A free Quiplash alternative
If you love Quiplash but not the setup, Backchat is the same kind of night: a prompt comes up, everyone writes the funniest answer on their phone, everyone votes. It’s free, nobody has to own it, and it works with or without a telly.
Backchat and Quiplash, side by side
| Quiplash 3 | Backchat | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | One person buys it, then everyone joins on their phones (Jackbox’s own FAQ) | Nobody. The game is free with no ads; decks about your group are an optional extra |
| Players | 3 to 8, plus an audience | 3 to 16, plus an audience whose votes count |
| Needs a shared screen | Yes: the game runs on the owner’s console, computer or streaming box | No. Play on phones alone, or open the room on any telly or laptop with a link |
| Playing remotely | The owner streams the screen; Jackbox suggests longer timers because of stream lag | Every phone runs the game itself, so a laggy stream never eats your time |
| What people type | The family setting changes the prompts; Jackbox has said it doesn’t filter what players type | The crowd you pick sets the word filter, from swearing and slurs blocked for Kids to nothing masked in After Dark |
| Prompts about you | No | Yes: Gossip Column puts the players’ names in the prompts, and a deck can be written about your group |
| Drop out and back | A player who drops can end up back in the audience | You come back to the same seat and score |
Quiplash and Jackbox are trademarks of Jackbox Games, who have nothing to do with Backchat. We checked their own pages in October 2026; if something has changed, tell us at [email protected] and we’ll fix it.
Why people look for a Quiplash alternative
Quiplash is a brilliant game. The friction is everything around it: someone has to own it, someone has to run it on a screen everyone can see, and on a video call that screen arrives a few seconds late. Big groups hit the eight-player cap, and the people who don’t fit get a consolation vote.
Backchat keeps the bit everyone loves, writing a cheeky answer and watching the room vote, and drops the setup. Open playbackchat.com, start a room, share the four-letter code.
What Quiplash does better
Fair is fair. Quiplash has years of polish, a famous host voice and a whole Party Pack of other games around it, from drawing games to trivia. If you already own it and you’re all on one couch in front of a telly, it’s a great night.
Backchat is for every other night: the pub table with no screen, the group chat that wants a game on a Discord call, the big family Christmas with fourteen people, the office party where nobody wants to buy anything.
What a Backchat night looks like
- Headlines: head-to-head duels, two answers, one winner.
- Front Page: everyone answers the same prompt and every answer goes up at once.
- Gossip Column: prompts about someone in the room, and their pick counts double.
- Porkies: a true fact with a bit missing; write a fake that fools your mates.
- Last Word: the finale, with a ranked vote and double points.
Questions people ask
Is Backchat really free?
Yes. The game is free for the whole room with no ads and no account. The only paid thing is an optional deck of prompts written about your group.
Do we need a TV to play?
No. Every phone shows the prompt, the answers and the vote. If you do have a telly, open the room on it with a link and it becomes the stage, with a voice that reads the round out.
Can we play Backchat on Zoom or Discord?
Yes, and nobody has to share their screen. Everyone opens the room on their own phone, so stream lag never matters.
How many people can play?
3 to 16 players, plus as many audience members as you like. The audience votes as a group and reacts live.
Try it tonight.
No download needed on the night: start a room in the browser, share the code, and play.