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This article was reviewed by Ashton Wu and by wikiHow staff writer, Aly Rusciano. Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 50K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
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So, you’re gearing up to play a game of Pictionary, but there’s only one problem…you need great word ideas! Worry not because we’re here to help. Check out these easy and hard Pictionary ideas that’ll be super fun for anyone to draw!
Quick Pictionary Ideas by Category
Steps
How to Play Pictionary
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Divide everyone up into 2 teams. Pictionary works best when you have 2 equal teams of players. Have fun with how you divide your friends! Maybe it’s boys versus girls or parents versus kids. As long as each team has the same number of players, you’re good to go.[1] -
Write ideas on pieces of paper and place them in a container. Have each player write down ideas or topics to draw (use the lists above for inspiration!). Then, place all of the written-out ideas into a bowl, hat, or other container.[2]- To ensure teams don’t know the topics, have each team write ideas for the opposite team, placing them in separate containers.
- Use a Pictionary Word Generator for even more ideas!
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Decide which team will draw first. Roll a dice or play rock paper scissors to determine which team will play or draw first.[3] -
Pick a topic to draw, draw, and start guessing. Have the team drawing first pick their drawer. Players on the team who are not drawing have to guess what is being drawn. The team’s drawer selects an idea from the container and reads it quietly to themselves. Start a timer for 60 seconds and draw.[4]- No words, letters, or numbers can be drawn out or spoken.
- If teammates guess the drawing correctly, the team earns the point. If the item is not guessed correctly before the 60 seconds is up, their turn is over.
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Repeat with the second team. Once the first team has drawn and/or guessed correctly, it’s now the second team’s turn to draw. Have the team’s drawer pick a topic, draw, and start the timer. The team has 60 seconds to guess the drawing correctly.[5] -
Continue playing for as long as you’d like! Most Pictionary enthusiasts play until a team reaches 10 points, but you can play for as long as you want. Just keep switching up who draws, and if you run out of ideas, write down more.[6] -
Game Variations Switch up the standard rules of Pictionary with some of these game and rule variations:- Let everyone (no matter their team) guess what is being drawn. The point goes to the team of the correct guesser.
- Draw another idea if the first idea is guessed correctly before the timer goes off.
- Award more points to more difficult ideas.
- Let the other team have one guess if the drawing team doesn’t guess correctly before time is out.
- Have teams go head-to-head by having both teams draw the same word at once.
Expert Q&A
Tips
References
- ↑ https://gameonfamily.com/how-to-play-homemade-pictionary/
- ↑ https://gameonfamily.com/how-to-play-homemade-pictionary/
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/pictionary.pdf
- ↑ https://teachbetter.com/blog/pictionary-brain-break-games/
- ↑ https://teachbetter.com/blog/pictionary-brain-break-games/
- ↑ https://gameonfamily.com/how-to-play-homemade-pictionary/
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