Chain Sketch: Online Drawing Telephone Game
Pick a secret word, draw, guess, pass it on. Every book comes home and the TV replays it.
Party · 4 to 12 players · about 30 minutes · free to host, nothing to download, TV optional
About the game
Remember the old party game where a whispered sentence turns to nonsense by the end of the line? Chain Sketch does it with drawings. Everyone starts a book with a secret word; the book goes all the way round the group, drawing and guess in turn, and comes home to its owner for the big reveal.
It needs 4 to 12 players. One round takes about 10 minutes and a full game is three rounds, so plan on 30 minutes or so (the host can set one or two rounds instead). Everyone works at once, so nobody waits for a turn. The TV is best for the replay, but each player can follow it with “Just this screen”, which is also how it works on a video call.
How to play
- Pick a secret word for your book from the three on your screen. You have 20 seconds; if you do not choose, you get the first one.
- With an even number of players you draw your own word first, then pass the book on. With an odd number you pass it straight on and your neighbour draws it. Either way the book then goes all the way round the table, so everyone else adds exactly one page: guess the drawing you are handed, draw the guess you are handed. No letters or numbers in drawings.
- Every step has the same clock, 60 seconds by default, and everyone works at the same time. You always pass something on: when time runs out an unfinished drawing goes on as it stands, and a missing guess becomes a question mark. The last page is always a guess.
- When every book is home, the TV replays each one as its owner's book: the secret word, every drawing and guess in order, and the last guess shown against the word, marked as a match or not.
- Friendly scoring (the default): once your book has been read, you pick your favourite drawing and your favourite guess in it. Whoever made each gets a point, and you get a point if the last guess matches your word. Everyone else watches while you pick. You have 60 seconds; a pick you made before the clock runs out still counts.
- Competitive scoring: there is no picking. A guess that matches the word, or the guess the drawing before it was made from, earns its guesser a point and the drawer of that drawing a point, and the owner gets a point if the last guess matches the word.
- After each round there is a short look at the points, then everyone picks a new word. Points add up over the rounds and the most points wins. Save your books from your results screen.
Open a room for Chain Sketch. No app, no accounts, free to host.
Tips to play well
- Draw what you were handed, not what you suspect the first word was. In friendly scoring the owner picks favourites, and a faithful drawing of a wrong guess is often the one they love.
- In competitive scoring, clear drawings pay: every time the next player guesses your drawing right, you both score.
- Keep it to pictures. No letters or numbers is the rule, and a drawing that spells the answer spoils the reveal.
- Pass early when you can. The step ends as soon as everyone has passed.
Host settings
- Words: Easy (the default), Medium, Hard or Mixed. This sets the three secret words each player chooses from. A word played once is not offered again in the same game.
- Seconds per step: 30 to 120 seconds in steps of 10, default 60. The same clock covers drawing and guessing.
- Rounds: 1 to 3, default 3. Each round everyone picks a new word and every book goes all the way round; points add up.
- Scoring: Friendly (the default): each owner picks a favourite drawing and a favourite guess in their book. Competitive: a point for every guess that matches, and for the drawing that led to it.
Questions people ask
Who wins Chain Sketch?
Whoever has the most points after the last round. If nobody scores a single point, everyone shares the win.
Why do I sometimes draw my own word first?
With an even number of players you draw your own word first, so the last page of every book is a guess when it comes home. With an odd number your neighbour draws it instead.
What happens if someone leaves?
Their pages are passed on blank or as a question mark so nobody waits. If a book’s owner has left by the time it is read, nobody picks favourites in it and it scores no points.
Can we add computer players?
Yes, the host can add bots. They draw a simple doodle of their prompt, guess at random with the odd lucky hit, pick favourites at random in their own books and keep the replay moving by turning the pages.
Can we save the drawings?
Yes. When the game ends, everyone can save their books from their results screen. The last round keeps every drawing and guess in order; earlier rounds keep the word, the favourite drawing and the last guess.
Similar games
- Scrawl: Draw on your screen, it appears on the TV, everyone else guesses on theirs. 3 to 16 players, about 15 minutes.
- Doodle Recall: Everyone draws the same words against the clock. Then name your own drawings from memory. 2 to 16 players, about 8 minutes.
- Spindoodle: Draw the word on a round sheet of paper that spins under your pen. Everyone else guesses on their own screen. 3 to 16 players, about 10 minutes.
- Fill-In: A prompt with a blank on the TV. Type the funniest filler; the room votes on anonymous answers. 3 to 12 players, about 15 minutes.
Guides
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