Draw and Guess rewards a few simple habits much more than drawing talent. Artists who start with a big shape, guessers who shout every idea and players who use their skip at the right moment score far more than careful sketchers. This tutorial walks through your first game on one phone, then gives tips for artists and for guessers, ideas for words that are hard to picture, and settings for kids and families. If you need the rules first, read the complete Draw and Guess rules.
What you will learn
- How a game on one phone flows, from the setup to the final scores
- How to draw a word in a few lines, fast
- Which symbols help and how to break long words into parts
- How guessers can read a drawing early and help the artist
- Which settings suit young children, families and adults
Your first game, step by step
- Open Draw and Guess, type in everyone’s names in seating order, and leave the words on Mixed with every category picked. The default drawing time is 90 seconds, and everyone draws twice.
- Press Start game. The pass screen names the first artist. Everyone else looks away while the artist takes the phone and taps Show my word.
- If the word looks impossible, tap New word once. That is your skip for this turn, and it costs no points. Then tap Start drawing.
- Draw. Everyone else calls out guesses. If you forget the word, hold Peek with the screen turned away.
- When someone says it, tap Guessed! and pick their name. They get 2 points and you get 1.
- Everyone sees the answer and your drawing. Tap Next and pass the phone to the next artist.
The artist taps Show my word while everyone else looks away.
The artist draws, and the others call out guesses.
Someone says the word: the artist taps Guessed! and picks their name.
2 points to the guesser and 1 to the artist. Pass the phone on.
After everyone has drawn twice, the final scores appear. Press Rematch to play again with the next person starting.
Tips for artists
1. Draw the big shape first
Most words have one outline that everyone recognises. An elephant is a big round body with a long trunk; a house is a square with a triangle on top. Draw that outline large in the middle of the paper in the first few seconds, before any detail. Guessers start guessing as soon as they see a shape, and their guesses tell you what to add next.
2. Add the one detail that decides it
A circle could be a ball, a sun, a face or a pizza. One detail settles it: rays for the sun, slices and dots for the pizza, eyes for a face. Ask yourself, “What is the one thing that makes this different from everything else that looks like it?” and draw only that. A giraffe is a horse with a very long neck and spots. A shark is a fish with a triangle fin on top and teeth.
3. Use symbols, not letters
Letters and numbers are not allowed, but symbols are. They are some of the fastest tools you have:
- Arrows point at the part that matters, or show where something moves.
- A circle around part of your drawing says “this bit”.
- A plus sign joins two drawings into one word: sun + flower.
- Motion lines turn a stick figure into someone running, jumping or falling.
- A big X crosses out a guess you have drawn by mistake, or a part people are reading wrong.
Arrows, circles, plus signs and motion lines: all fine.
Letters and numbers: never. Don’t write the word.
4. Break long words into parts
Compound words are much easier in pieces. Draw the first part, wait for someone to say it, then draw the second:
- Sunflower: a sun, a plus sign, a flower.
- Lighthouse: a light bulb, a plus sign, a house. Or a tall tower with beams of light.
- Seashell: a wavy line for the sea, a plus sign, a shell.
- Treehouse: a tree with a small house in its branches.
If people say the first part, nod and point at the second.
5. Draw actions with a stick figure
Action words (Sleeping, Juggling, Sneezing) are about what someone does, so draw a person doing it. Stick figures are perfect: they are fast, and the pose carries the meaning. Add the object the action needs (balls in the air for Juggling) and motion lines. For Sleeping, a figure lying down with “z z z” is not allowed, because those are letters, but closed eyes, a pillow and a moon in the corner do the same job.
6. Places need one landmark
For a place, draw what you would see in it: a slide and swings for a Playground, a big wheel and a tent for a Circus, shelves of books for a Library. Pick the one landmark everyone links with the place, then add people if it helps.
7. React to guesses
You can’t talk, but you can nod, shake your head and point. When a guess is close, nod and tap the part of the drawing that is right. When everyone is stuck on the wrong idea, cross that part out or clear the paper and try another angle. The table is reading your face as much as your drawing.
8. Skip early
You get one skip per turn and it costs no points. If you look at the word and have no idea how to draw it, skip it on the word card, before the timer starts. Skipping halfway through still works, but the time you spent is gone.
Tips for guessers
9. Say everything out loud
Every guess helps, even a wrong one. “Is it an animal? A dog? A horse? A cow?” gives the artist a list of things to steer away from. Quiet guessers make the artist work blind.
10. Guess the category first
Before the drawing is finished, think about what kind of thing it is. Four legs and a tail: an animal. A person with things around them: an action or a job. A building: a place. Once you know the category, the details narrow it down quickly.
11. Watch for parts
When the artist draws two separate things or a plus sign, it is a word in parts. Say the first part as soon as you see it, then the second, then put them together. Sun, flower… Sunflower!
12. Think about the level
On Easy, the answer is usually a single, simple thing: go for the obvious word. On Hard, expect scenes and ideas, like Traffic jam (lots of cars in a line) or Daydreaming (a person with a thought cloud). If the obvious word isn’t right, think one step bigger.
Draw a word at each level, then try it on paper
Nature · Medium
Draw this
Forest
Ideas for words that are hard to picture
- Make-believe: draw the thing it is most like and add the magic part. A Unicorn is a horse with a horn; a Mermaid is a person with a fish tail; Pegasus is a horse with wings.
- Weather and nature: use the sky. Rain under a cloud, lightning from a cloud, a moon covering a sun for an Eclipse.
- Jobs: draw the tool or the uniform. A chef’s hat and a pan for Chef, a whistle and a ball for Referee, a hive and bees for Beekeeper.
- Sports: draw the equipment, not the people. A bow and a target for Archery, a rope pulled by two groups for Tug of war.
- Feelings and small actions: big faces. Crying is easy with tears; Yawning is a wide-open mouth and a stretched figure.
Settings for kids and families
- Young children: Easy words, two or three familiar categories (Animals, Food, Things that go) and 120 seconds. Let a child draw with an adult as a team, and let children win ties when two people say the word together.
- Mixed ages: Mixed words with every category, 90 seconds. The spread of levels means everyone gets some easy turns.
- Adults and older kids: Hard words, 60 seconds and three turns each for a longer game.
- Your own words: make a word pack of family names, places you have visited or a school topic. Packs need at least 10 words and stay on your device.
Common beginner mistakes
- Drawing too small. Use the whole paper. Small drawings are hard to read from across the table.
- Starting with details. Eyes and buttons come last. Shape first.
- Drawing the letters of the word. Not allowed, and it ends the fun. Use symbols instead.
- Giving up too early. If guesses are coming, keep going. If nothing is coming after half the time, clear and try another idea.
- Silent guessing. Say it, even if you are not sure.
Play it now
Ready? Open Draw and Guess and start a game. For the full scoring and the house variants, read the rules guide. If your group likes acting more than drawing, try Charades, and for a word game with a bluff, try Imposter.
