Pictionary

Infobox_Game
subject_name=Pictionary
image_link=
image_caption=Two unrelated drawings from an actual Pictionary game: for the clues "dragon" and "return address." The key is to draw just enough to get your teammate to figure out the clue.
players=4 or more
ages=8 and up
setup_time=< 5 minutes
playing_time= 1 hour
complexity=High
strategy=Medium
random_chance=Medium
skills=Drawing, Team play
footnotes =

"Pictionary" is a guessing word game published in 1985. The game is played with teams with players trying to identify specific words from their teammates' drawings.

Objective

Each team moves a piece on a game board formed by a sequence of squares. Each square has a letter or shape identifying the type of picture to be drawn on it. The objective is to be the first team to reach the last space on the board.

Gameplay

The team chooses one person to begin drawing; this position rotates with each word. The drawer chooses a card out of a deck of special "Pictionary" cards and tries to draw pictures which suggest the word printed on the card. The pictures cannot contain any numbers or letters. The teammates try to guess the word the drawing is intended to represent.

There are five types of squares on the board, and each "Pictionary" card has a list of five words printed on it. Players must draw the word which corresponds to the square on the board on which the team's marker is:

* P - Person/Place/Animal (or any noun) , "or related characteristics"
* O - Object (things that can be touched or seen)
* A - Action (things that can be performed)
* D - Difficult (challenging words)
* AP - All Play (any type of word)

AP category (and a few other words) are designated as "All Play". For "All Play," the teams compete against each other. Each team designates a player whose purpose will be to draw pictures. The team that guesses the word first gets to advance and take the next turn. If none of the teams guess the word, the turn passes to whichever team should have been next.

A one-minute sand timer is used to compel players to rapidly complete their drawing and guessing.

Winning a turn

If a team wins its turn by correctly guessing a drawing inside the time interval, that team then rolls a dice and advances that number of squares to take another turn. If the team runs out of the time allotted for guessing a word, that team does not advance and the next team takes a turn. Also if the drawing member of a team does not draw the right picture and the team guesses what s/he is drawing and s/he is caught, then that turn is rewarded to the next team in line.

ee also

* iSketch, a "Pictionary"-like online game
* "Pictionary" (1989 game show) and "Pictionary" (game show), two television shows that were based on "Pictionary"
* "Win, Lose or Draw", a game show with a similar concept to "Pictionary"
* "Pictionary" (video game)
* "Telephone Pictionary"

External links

*bgg|2281|"Pictionary"
* [http://www.spogg.com/games/play.php?game=sketch Sketchorama] and [http://www.xsketch.com/ XSketch] , pictionary-like online games
* [http://www.PictionaryAttempts.com PictionaryAttempts.com] , share and discuss your Pictionary drawings.