Scrawl Drawing Game Overview

Disclosure

A few days ago I was watching the 10 o’clock hour of NBC’s Today Show, which had guest host Christian Slater along with regulars Kathie Lee and Hoda. They were discussing doodles and the results of a recent study that analyzed what people drew and predicted personalities based upon what they doodled the most.

Both Kathie Lee and Hoda drew some type of face, while Christian Slater drew a three-dimensional box with an open lid. According to the study, the box meant Christian was analytical, serious and orderly, while Kathie Lee and Hoda’s doodles said they were more interested in people and learning about others. Everyone agreed the study was correct, even if it seemed a little obvious.

That got me to thinking about a game we had recently played by Big Potato Games / Bananagrams called Scrawl. It’s one of those games you play after the kids go to bed. And even though we’ve taken them to their first R-Rated movie, this one is best left to the 17+ crowd as the box suggests (or even older).

Scrawl is designed for four to eight players, and artistic skill is not needed. Each player receives a dry erase board, a clip and a pen. The included cards have four different colors on them and the group decides which should be the active color for the game. One agreed upon, each player draws one card and looks at the word or phrase, keeping it secret from the other players.

On the blank side of your board, try to draw the best interpretation of the word or phrase on your card. There’s only one rule to follow – no words allowed! Once everyone has finished doodling, they pass their clipboard (board & clip) to the player on their left. That person now must try to guess what they have drawn.

Take one of the pink Scrawl cards from the stack and write on the blank side what you think the drawing is of. This is clipped to the top of the original drawing and then passed again to the left. Now everyone is looking at words, as they cannot see the drawing underneath. You must now draw what the person on your right thought they saw, and you guessed it, clip it to the stack and pass it to your left again.

Continue this process until everyone receives their original drawing back (note – the original drawing board is color-coded and the owner of that color has a matching card in front of them). All players lay out the stack of cards in a line, admiring the grapevine progression as it made its way around the table. Each person picks their favorite drawing or guess and makes a mark for that player on the included score card.

Although rare, if the final Scrawl card on the stack matches your original Scenario Card, the owner of the clipboard wins three points! Scrawl is played until one player amasses points totaling two more than the number of players. When one person hits that goal, the game ends immediately and that person is the winner of Scrawl!

We wish we could say we could just remove a few of the cards to make it more family-friendly for our teens, but there were just too many to pull. Phrases like “Anal Bleaching”, “Cat Orgy”, “Bangkok Ping Pong Show” and “Captain Cum-Quick” are things we’re not ready to (or ever will be) discuss with our kids. And that’s OK – this will remain on the shelf until our adults-only game nights. That’s why there’s a parental advisory label on the front!

Still have questions on how to play? Check out this video by Big Potato Games for a more in-depth explanation! If you think this would be a good fit for your (adult) group of gaming friends, you can find it at Target or on Amazon from 3rd party sellers. Looking for a more family friendly option? Hop over to their Twitter or Facebook pages to see what else they have to offer!

Do you enjoy playing adult party games?