How to Play Draw and Guess: Rules, Variations and 100 Word Ideas

Someone draws a giraffe. The room yells “lamp post!” Nobody is wrong, exactly.

Draw and guess is about as simple as party games get. One person gets a secret word and sketches it, and everyone else shouts guesses until someone gets it. You might know it as Pictionary. You need paper, a pen and a group that doesn’t mind looking a bit silly.

Below: the basic rules, how to adjust for group size, a scoring system that keeps drawers honest, twists for when it gets too easy, and 100 words sorted by difficulty and occasion. If you’d rather skip the paper, there’s a phone version too: Draw & Guess on PlaySnack.

What you need

• Paper and a thick marker. Printer paper works. Markers read better across a table than ballpoint pens.
• A whiteboard, if you have one. With a big group, everyone watching the same drawing makes the reactions louder.
• A timer. Your phone’s is fine.
• Words. Write them on slips and fold them, or have one person whisper them from the list below.

The basic rules

1. Pick who draws first. Youngest, oldest, whoever lost the last game.
2. The drawer looks at the word. Nobody else does.
3. Start the timer. The drawer sketches, everyone else calls out guesses.
4. When someone says the word, the guesser and the drawer both score.
5. Pass to the next drawer. Once everyone has drawn, that’s a round.

The drawer has two rules to follow.

No letters or numbers. Writing “C-A-T” next to a cat is cheating. Arrows pointing at part of the drawing are usually fine.

No talking or acting. A nod or a “so close!” is fair. Mouthing the word is not.

Group size and turn length

Two players. Take turns, and play together instead of against each other. See how many words in a row you can get.

Three to eight. The best size. Everyone guesses at once and it gets loud.

Nine or more. Split into teams. Otherwise people wait too long for their turn to draw.

One minute per turn works for most groups. New players can have 90 seconds. Once people get the hang of it, cut it to 40 or 30. The shorter the clock, the worse the drawings, and the worse the drawings, the better the game.

Keeping score

The simplest system:

• 2 points to whoever guesses right
• 1 point to the drawer, only if someone gets it

Paying the drawer stops anyone from scribbling a lazy squiggle to get their turn over with. Nobody guesses, nobody scores.

Want more pressure? Add a speed bonus: 3 points for a guess in the first 30 seconds, 2 after that, 1 in the last 10. Crown whoever’s on top at the end. Even a made-up title makes people try harder.

Twists to keep it fresh

A few rounds in, everyone knows the drill. Mix in one of these.

Telephone drawing. The first person draws a word. The next person sees only the drawing and writes what they think it is. The next draws that guess. Keep passing, then reveal the first word next to the last drawing. Most groups never end up anywhere near where they started.

Eyes closed. The drawer keeps their eyes shut. Faces end up with the eyes outside the head.

Wrong hand. Righties draw left-handed. It levels the field between the art student and everyone else.

One line. The pen can’t leave the paper. Even “house” gets hard.

Ten-second sprints. Ten seconds per drawing, easy words only, as fast as you can go.

Teams. Each team sends up one drawer, and only their team can guess. If the clock runs out, the other team gets one guess to steal the point.

Tag-team drawing. Two teammates take turns on the same drawing without talking. They rarely have the same plan.

100 draw and guess word ideas

Sorted by difficulty and setting. Start easy, and mix in the hard ones once people loosen up.

Easy (20)

apple, cat, house, sun, umbrella, fish, car, tree, glasses, cake, snowman, star, banana, clock, airplane, flower, cup, chair, rabbit, ice cream

Medium (20)

giraffe, fire truck, pizza, lighthouse, parachute, octopus, roller coaster, camping, dentist, elevator, playground, turtle, rainbow, watermelon, traffic light, pirate, subway, penguin, volcano, sandwich

Hard: actions, feelings and situations (20)

sneeze, crush, Monday, tug of war, hide and seek, nap, thunderstorm, moving day, diet, running late, first snow, echo, dream, jealousy, yawn, karaoke, selfie, shadow, time travel, bungee jumping

You can’t draw “jealousy” directly, so you end up drawing a whole scene. That’s where the best moments come from.

For kids (15)

dinosaur, train, teddy bear, candy, balloon, robot, princess, shark, snail, bicycle, slide, duck, crown, strawberry, school bus

When kids draw, give them extra time. When adults draw, make them use the wrong hand. It evens out.

Office party or team offsite (15)

commute, overtime, meeting, coffee, printer, payday, vacation day, spreadsheet, business card, package delivery, lunch break, necktie, clocking out, laptop, video call

Holidays, camping and game night (10)

turkey, gift, fireworks, campfire, tent, barbecue, marshmallow, shooting star, snowball fight, board game

Drawing so people guess faster

• Big shapes first. For a giraffe, the long neck. Nobody needs the eyelashes.
• Go for the one thing it’s known for. An elephant’s trunk, a rabbit’s ears. That alone gets you halfway.
• Stuck? Draw the scene. If “fire truck” isn’t landing, add a burning house and a hose.
• Listen to the wrong answers. If someone says “horse?”, you’re close. Add the spots.
• Split long words. “Snowman” can be a snowflake plus a stick figure.

Tips for whoever’s running it

Shuffle the words beforehand. Picking them on the spot slows everything down.

Keep the first round easy. Starting with “jealousy” scares off the people who already think they can’t draw.

Celebrate the bad drawings. Once the room is laughing at the lamp-post giraffe, the shy drawers relax.

Be generous with answers. “Kitty” for cat, “plane” for airplane. Same meaning, same points.

Keep the drawings. Flipping back through them at the end is often the biggest laugh of the night.

Common rule questions

Two people say it at the same time? Give both the points. It’s simpler than arguing.

Does a close word count? “Car” for “sports car”, usually yes. A category like “animal” for “giraffe”, no.

The drawer doesn’t know the word? Swap it for another. Nobody can guess a drawing of something the drawer has never heard of.

Can you erase and start over? Sure. The clock keeps running.

Playing on phones instead

No paper around, or half the group is on a video call? Draw & Guess on PlaySnack puts the game on everyone’s phone. The drawer sketches with a finger, the drawing shows up on every other phone as it’s drawn, and everyone types their guesses.

• No app, no sign-up. Tap the link or scan the QR code and it opens in the browser.
• Two players is enough. A friends room fits up to 10 for free.
• 60 seconds a turn, and everyone draws once. Guessers see the category and the word’s length, and with 5 seconds left a first-letter clue shows up.
• The drawings stay. After a game in a friends room, the results page shows every drawing. Anyone can download one as an image, and when you share the results in a chat, the preview card shows that game’s best drawing.

It works just as well when your friends are in other cities. Get on a call, drop the link, and play.

→ Start a game of Draw & Guess

FAQ

How many people do you need for draw and guess?

Three to eight is the sweet spot. Two people can take turns and play co-op, and with more than ten it works better as two teams.

How long should each turn be?

A minute is a good default. Give beginners 90 seconds, then drop to 30 or 40 once everyone warms up.

Can the drawer write letters or numbers?

No. No letters, no numbers, no talking and no acting it out. Most groups allow arrows and a nod when someone gets close.

What if nobody guesses the word?

Give a hint near the end, like the number of letters or the first letter. If it still doesn't land, nobody scores and the next person draws.

Can we play on phones instead of paper?

Yes. PlaySnack's Draw & Guess opens from a link or QR code in the browser, no app or sign-up. It works from two players, and a friends room fits up to 10 for free.

Do the drawings stay after a phone game?

In a friends room, the results page shows every drawing from that game, and anyone can download a single drawing as an image.