Dubbing games, and the one you play with your own clips
A dubbing game is one where you re-voice a video instead of watching it. Everybody takes a character, performs their lines over the original timing, and the results are played back to whoever is in the room. There are a handful worth knowing about and they mostly differ on one thing: where the video comes from.
What is the dubbing game called?
The genre is called a dubbing game, and four of them are circulating under that name: PartyDub, Voxalike, The Choicer Voicer and What The Dub?!. Which one you saw is almost always readable from the clip itself — who chose the video is the tell.
If the scene was something specific and current, the group picked it themselves and it was not a supplied library. Which one did you watch? goes through all four and how to tell them apart from thirty seconds of footage.
The part that decides which one you want
Nearly every dubbing game supplies its own material. What The Dub hands you public-domain B-movies. Choicer Voicer and Voxalike play from dub packs — scenes somebody has already cut up and published for other people to perform. That is the easier thing to build and the quicker thing to start: press play and the scene is there.
It also means everybody dubs the same scenes. The joke lands once, and the second evening is the same footage with different voices.
PartyDub goes the other way. The host picks a video off their own device — a clip from a night out, something from a group chat, footage they shot themselves — and it goes straight to the other players in the room. It is never uploaded. The material is whatever your particular group finds funny, which is the part a supplied catalogue cannot reach.
The honest version: somebody still has to pick the clip. That is where this game is at its best — but if nobody has one to hand, the public library is full of scenes other players have already marked up, and one click starts the round.
The dubbing games worth knowing about
| Game | Where the video comes from | Cost | Plays on |
|---|---|---|---|
| PartyDubEveryone dubs the same scene at once, hearing nobody else, then the room votes. | A clip you already have | Free | Browser |
| What The Dub?!You write replacement dialogue for B-movies rather than performing to the original timing. | Public-domain films, supplied | Paid | Steam, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation |
| Choicer VoicerPlay solo, pass one laptop around, or have everyone import the same pack and split the lines. | Community dub packs | $5+ (pay what you want) | Windows, Linux — itch.io |
| VoxalikeSolo or online, with a download of your finished dub at the end. | Community dub packs | Free | Browser, via itch.io |
| DisDubsPerformed live over voice chat rather than recorded blind, so everybody hears everybody. | Scenes it supplies | Free | Discord |
Checked against each game's own store or itch.io page in August 2026. If something here has gone out of date, tell us and it gets fixed.
How a round goes here
Four things happen, and the third is the one that makes it work:
- The host opens a room and reads out a six-character code. Nobody else needs an account or an install.
- The host picks a clip and marks where the lines are, or opens one from the public library that somebody has already marked. Supporters get the lines found for them instead.
- Everybody records at the same time, alone, hearing none of the other takes. That is why people commit to a bad accent — there is no room to perform to yet.
- Every version plays back to the whole room, and then you vote for somebody who is not you.
Five to ten minutes for a short clip, two to ten players. How to play the dubbing game goes through a round properly, including which clips are worth picking and how to be better at the voice acting.
What you are allowed to dub
Whatever is yours to use: footage you shot, recordings you made, anything openly licensed, anything you hold the rights to. This is the trade that comes with bringing your own video — the game does not choose your material, so it cannot clear it for you either.
Your clip is read by your own browser and sent straight to the other players; its audio alone is analysed to find the lines, held for one request, and never stored. Playing publishes nothing — there is no feed, and a scene reaches the public library only when somebody deliberately puts it there. The acceptable use policy is where the line sits.
Already have Choicer Voicer or Voxalike packs?
They are not interchangeable — the two formats agree on how lines are written down and disagree on the video container, which is why a pack built for one shows up broken or not at all in the other. The pack editor opens either and lets you fix the line timings against the waveform. It is free to use, it runs in the browser, and it does not need a room or an account — writing the finished pack back out is the part supporters pay for.
Questions people ask
Do you have to download anything to play a dubbing game?
Not this one. PartyDub runs in a browser: the host opens a room, everybody else types in a six-character code, and that is the whole setup. Some dubbing games do ship a desktop build — What The Dub is a paid download on Steam and consoles, and The Choicer Voicer is a Windows and Linux download from itch.io, with no official browser version at all.
Is there a free dubbing game you can play with friends online?
Several, and they differ in where the video comes from. PartyDub is free for two to ten people and uses a clip you already have. Voxalike is also free in a browser but plays from prepared dub packs. The paid ones are What The Dub, which supplies its own public-domain films, and The Choicer Voicer — a $5-or-more download from itch.io that plays on one machine rather than online.
Can I use my own video in a dubbing game?
In PartyDub that is the premise: the host picks a clip off their own device and it goes straight to the other players in the room, never to a server. Most dubbing games work the other way round — you play from a pack or a supplied library, which is quicker to start but means everybody dubs the same scenes.
Can I dub movie scenes?
You can dub any footage you have the right to use — your own recordings, anything openly licensed, anything you hold the rights to. Playing never uploads what you bring. If you would rather be handed a scene, the public library is full of ones other players published — and What The Dub supplies public-domain films if you want the material provided for you.
Which dubbing game works with Choicer Voicer packs?
PartyDub reads and writes them through its pack editor. Choicer Voicer and Voxalike packs share a line format but differ in video container, so a pack made for one needs converting for the other — the editor here opens either and exports back to either.
Can you play a dubbing game on a phone?
Joining works fine from a phone browser; all you need is a microphone. Hosting is better on a laptop, because the host is the one choosing the clip and watching the room.
Which dubbing games are free?
Two of the four. PartyDub is free to host and play for as long as you like, with your own clips and no ads or trackers on any page — supporting it adds bigger rooms, longer clips, pack export and automatic line-marking, none of which an ordinary round needs. Voxalike is free as well, from prepared packs. What The Dub is a paid download, and The Choicer Voicer is $5 or more on itch.io.
How many people does a dubbing game need?
Two is a real game in any of them — you both dub the same scene and then watch each other's. Four to eight is where a room gets loud enough to be worth the vote. PartyDub holds two on the free tier and up to ten with a supporter hosting, all on their own devices; the desktop ones are built around one machine and a microphone being handed along, so the number there is however many people fit on the sofa.
Do you need an account to play a dubbing game?
To join one, no. Guests type the six-character code into a browser and play — no sign-up, no email, no app, and you pick a name when you arrive. The host needs an account, because a room has to belong to somebody. The desktop games need no account at all and no internet either, because everybody is in the same room to begin with.
Free for as long as you want to play it. Find a clip, open a room, and read the code out.
Start a room