A free bot that hosts the classic social-deduction game Mafia in any group chat — assigns roles, runs night and day phases and announces the winner. Free, close to 855,000 monthly users.
Best Telegram bots for Games & Mini Apps
These are games and Mini Apps you launch straight inside Telegram — no App Store install, no separate account — ranging from quick single-player puzzles to multiplayer games you play against friends in a chat.
The best Telegram bot for games is True Mafia (@TrueMafiaBot): it hosts the social-deduction game Mafia in any group chat, assigning roles and running the rounds, free and played by about 855,000 people a month. GameBot (@gamebot) is Telegram's official inline bot with MathBattle, Corsairs and Lumberjack on a shared scoreboard, and UNO Bot (@unobot) starts a round of UNO in any chat through inline mode.
Telegram's official game bot: type @gamebot in any chat to send MathBattle, Corsairs or Lumberjack and compete with friends on a shared scoreboard. Free, no installs.
An open-source bot that moderates the Werewolf social-deduction game in Telegram groups, tracking roles, votes and night actions automatically. Free, roughly 87,000 monthly users.
The classic 20-questions genie, in Telegram form: think of any real or fictional character and the bot narrows it down with yes/no questions until it guesses who you had in mind. Free.
66 / 100
Score
Play the card game UNO with friends via Telegram's inline mode — no group add needed, just type @unobot in any chat to start a round. Free, roughly 42,000 monthly users.
A Mini App for playing full chess matches with friends and group members inside Telegram, complete with move history and live game state — no separate app, about 10,000 monthly users.
Play chess against real opponents or the built-in AI right inside Telegram — no app to install, just share a game link in any chat and your opponent taps straight into the board.
62 / 100
Score
Comparison
| # | Bot | Price | Languages | Inline | Groups | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | True Mafia @TrueMafiaBot | Free | RU · EN · MULTI | no | yes | 79 |
| 2 | GameBot @gamebot | Free | EN | yes | yes | 75 |
| 3 | Werewolf Moderator @WerewolfBot | Free | EN | no | yes | 69 |
| 4 | Akinator @AkinatorBot | Free | EN | no | no | 66 |
| 5 | UNO Bot @unobot | Free | EN | yes | no | 66 |
| 6 | Chess Now @ChessNowBot | Free | EN | no | yes | 65 |
| 7 | Chess @chess | Free | EN | no | yes | 62 |
Neighbouring subtopics
How we chose
We launched each game as a Mini App on both mobile and desktop Telegram clients, timing the cold-start load, and played a session long enough to reach a leaderboard or a multiplayer match if the game had one. We noted ad frequency (interstitial ads between rounds are common), whether progress saved across devices via the same Telegram account, and whether any purchase used Telegram Stars rather than an external payment link.
Games & Mini Apps
How to choose a Telegram game
Mini Apps load inside the Telegram window itself, so the real test is cold-start time — a game that takes 10+ seconds to load on a phone loses most casual players before the first move. Prefer games explicit about whether they're single-player, turn-based multiplayer (playable async in a chat), or real-time multiplayer, since the experience and required player count differ a lot between those.
What to check before trusting a bot
In-app purchases inside a legitimate Mini App go through Telegram Stars, Telegram's own in-app currency — a game asking you to pay through an external link or card form outside that flow is worth double-checking before entering payment details. Also check ad frequency during an actual play session, not just the store listing; some free games interrupt every round with a 15-30 second ad, which is worth knowing before you commit time to progressing.
Free vs paid
Most Mini App games are free to play with either ads or optional Stars purchases for cosmetics, extra lives, or removing ads. Very few require payment upfront. Multiplayer games sometimes need a minimum number of players in a chat to start a real-time match, so check the player count requirement before promising a group game night around one.
Frequently asked questions
Are Telegram Mini App games free to play?
Yes, the vast majority are free with ads or optional Stars purchases for cosmetics and extras; games requiring payment upfront are rare.
Do I need to install anything outside Telegram to play?
No, Mini App games run entirely inside the Telegram window on both mobile and desktop — there's nothing to install from an app store.
Which games can I play with friends in the same chat?
Look for games that specifically advertise turn-based or real-time multiplayer — many single-player Mini Apps only share a leaderboard with friends rather than letting you play against them directly, so check this before planning a group session.