Two-player Telegram games: what to play and how to invite a friend

Choose the kind of decision you want to share

Start with the experience rather than the most familiar name. Do you want to study one visible position, search for a hidden fleet, or remember cards that have already appeared? These are different activities even when an individual action takes a single tap.

If one of you always wins at chess, switching games may be more interesting than repeating the same match. Reversi asks you to reassess disc positions; Mancala asks you to count where stones will land. Knowing a complicated chess opening will not directly solve either problem.

When you want both players to see the whole position

Tic-tac-toe, Connect Four, checkers, chess and Reversi give both players a visible board. Your opponent is not holding a secret card that explains the result. Complete information still leaves plenty to work out: the challenge is predicting how a reply changes the position.

Connect Four makes a useful first choice. A disc drops into the lowest available space in its column, so you cannot place it anywhere you like. Before tapping, examine the other player’s lines as well as your own. Will your disc provide support for their winning move?

Reversi is worth trying when you want to question immediate gains. Captured discs change colour, so having more discs midway through the game does not settle the result. The final count decides the winner. Your available moves and access to corners can matter more than a satisfying current total. The World Othello Federation explains the capture and pass rules. ²

When you want a different kind of problem

Battleship keeps the opposing fleet hidden. You combine misses, hits and the possible locations of ships that remain. My Board lets you arrange your own fleet beforehand. Keep that private information private: sending a screenshot of your fleet to your opponent changes the game completely.

Mancala replaces placing pieces with distributing stones from a pit. Count where the final stone will land before choosing: landing in your own store grants another turn. In Rich Games, Mancala and Reversi share the current Board Games bot, @BoardRichBot. ³

Memory Pairs shifts the emphasis again. The key information is which pictures appeared and where. Watch your friend’s reveals as well as your own: an opponent’s turn can teach you something useful for your next turn.

How to start a match with your friend

Open the chosen bot and press Start if this is your first visit. Select Play a friend. Agree on any board or rules choices before continuing. Checkers, for example, offers Casual and Russian rules; whether a capture is mandatory changes your decisions.

For a first attempt, choose a free match on the stake screen. Send the generated invitation using Send invite, or copy the link into your conversation. Your friend opens that link and accepts the invitation. Keep the match link: an ordinary link to the bot profile is not a substitute.

If you want a particular friend, avoid sending the same open invitation to several people. Whoever accepts first takes the other seat. Telegram’s start parameters let bots recognise invitations and other entry points; they do not, by themselves, give the recipient access to your account. ¹

Agree on time as well as rules

Plan to stay in touch for the first match. Current Rich Games board-game PvP allows 30 minutes per turn; after that, the opponent may claim a win on time. An unaccepted invitation lasts a day. This is different from correspondence chess with several days explicitly allowed for each move.

If your friend is busy, try the computer opponent where available, or explore the game’s rules page first. Give yourself one practical goal: spot the next-move threat in Connect Four, avoid giving away a corner in Reversi, or predict the final stone in Mancala. Afterward, discuss one turning point and decide together whether you want a rematch or a different game.