https://www.boardgamearena.com has a bunch of board games, if you're into that. I've played a bunch using my phone, and it works just fine.
A number of games require a premium membership, but there's quite a few that are free
This is great, thanks for posting, will definitely be checking this out.
Definitely the opposite of "light", but you mentioned chess and if you're into something similar but very different, you might try learning #Go together on online-go.com. That site has a very short introduction into the game under the Learn tab, but it only covers the very basics and initially you will have no idea what you're doing. The rules are simple, but there is a lot of complexity that arises from that and professionals study the game for years. But even as a complete beginner it's fun. Full on 19x19 games can take a long time, but games on a 9x9 board are fairly quick, comparable to a chess game.
Still, this would be a journey. If you want something not turn-based and relaxing to play while chatting maybe try something else but I can't give any recommendations.
I second the recommendation of Go. I'm very much a beginner, but the subtlety and variety of every game kind of ruined chess for me.
Some more recommendations of learning or beginner resources:
Go Magic has a lot of really in depth video and interactive tutorials. There's a paid plan, but the beginner and early intermediate courses are free and way more thorough than anything else online right now.
The Conquest of Go is a great little game on steam that has its own tutorials and a campaign mode with scaling difficulty. It's my favorite way to play against bots, but you can also connect your OGS account and play online through there.
I'm sure there's quite a few traditional board games that have online or app version, like risk for example. Iirc there's also Scrabble, scythe, Catan, and I'm sure others. I can't speak to the quality of the apps but I would recommend just searching for any games you'd be interested in playing and seeing if there's a version on the app store.
Geoguesser?
Supremacy 1914 works in browser and mobile afaik: https://www.supremacy1914.com/
Neptune's Pride, recommended by PeopleMakeGames: https://np.ironhelmet.com/#landing
There's a mobile wrapper: https://github.com/Ethrel/NPA-Mobile
There are a couple of these war games, where you control a nation and expand, make alliances, break them etc to gain superiority. Similar to HOI but browser/mobile based.
Generally more than 2 players iirc but you can probably play together against the others
Do you have any links?
Boatdgamearena has a lot of boardgames to choose from (surprise!), some of them are definitely playable on a phone.
So you need at least 2 player, or only 2 player?
only 2 players, but it's also ok if more users can be added
Neptune Pride if your ok not having a friend after
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