as hiding your location.

The objective: Whoever receives the role of the spy has to determine the location of the opponent from the things they say and how they act. Everybody else plays the role assigned to them, while trying to spot the spy.

Every turn, each player will ask one close-ended question to track down the location and job of the opponents. And that can be tricky sometimes. So we have come up with a few useful prompts to begin with:

• Is your location mobile or stationary?
• Who’s your boss?
• What are your responsibilities?
• What’s your biggest workday challenge?

And when you narrow down on the location or the spy, you can directly make your guess, and if you’re right, you win, or else, it’s game over for you.

Cheat code: Think on your feet. Real quick.

Available on Google Play and App Store

For the moms who love a good story: 80 Days

She gifted you Jules Vernes’s Around The World in 80 Days when you were little. Now take her on yet another globetrotting adventure with this award-winning pick from the world of online games, 80 Days. It’s an interactive fiction game loaded with beautiful hand-drawn art; the gameplay is different every time, and there are newer adventures and challenges after every move you make. It’s unpredictable, like the times we are living in.

The premise is rooted in the original text: Englishman Phileas Fogg and his French valet Passepartout try to circumnavigate the globe in a mere 80 days. Fogg’s reputation is on the line. Unforeseen events steal their hours away. Will they succeed on their journey? Life hack: A little generosity and Good Samaritan-ship goes a long way in this game.

On the multiplayer mode, both of you can play Fogg and take up the race-against-time challenge. You travel on airship, submarine, camel, trains, buses and so on, while ensuring your health and finances are intact. This would require you to strategise and plan. Visit local markets, buy things you can sell eventually when in need of cash. Help out in the hotel you stay to earn some extra bucks.

Befriend people you meet on the journey for more clues and information as you chart your way. There’s no robbing, looting or notorious game plan is this well-meaning game.

PS: Your mom will give you wisdom on time-management if she completes the journey before you.

Available on Google Play and App Store