Drawing game word generator

How to play a drawing game

Split into two teams of two or more. One player from a team is the drawer: they look at the word without letting anyone else see it, start the timer and draw. Their teammates shout guesses. If someone says the word before time runs out, the team scores a point. Then the other team takes a turn, and the drawer role moves to the next person on each team.

The usual rules for the drawer: no letters, no numbers, no talking and no gestures at the paper beyond pointing. You can draw arrows, circles and simple symbols. Most groups allow a dash for each word in a phrase, so guessers know "piggy bank" is two words.

For a mixed group where teams feel unfair, play "all draw" rounds: every few turns, one drawer from each team draws the same word at once, and the first team to guess wins the point.

Passing one phone around

The drawer holds the phone, taps New word, reads it, then taps Hide word before putting the phone down. If the phone has to travel across the room first, tick "Keep each new word hidden" and the word only appears when the drawer taps Show word. The tick box "Restart the timer with each new word" saves a tap when you play fast rounds.

Team scores are folded away under the timer. Rename the teams by typing over "Team 1" and "Team 2"; the scores stay in this browser until you set them back to 0.

How we sorted the words

• Kids: things a five-year-old knows and can draw: cat, dog, fish, sun, moon.
• Easy: one object with a clear outline, sometimes one most kids have not drawn before: campfire, mountain, island, volcano, river.
• Medium: a scene, a person doing a job, or a two-part idea: birthday party, traffic jam, picnic, sleepover, bubble bath.
• Hard: ideas with no single shape, sayings and compound words: gravity, echo, shadow, reflection, time travel.

Tap the level buttons to mix them. A family table often works best with kids and easy turned on; adults who have played a lot may want medium and hard only.

Tips for better rounds

• Draw the setting first. For "lifeguard", a quick wave line and a tall chair gets guessers to the beach before you add the person.
• Split hard words. "Bookworm" is a book plus a worm. Draw each part, then a plus sign.
• Use "sounds like". Many tables allow an ear drawn next to a picture to mean the word sounds like it. Agree on this before you start.
• Skip without guilt. If the drawer has no idea how to start within a few seconds, a skip keeps the game moving. Decide whether a skip costs a point.

All the words

Prefer paper slips or no screen at all? Here is every word on this page, by level. To print, use the printable word cards above: they follow the levels you pick and come out 12 to a page, ready to cut apart for a bowl.

Questions about drawing game words

What are good words for a drawing game?

Good drawing words are things with a shape people know at a glance (a ladder, a cactus, a lighthouse) or an action you can show with a stick figure (a sneeze, a cartwheel). Save abstract words like "gravity" or "nostalgia" for players who enjoy a puzzle. This page sorts 520 of our own words into kids, easy, medium and hard so you can match the room.

Can you give me 20 random words to draw?

Here are 20 from our lists: ladder, scissors, spoon, fork, bowl, lamp, window, fence, bridge, tent, birthday party, traffic jam, picnic, sleepover, bubble bath, ball, apple, banana, boat, bird. For a fresh set each time, tap "New word" above; it will not repeat a word until the levels you picked run out.

How long should a drawing round be?

Sixty seconds suits most groups. Use 90 seconds for hard words or young kids, and 30 seconds for a fast lightning round with easy words. The timer above has all three and can beep when time is up.

Are these words from a boxed drawing game?

No. Every word here was written by us for this page, not copied from the cards of any boxed game. They work for drawing on paper or a whiteboard, for a boxed sketch-and-guess game when you run out of cards, and for Pictionary-style drawing games in general.

Do the words repeat?

Not until every word in the levels you picked has come up once. The page remembers what it has shown until you close the tab, then starts a fresh shuffle next time.