A Rough Sketch (Telestrations)

How on earth did this happen?  Sure, World Tree may not have been the most obvious clue, but as you go through the sketches, it turns into Redwood, tree house, and...floating castle?  Maybe the stylized design wasn't the best, but the final clue, flying wizard tower, is so far removed from the original clue that you wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't seen it.  That's the kind of wackiness seen from Telestrations.



GAME DESCRIPTION:  Telestrations is a 4-8 player party game, with up to 12 players available in the party pack edition. Combining the classic Telephone game with Pictonary, players will draw a topic, and get other players to guess correctly.

PLAYING:  Each player is given a card, with 6 clues.  A player rolls the die, and writes down the Secret Word that matches the die roll on the inside flap of their sketchbook, then proceeds to draw that word on slot 1.  Once time is up, or you are done, pass your sketchbook to the next player.  Then, players write down what they think the word is on the next page.  Again, sketchbooks are passed, and players draw the previous players guess.  Play continues like this until each player gets their original sketchbook back.

TIMER:  Sometimes people want to make their message clear, and can take a bit longer than everyone else, slowing the game and making the game less enjoyable.  Luckily, there is a 90 second timer that players can use to speed up the game.



SCORING:  The game is divided into 3 rounds.  At the end of each round, when sketchbooks are gathered up, each player takes turns showing the clues and drawings.  Then, a point is given to two players, one for guess and one for drawing.  Also, if the last guess is exactly the same as the player's Secret Word, the player who wrote the original word also gets 1 point.  At the end of the third round, total up the points

CONCLUSION:  This is a more relaxed game, with points ultimately just rewarding humor rather than great drawing skills.  Because of this, it might be seen as a more casual game, which is not an unfair assessment.  This is one of those games that you play as downtime, or in between long games.  Quick to learn, quick to play, this might be avoided by people more interested in more in depth games, but it's still good for a laugh on a Saturday night. Especially when you start throwing in your own groups in-jokes.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:  So, this game has also been unoffically known as Fax Machine, offically released online under Drawception, and various names and places elsewhere.  The big advantage this game has is in the social aspect, and the convienence.  Sure, you can just buy a pack of notebooks and pencils and use those, but Secret Words become chaotic that way, and it's harder to clean up.  If you aren't strapped for cash, I would say this is definitely the better option.  The markers also add a level of fairness by limiting the thickness of lines, making it simpler for less experienced artists, and forcing those with art talents thatare noticeably better to limit their drawings.