A family game night has an awkward problem: the ages. A five-year-old and an eighty-year-old rarely enjoy the same game. A draw and guess game is one of the few that works for both, because nobody is good at it. But the settings matter. A clock that suits the teenagers will frighten the grandmother. Here are settings and habits that work across the generations.
What is the basic plan?
Seat everyone at one table, or join from different homes. Use the defaults as a starting point and tune from there: 100 seconds, three rounds, five words to choose from and three hints. A game of this size takes about 20 minutes with five or six people.
How do you help the youngest?
Give children more time and more help. Choose 120 seconds and three hints. Let a grown-up sit beside a small child and draw the first line. Offer two words to choose from, not five. Accept scribbles; a child who draws a circle with legs for a cat has done the job.
When a young child is the guesser, let them type slowly. A relative can read the drawing aloud while they type.
How do you help the oldest?
Remove the pressure. A larger screen, a larger pen and more time help. Let an older player guess for a round or two before drawing. If drawing with a mouse is hard, they can draw on a tablet, or a younger family member can hold the pencil while they direct.
Older players often know words the young do not, such as old objects and sayings. Add some to the custom words, and the children will learn them from the drawings.
What mix of words suits all ages?
A mix of three types: simple objects for the youngest, family jokes for everyone and a few classic sayings for the older players. A list of 60 words, split into three groups of twenty, gives each age a share of the fun.
How do you keep scores friendly?
Celebrate the sum, not the rank. Announce the points after each drawing and cheer for anyone who gains. Let the youngest play for a few extra points, or play in teams of one child and one adult, so that no age group is out of the running.
How do you handle a competitive teenager?
Give them a job: scorekeeper, word-chooser or referee. Or set them a challenge, such as getting a one-line drawing guessed in under 20 seconds. Competitive energy turns into entertainment when it has a target.
What if some family are far away?
A draw and guess game runs in a browser on any device. On Board It, a free site I make, up to twelve people can play a drawing game online with friends and relatives, and everyone sees the same canvas. Keep a video call open to share the laughs.
What snacks and seating help?
A long table with room to see each screen helps, as does a snack that does not need washing up. If you play on devices, put them on stands or against a stack of books, so people do not hunch over them. Give the youngest the seat next to the oldest, and they will often end up sharing a laugh.
If the family is spread across homes, agree a start time and ask everyone to join five minutes early. The first minutes of a call are for greetings, and the game should begin when the hello has run its course.
What are good house rules?
- Everybody draws at least once.
- Any word can be skipped by choosing another.
- The funniest wrong guess wins a cheer.
- The oldest player picks the last word.
Leaving no one out
Good family games leave no one out. A drawing game does it by making everyone equally bad and equally delighted.
Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.