Best Instagram Story Games for 2024

Do you want to get more views by hosting fun Instagram games on your Insta Stories? Who doesn’t, right?!

Similar to TikTok viral challenges, Instagram Story games can also help you be viral and just interact with your followers in a fun, entertaining manner. Overall, it is all in the past when Instagram stories were just this place to post things that were not so worthy to be on your grid.

Nowadays, they play such a crucial role in everyone’s social media - to the point where people spend much more time browsing stories than on the grid.

That being said, you should definitely experiment with your IG stories and strike up direct engagement with your audience.

Here is a selection of only the best Insta Story games for 2023 for you to pick from.

What are Instagram story games?

Instagram story games are challenge games that are usually used when Instagrammers want to boost user engagement. Currently, these challenges/games are ranked as the most powerful content on Instagram, providing fun for users while creating a unique digital footprint.

For those who post on Instagram quite frequently and are running out of content ideas, Instagram story games are a great way to spice things up. In addition, they are a fun way for your followers to learn more about you, as well as for you to learn more about your followers.

Why are Instagram story games important?

Instagram story games are important because they encourage followers to engage even more with your content on this social platform, eventually resulting in more traffic on your Insta page. Besides, once people are hooked up to these kinds of games, they are most probably going to "crave" for more of them coming.

How to play games on Instagram Stories

There are truly too many ways to play games on your IG Stories. Just as a reminder, to access the IG Story game feature, this is what you’ll need to do:

  1. Open the Instagram app as usual.
  2. Log in to your Instagram profile.
  3. Navigate to Stories and scroll to the right where you see Browse Effects (bottom) - tap on that.

Browse effects option - Instagram

  1. At the top of the screen, you will see the option Effect Gallery - tap on it.
  2. Below the gallery, you can choose between various effect options. Swipe right and you will see the option Games - tap on it.

Instagram Story options

Note: In the Games category you can browse for tons of games and choose the one you like. When you decide which one to play, you should invite your followers to respond to this game by sharing their opinion on this game post.

Also, they can post their own version of the game you posted.

Before we even start explaining what are the best IG Story games for this year, it is also good to know that you can change the link sticker text in the story itself. This customization is appealing to users because the color-changing option is a nice add-on for making your Instagram story look more attractive on different backgrounds.

Best IG Story Games for 2023

  • Idea No.1 The 'This or That' game

The ‘This or That game’ is great for having a fun interaction with your followers. You just pick a topic and encourage them to reshare it in their stories with what they circled or underlined.

This or That - Instagram Story Game

You can also include some action so that they tag some friends to do the same challenge as well.

  • Idea No.2 The 'Bingo' game

Everyone knows about bingo, right?! And believe it or not, this is not just a game that your grandma plays. And who would know that playing bingo on Instagram can be so much fun?!

Anyways, another great thing about it is that you can customize your own bingo game by choosing a topic of your preferences and then fill in the squares with things that apply to that topic.

Instagram Story Game - Bingo

When playing the Bingo game on IG, whoever has the most squares crossed off is the winner.

  • Idea No.3 The 'Gif challenge' game

This is a game that includes GIFs, and who doesn’t like GIFs?! So, to play it, you can choose a topic or some special occasion and leave squares for GIFs that are, of course, relevant to the topic itself. Your followers can repost your story with the relevant GIFs dragged into those squares and this is a great call for action kind of game because it encourages more people to participate.

Gif Challenge - Instagram Story Game

You should reshare the funniest responses to your Instagram stories because this will boost engagement and encourage others to participate in that game too.

  • Idea No.4 The 'Favorites' game

The ‘Favorites’ game is probably one of the first and most used games when Instagrammers want to make their followers get to know them better. You need to post a favorite template to your Insta stories and choose some categories, perhaps a favorite city, meal, or traveling destination and leave space for them to share their answers.

The Favourites Game - Instagram Story Game

You should definitely share your followers' answers because this will make them feel valued and liked.

  • Idea No.5 The 'Song Association' game

This game prompts the player so they must think of a song that fits what has been asked. For instance, the player must think of a song with the word “love”. It is amazing to play it on your own but also with others. If you want to play it with someone else, you can add that person on the screen as well to compete and see who will actually win - who can think of a song faster.

Song Association Game - Instagram Story Game

  • Idea No.6 The ‘Truths and a lie’ game

This story game will definitely help your followers get to know you better. All you need to do is come up with three facts about yourself and one thing that is not true, then ask them to guess which one is the lie.

Truths and a Lie - Instagram Story Game

If you want to make this game even more interactive, you can create a poll and this is easily done with the poll sticker on your Insta stories so that your followers can give their vote. In addition, you can share their answers to your stories by adding some fun emoji stickers. At the end of the game, you should definitely announce which one was the lie because it was something that they were eager to find out what it was.

Regarding the truths, you can also share some info on that as well, making them get to know you/your brand better.

  • Idea No.7 The 'Animated story roulette' game

Just like a Chinese fortune cookie, this Instagram story game works in a way that it creates a series of images to make a gif that flicks quickly through those images.

For example, you can make one with a meme that intrigues people to take what they need, so you can add some graphics with text such as a hug, a nap, a slice of pizza, etc. When you post that to your stories, you can ask your Insta followers to screenshot and reveal their fortune. Without a doubt, they will be impatient to share it with their stories as well and show what they got.

This game is an amazing way to encourage others to also check out your stories and actually do the same as you.

🔆 Explore 21 Cute Instagram Sticker Names.

Idea No.8 The 'First letters' game

This is a game that your followers would just love to play. It is very easy and all you need to do is choose several categories and challenge your fans to answer the question with the first letter of their name.

First Letter Game - Instagram Story Game

  • Idea No.9 'Challenge' games

The challenge games are an amazing way for you to get even closer to your fan community. It can be any kind of challenge, whether it is something old-fashioned or modern, you should definitely try it. Many still use the Tik-Tak-Toe challenge game or Pictionary, where your followers will have the drawing tool to fill out the answer.

Once you share your rounds to your TikTok stories, your followers will not be able to resist but will take part in the fun. Also, they can nominate a friend of their own to play with.

  • Would you rather
  • Make your own meme
  • Guess
  • True or False
  • Yay or Nay
  • Quick Draw Challenge
  • Pictionary
  • Control my day
  • Nominate a friend
  • ‘Get to know me’ challenge
  • ‘Get to know your followers’ challenge
  • The Checklist Game
  • The Hashtag Challenge Game
  • Mood Slider
  • Emoji Choice
  • Virtual High-Five
  • Affirmation
  • Imagination game
  • Assumptions about me
  • Nice advice
  • Idea No.10 The 'Google confession' game

The Google confession game will also bring you closer to your followers and all thanks to one simple question. You only need to ask them what is the last thing they googled and for this, you can use the ‘Question Box’ sticker and then share your favorite answers.

Google Confession Game - Instagram Story Game

  • Idea No.11 The 'Illusions' game

This game will make your followers stop and stare at your story. Why?! Because you are going to share an optical illusion image or some weird photo that they would not be able to even blink.

Illusions Game - Instagram Story Game

For further engagement, you should use the ‘Question Box’ or the ‘Poll’ sticker and ask people to explain what they see in that photo.

  • Idea No.12 The 'Tap to …' game

This story game is so satisfying to watch and literally everyone would like to participate. It keeps people very engaged because who does not want to see a ‘before and after. With this game, you need to tell your followers to tap into your next Insta Story to see the transformation of the before and after.

Tap to - Instagram Story Game

Good examples for this are: tap to dress up, tap to clean, tap to cook, tap to renovate, etc.

  • Idea No.13 The 'Doppelganger' game

This is a game where you share 2 photos and let your followers vote based on whether that person looks like the other one in comparison or not. There is so much fun in this and your followers will not resist giving their opinion.

The Doppelganger Game - Instagram Story Game

You can do this with celebrities, singers, Instagrammers, etc.

  • Idea No.14 The 'Oracle' game

You can play the ‘Oracle’ game for anything and this includes things like tarot cards, giving 2 color options and sharing the meaning of each color or even hiding a quote under the cups, etc.

The Oracle Instagram Story Game

  • Idea No.15 The '30-day Song challenge' game

This game is also very popular because it truly brings people together and fosters a lot of user engagement. Playing this game encourages followers to post a song based on your specified criteria for that particular day.

30-days song challenge - Instagram Story Game

For instance, the first day of the challenge game can be to post a favorite song from the 90s. Then, in the upcoming days, the challenge can proceed by your followers posting one of their all-time favorite songs, favorite hip hop songs, rock songs, etc. Also, you can get even more creative as the days pass by and challenge your followers to post their favorite songs in high school and college.

As the name of the game suggests, since it is a 30-day challenge, you have plenty of time to get creative, and the more you are, the bigger the audience engagement will be.

Also, you can add lyrics to your IG Stories when playing this 30-day challenge, so why not check out how to do it?

  • Idea No.16 The 'Soccer ball' game

For some that are super soccer game fans, this will be so much fun. All you have to do is:

  1. Choose an image of a soccer goal.
  2. Use the Emoji Slider sticker and the soccer ball emoji.
  3. Locate it somewhere on your device’s screen.
  4. Notify your followers about this game and shoot.

Soccer ball game - Instagram Story Game

Note: You can also play this game with basketball, tennis, or any other that includes balls.

Apart from this, if you are interested in reading who shared your Instagram Story, you should definitely learn how to do that and we have just the right article on that too.

Other important details about Instagram games

If you are even more interested in discovering other features for Instagram games and challenges, you can navigate to Stories and then choose the option labeled as Create (left side).

Create option - Instagram Story

After that, you should scroll over three times to get to the option Templates. Then, at the top of your screen, you should choose the option See All.

Templates - Instagram Story

Did you also know that you can put multiple videos on your IG Story as well? For those that are new to this, it is always good to know that this is also possible, so why not learn more about how to do it?!

Now is the time to Get Started!

So, what are you waiting for? It is about time you start doing this because it is so much fun. Now that you know what the best Instagram Games for 2023 are, you are on your way to becoming an expert in this.

Use our tips and feel free to come back any time to remind yourself of another game you might want to try out. One thing is sure — once you get hooked up on these games, you are most likely going to do this quite often.

In addition, in case you see the message “This Story is no Longer Available” on Instagram, you better check out what it is and how you can fix it - we have a complete guide on that too.

On another note, if you want to make things more interesting when playing these games, you can share some fun examples by sharing YouTube videos on your IG Story. As a matter of fact, this will generate more traffic to your other social media platforms that you have.

In case you feel like all of these IG story options are a little bit too much, or you simply want to take a small break from Instagram, you might as well do it.