Games are made for connection, and GamePigeon is no different. That being said, the best game on GamePigeon is Crazy 8, and I will not be taking any feedback on that.

GamePigeon was invented to play games with people across devices. So tell me why I find myself sending a game of Pool on GamePigeon, only for it to take so long for the person to send their play back that I forget I sent it in the first place. Crazy 8 is the one game that everyone plays together, at the same time, and you can feel that connection. Word games, Basketball and Mini Golf can also be played simultaneously, but you can just as easily send them out into the ether and never get a response. Crazy 8 requires attention and connection to play. My only complaint? I wish you could play with just two people.

The absolute worst game is Tanks. It is not user-friendly, and I lose interest every time before the game even decides it’s done. Speaking of user-friendliness, archery will never work well on a phone. The screen is simply too small to handle all the stabilization required for the game. These two end up being frustrating rather than enjoyable to play.

I’ll make this quick by saying that the games that are just digital versions of things you can play anywhere else all tie for being unoriginal: Chess, Checkers, Dots and Boxes and Reversi. On the other hand, I have to appreciate GamePigeon for introducing many people to games they may not have played before, like Mancala or Gomoku, though, to be honest, I had to reread the instructions for a long time before actually understanding them. That being said, while they may be new to some people, they’re still not the most fun to play, so they sit in the middle of the ranking alongside the unoriginal games.

Next, I want to give credit to a set of really clever games. I hadn’t thought about putting Basketball, Cup Pong, Pool (and 9 Ball), Battleship, Darts, Four in a Row or 20 Questions into online games, but here we are, and when people respond quickly, these can be really fun. They take the right amount of time, they’re engaging and you never really know if you’re going to win. They’re just easy, go-to games on GamePigeon.

On the other hand, some games just feel unnecessary. Some are too short, like Knockout, which still manages to get old quickly and isn’t that engaging. Others take way too long—like Filler, which can go on forever. And honestly, I don’t think anyone was asking for Shuffleboard to exist as an online game. I’ve never made it through a full game of Shuffleboard on GamePigeon because I got too bored.

Lastly, let’s talk about the greats that just aren’t the best before getting to my definitive ranking. These are the word games and Mini Golf, games that can be played somewhat simultaneously and are different every time. They offer both short-term fun and long-term commitment, and even people who usually lose can sometimes come back and win if their opponent is having an off day. They can be a lot of fun, but they don’t reach the top spot.

Ranking:

1. Crazy 8
2. Mini Golf
3. 8 Ball/9 Ball
4. Dots and Boxes
5. Word Games
6. 20 Questions
7. Mancala
8. Archery
9. Cup Pong
10. Checkers/Chess
11. Gomoku
12. Paintball
13. Darts
14. Reversi
15. Four in a Row
16. Shuffleboard
17. Basketball
18. Sea Battle
19. Knockout/Filler
20. Tanks

At the end of the day, what matters most is how much fun and connection you have with your friends. So if you genuinely enjoy Tanks and Shuffleboard, then good for you! But you can’t tell me that Crazy 8 doesn’t give you the most connection.