Draw and Guess Drawing Game Online
Boardit’s free multiplayer drawing game online: one player draws a secret word, everyone else types guesses, and faster guesses score more. Add your own words and play with friends, 2–12 players, no download.
Free, in the browser. You get a short code to send your friends; guests play without an account. Every seat is a real person — there are no computer opponents. Two of you? Draw to a friend: they guess when they open it. On your own? Draw today’s word in a minute.
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How Draw and Guess plays
One player draws, everyone else guesses
The drawer chooses one of a few secret words and draws it. Writing the word is not allowed.
Type your guesses in the chat
A right guess is hidden from the other players and gives you points. If your guess is one letter wrong, only you see “close”.
A fast guess gives more points
A guess at the start can give up to 500 points; a guess at the end gives 100. You get fewer points if other players guessed before you. The drawer gets points when players guess quickly: if everyone guesses fast, the drawer gets as much as a fast guess, and if nobody guesses, the drawer gets nothing.
Letters appear as time runs out
The dashes show how many letters the word has. As time runs out, the letters appear one at a time.
Everyone draws once in each round
Every player draws once in each round. The player with the most points after the last round wins.
How to play Draw and Guess online with friends
How to play Draw and Guess online with friends
- Open a table. Press Create a room on this page; you do not need an account to host or to join.
- Send the five-character code. Each friend opens Boardit, chooses Join with a code and types it, on a phone, tablet or computer. Two players can play too: one draws, the other guesses, then you swap.
- Seat 2 to 12 players. Every seat is a real person, because there are no computer opponents.
- The host chooses the drawing time, the number of rounds and how many words the drawer picks from, then presses Start once at least 2 players are seated.
- The drawer picks a secret word and draws it while everyone else types guesses. A faster correct guess scores more, and the pencil passes round the table until everybody has drawn.
Draw and Guess is a guess-the-drawing party game for 2 to 12 players. Each turn one player is handed a secret word and has to draw it on a shared page while everyone else races to type the answer. Nobody needs to be able to draw — a wobbly circle with two ears is usually enough for "cat", and the funniest rounds are the ones where it is not. The words are deliberately easy: everyday objects, animals, food, famous places, well-known countries, brands and apps, so the game is about speed and imagination rather than obscure vocabulary.
Setting up
The host opens a room and shares the five-character code or the invite link. Anyone with it can sit down from a phone, tablet or computer, as a guest, without an account. The host chooses the table size (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 seats), how long each drawing lasts, how many rounds to play and how many words the drawer picks from, then starts the game once at least 2 players are seated. In a room's first game the host, who holds the first seat, draws first, and the pencil then passes round the table in seat order, so everybody draws once in every round. Each rematch moves the last player in the order to the front, so the lead changes hands from game to game.
Taking a turn
When it is your turn you are shown a few words and have 12 seconds to pick one; if you do not, one is picked for you. Then the clock starts. You draw with a pen, an eraser, a bucket fill, straight lines and four shapes, in any colour from a full chart, and you can undo or wipe the page. Everyone else sees your drawing appear as you make it, along with a row of dashes showing how many letters the word has — with a clear gap between the words when the answer is two words, like "ice cream". They type guesses into the chat. A wrong guess is shown to the table, a correct one is hidden so it does not give the answer away, and a guess one letter off tells only the person who typed it that they are close.
How it ends
Points are won by guessing right, and far more by guessing quickly. A correct guess is worth up to 500 points depending on how much time was left when you got it, and every player who got it before you shrinks what is left: two people right in the same second do not score the same, because the first keeps the full amount and the second takes only a little over half. So the first person to crack a drawing earns far more than the last. The drawer is paid too, for how fast the table read the drawing: each right answer's speed points, before the race between guessers cuts them, added up and divided by everyone else at the table. So a clear drawing the whole table reads quickly pays as much as a quick guess, and a masterpiece only one person understands pays a fraction of that. If nobody guesses, nobody scores that turn. The turn ends early the moment everyone has guessed, and after the last round the podium shows who finished on top.
How to win at Draw and Guess
Draw the idea before the details. The first ten seconds decide most of the points, because every guesser who gets it early is worth the most to them and to you, so start with the one shape that says the word — a long neck, a roof, a steering wheel — and add detail only if the chat is still wrong. Use the guesses: if people are typing "dog" for your fox, the outline worked and you only need the bushy tail and the pointed ears. Split a two-word answer into two drawings side by side, because the dashes already tell everyone there are two words. As a guesser, type early and type often; a wrong guess costs nothing, and the near-miss notice only goes to you, so a guess that is one letter out is useful information rather than a giveaway. Watch the letter count, and once a hint arrives, think of words that fit it before looking at the picture again. When a drawing is not landing, broad guesses such as "animal" or "food" cost nothing and show the drawer what the table is seeing.
What the host can change
Drawtime can be 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 seconds and the game can run 2, 3, 5, 8 rounds, where a round means everybody draws once. The drawer can be offered two to five words. Hints can be switched off or set to reveal up to three letters as the clock runs down, though never the last hidden letter. The host can also add their own custom words — inside jokes, names from a class, a theme for a party — either mixed into the normal list or, with at least 10 of them, used on their own. Custom words stay hidden from the other players until someone is asked to draw one.
Why Boardit plays it this way
The drawer is paid for how quickly the table reads the drawing, so a sketch the whole table gets at once pays as much as a fast guess, and a clever drawing nobody gets pays nothing. The drawer has 12 seconds to pick a word, and if they do not, the game picks one, so a hesitant drawer never stalls the table. Every stroke reaches the guessers as it is drawn, so the order you draw in matters as much as the drawing itself. And the host can bring their own words, mixed in or, with at least 10 of them, played on their own, because inside jokes and a class's own vocabulary make better rounds than any built-in list.
Playing Draw and Guess online
Draw and Guess online runs entirely in the browser, so a group can play on whatever they have: the drawer can use a finger on a phone, a stylus on a tablet or a mouse on a laptop, and the page keeps the same shape on every screen, so a drawing made on a phone looks the same on a big monitor. There is nothing to download and guests do not need an account; they join with the room code. It is a natural fit for a video call with friends or family, a classroom, or a remote team break, because the guessing happens in the game's own chat and needs no talking at all. The drawing streams live, so everyone watches the picture take shape at the same moment, and a player who refreshes the page is shown the drawing so far. Multiplayer tables seat up to 12, which is enough for most parties, and two players on different phones or computers can play too: one draws, the other guesses, then you swap.
Draw and Guess for two players
Two is the smallest table: one of you draws, the other guesses, then you swap, and everybody draws once in every round. With one guesser, the drawer is paid for how quickly that guesser reads the picture, so a clear drawing pays both of you and a clever one only you understand pays nothing. The host sets the number of rounds in the lobby (2, 3, 5 or 8) and can turn on hints, which reveal letters as the clock runs down. Two players on two phones or computers is enough, with nothing to download.
Using your own words for a class, a party or a team
The host can add custom words in the lobby: inside jokes, names from a class, a theme for a party. They can be mixed into the normal list or, with at least 10 of them, used on their own, and they stay hidden from the other players until someone is asked to draw one. The drawer is offered two to five words and has 12 seconds to pick, after which one is picked for them, so a long list never stalls the table.
Because guessing happens in the game's own chat and needs no talking, it works on a video call, in a classroom or as a break for a remote team.
Common questions
- Can the guessers see the drawing as it is made?
- Yes, stroke by stroke. Every line reaches the other players as it is drawn, so the order you draw in is the order the evidence arrives. That is why the outline and the one giveaway feature should go down first, and the detail later, if at all.
- What kind of words come up?
- Everyday words chosen to be easy to sketch, plus some famous places, countries, brands and apps. The drawer is offered a few and picks one, and a word nobody at the table would recognise is worth skipping. The host can also add their own list in the lobby.
- Is Draw and Guess a drawing game you can play online with friends?
- Yes. It is a drawing and guessing game for a group online: one player draws a secret word on their screen, everyone else watches the drawing appear live and types guesses, and the faster the table reads the drawing the more it pays. It is free, runs in the browser on phones, tablets and laptops, and needs no download.
- How many people can play Draw and Guess?
- From 2 up to 12; the host sets the table to 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 seats. Two players works as a quick back-and-forth duel; four to eight is the liveliest, because there are enough guessers for the race to matter and the pencil still comes back round often.
- How long does a game of Draw and Guess take?
- About 6–20 minutes. In finished games on Boardit, two or three players take about six to thirteen minutes and four or more about seventeen, on the default settings: three rounds with 100 seconds a drawing, and most turns end early because the turn stops the moment everybody has guessed. The host can make each drawing 40, 60, 80, 100 or 120 seconds long and play 2, 3, 5 or 8 rounds.
- How are the points worked out in Draw and Guess?
- A correct guess starts from 100 to 500 points, scaled by how much of the drawing time was left, and is then cut by how many players guessed it first — the second right answer keeps a little over half, the third about two fifths, and nobody drops below a fifth. The drawer is paid from the guessers' speed: every right answer's points before that cut, added up and divided by the other players, counting anyone who missed as zero. Scores are added up at the end of each turn.
- Do I need to be good at drawing?
- No. The words are chosen to be easy to sketch, and simple shapes guessed quickly score better than a detailed drawing guessed late. Plenty of rounds are won with a stick figure and an arrow.
- Can we use our own words?
- Yes. The host can type a list of custom words in the lobby, separated by commas. They are mixed in with the built-in words, or used on their own once there are at least 10. Other players never see the list.
- Does the drawing game work on a phone or tablet?
- Yes, held upright or sideways. On a phone the drawing tools sit under the page, or in two slim columns beside it when the phone is turned sideways. The whole page, tools and chat fit the screen without scrolling.
- What happens if the drawer leaves mid-turn?
- The turn ends, the word is shown and nobody loses the points they already earned that turn. A player who closed the page a while ago is skipped when their turn to draw comes round, so the table is not left waiting.
If you like Draw and Guess
Also free on Boardit, with no download: a property trading game, Ludo online and Snakes and Ladders online. See all six online board games and party games on the home page, or read about the person who makes them.