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The best game to play on TV with family and friends is the one where everybody moves

Picture a normal game night. Two people hold the controllers, everybody else holds their phone, and someone asks "is it my turn yet?" for the fourth time. There's a better way to play on the TV together.

5 min read · Updated November 2026

Nobody fights over the controller

Most consoles come with one or two controllers, and extra ones are expensive. So the game night turns into a queue, and the person holding the gamepad becomes the most popular person in the room. When your body is the controller, that problem simply disappears. Each player just needs the phone they already have, leaned against the TV shelf. Nothing to share, nothing to charge, nothing to sit on by accident.

The sofa crowd gets the best show

Watching someone else play a console game is about as exciting as watching someone check their email. Watching your uncle squat under a high bar while the cat runs past his feet? That's entertainment. In a game you play with your body, the people waiting for their turn are the loudest people in the room: cheering, laughing, shouting "JUMP!" one second too late.

No button combos, no skill gap

Joystick games quietly reward whoever plays them every day. Everyone else spends the first ten minutes asking which button jumps. In JANYM RUN, jumping is jumping and squatting is squatting. A seven-year-old and a grandmother start on exactly the same level, and that is when game night gets fair and fun for everybody.

Heads up, together

Phone games are great on the bus. In a living room full of people, they turn everyone into a little island, each staring into their own small screen. A game on the big TV brings the heads up again. You see each other, you react to each other, and when it goes well you high five for real.

You win as a team

A lot of party games are about beating each other, which is fun until somebody's little brother loses three times in a row. JANYM RUN puts two players side by side against the game itself: you high five at the right moment to charge your team combo, and you stretch together to defeat the monster at the end of each world. Winning together ends a lot more game nights with smiles.

A workout nobody notices

Here's the sneaky part. A five-minute world is dozens of jumps, squats and claps, and after it the TV shows each player's moves and calories. Nobody signed up for exercise, but everybody got some. Parents love that bit.

Console vs. phone games vs. JANYM RUN

To be fair: where consoles still win

If you want a long story adventure or a racing game with a hundred cars, a console is the right tool. JANYM RUN isn't trying to replace that. It's built for the moments when people are together and want to laugh, move and play at the same time.

Throwing a day party for your kid? Indoor party games that burn energy

Rain outside, eight kids inside, and a sugar rush that's about to peak. This is where a game on the TV that makes everyone jump saves the afternoon. Two kids play, the rest of the party cheers (very loudly), and every five minutes a new pair steps up. Nobody sits still long enough to get bored.

• Set up the stage. Move the coffee table, lean the two phones on the TV shelf and mark the players' spots with tape. Sneakers or bare feet, never socks on a smooth floor.
• Grown-ups vs. kids. Add up each team's scores over two worlds. The kids will win more often than you think, and they will remind you about it.
• The cat cam. Whoever spots the most cat tricks during a round picks the next pair.
• Small prizes. A sticker for the best combo, one for the highest jump, one for the loudest cheering. Everybody wins something.

Game night for adults: TV games to play with friends

Friends are coming over, the snacks are out, and you want something better than everyone scrolling on the sofa. Party games on a smart TV usually mean quizzes and drawing, which is fun until the third round. Put a game on that gets everyone off the sofa and the night changes: suddenly your most serious friend is squatting under a bar with total focus. The friend who "doesn't do games" is usually the one who won't give the phone spot back.

• Winner stays on. Two play, the best score stays for the next round. With five-minute worlds the queue moves fast.
• Couples tournament. Pair up, write a bracket on a sheet of paper, and play it out over the night. The final gets the full living room as audience.
• Loser's challenge. The lower score does ten extra squats while everyone counts out loud. Group workout games were never this popular.
• One house rule. Drinks stay on the table, not in your hand while you jump.

2 player games on a smart TV, free tonight

JANYM RUN is made for two players at a time, each with their own phone, and you play it in the TV's web browser: no console, no download. It's free during the Beta and the first worlds stay free, so the only thing you need to bring tonight is some space in front of the TV.