Quick on the Draw
Quick on the Draw
While this game isn't really a word game, it is based on the game of Charades. But instead of having people guess a word (or phrase) with miming gestures, they have to guess a word by drawing it. This might sound easy, but it all depends on the word!
This game is a homemade version of the popular board game Pictionary. For this game, you'll need a lot of paper and a couple of pens or pencils. You may also want to use a stopwatch. If you don't have a stopwatch, someone with a second hand on his or her watch will work.
What you need to do is form two teams. Each team has to think of 12 things that they'd like the opposing team to draw. The things that they think of are written down on 12 separate pieces of paper. The “things” can be anything: objects, sayings, animals, and so on.
Three Strikes
Don't get caught without a pencil sharpener. Those fast and furious drawers will go through pencils in no time!
If you are the drawer, make sure you don't say anything. You can't help out the guessers by acting out, saying something, or gesturing to help people along. If you do so, you'll be disqualified.
Each player on each team takes a turn at drawing one of the items on one of the pieces of paper. The other members of the same team must try and guess what is being drawn. While the players can call out what they think the item is as it is being drawn, the artist cannot say anything to help them along. The artist may also not use any hand gestures or use any numbers or letters in the drawing. Each team is only allowed one minute to draw the picture and figure out what it is.
If the team guesses what the item is before the minute is up, the team scores one point.
To really add to the tension, try an egg timer instead of a second hand. The players will get frantic with the ticking and buzzing as time runs out on their play.
Another team goes next and repeats the same techniques with the same rules.
You'll love to watch everyone's reactions during the game—from the frustrated guessers to the frantic artist. Sometimes crazy arguments break out in the heat of the moment. You'll hear things like “Oh come on … can't you figure it out?” Or “Oh come on—where'd you learn to draw?” It's very silly, fun, and action-packed. Even though the artist isn't supposed to speak, sometimes the stress is too much to bear. Each correct guess scores one point, and the team with the most points wins.