Looking for a Picolo alternative

If you have worn out Picolo and want something different for the same situation, here is an honest look at what Antics does differently, and where Picolo is still the better pick.

Straight up: we make Antics. So read this knowing that, and check both for yourself. We have tried to keep every factual claim below accurate and checkable, and to be plain about where Picolo wins.

The honest summary

Picolo is a genuinely good app and it is far more established than we are. It has been around for years and has tens of thousands of ratings. If you want the safest, most proven option, that is Picolo, and we would rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.

People usually go looking for an alternative for one of three reasons: they have seen all the cards, they do not want another subscription, or the group has people who are not drinking. Those are the three things Antics is built around.

How they differ

	Picolo	Antics
Format	One continuous party game feed	Both: a continuous feed (Antics mode) and eight separate games, including Never Have I Ever, Truth or Dare, Most Likely To, Would You Rather, What Are The Odds and Imposter
Paying	Subscription: weekly with a trial, monthly, or yearly	Monthly pass, a 48 hour one-off pass, or a one-time Forever purchase
Drinking	Written around drinking	Built on forfeits, so non-drinkers play the same game
Last updated	Version 2.3.1, March 2023	Updated through 2026, new cards still being added
How you play	Pass one phone around	Pass one phone around
Cost to start	Free download	Free download
Track record	Years old, tens of thousands of ratings	Launched 2026, small but growing

The three real differences

1. You get the feed and the games

If what you like about Picolo is the one continuous feed of dares and rules, Antics has that: it is called Antics mode and it is the flagship. The difference is that it is one of eight games rather than the whole app, so when the room goes flat you switch instead of pushing through.

Picolo's own App Store description pitches itself as a change from "the same old games (Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever)". We took the opposite view: those games are classics because they work, they just need better material than the recycled lists everyone has already read.

2. One of them is still being written

Picolo's current App Store version is 2.3.1, released in March 2023. That is roughly three and a half years without an update at the time of writing. For most apps that would not matter much, but a party game lives on its cards, and the single most common reason people go looking for an alternative is that they have seen everything in the deck. Antics is still shipping new content, including a spicy pack that keeps growing.

3. You can buy it once

Picolo is subscription based. Its App Store listing lists a one week option with a three day trial, plus monthly and yearly. Antics has a monthly pass too, but it also has a 48 hour pass for a single night or a big weekend, and a one-time Forever purchase. If the thing that sent you looking for an alternative was not wanting another recurring charge for something you use a few times a year, that is the difference that matters.

Worth knowing generally, and this is how every App Store free trial works, not a criticism of any one app: a trial converts into a paid subscription automatically unless you cancel before it ends, and cancelling does not refund a charge that has already gone through. It catches a lot of people out. The 48 hour pass and Forever purchase avoid that entirely, because they are one-off purchases with nothing to renew and nothing to remember to cancel. You can check anything you are subscribed to under Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions.

4. Nobody has to drink

Antics is party-only and built on forfeits: wherever another game says drink, someone does a short, silly penalty instead. That means the designated driver, the person on antibiotics and the one who just does not fancy it are all still playing the same game with the same stakes, rather than sitting it out. For a mixed group that is the whole ballgame.

Which should you actually pick

Stay with Picolo if: you like its one-feed rhythm, you are happy with a subscription, and everyone in your group drinks. It is proven and it does that job well.

Try Antics if: you want several different games rather than one, you would rather pay once than subscribe, or your group includes people who are not drinking.

Try it before you download anything

You do not have to take our word for any of this. Five of the games run free in your browser, no sign-up: Never Have I Ever, Would You Rather, Most Likely To, Truth or Dare and What Are The Odds. If the cards do not make your group laugh, you have lost nothing.

Full write-ups of every game are on the party games page.

Eight games. One phone. Zero prep.

Antics is free to download on iPhone and Android. No ads, no accounts.

App Store Google Play

Comparison last checked 28 August 2026, using both apps' public App Store listings. Picolo version 2.3.1 and its March 2023 release date are taken from its live App Store record on that date. Picolo is made by Marmelapp and we are not affiliated with them. If anything here is out of date, email support@anticsapp.com and we will correct it.