Play Draw & Guess on a video call

Draw & Guess is a cooperative drawing game, like Pictionary for two players. Each round, one player gets a secret word and draws it; the other types guesses until they get it or 70 seconds run out. You play four rounds, taking turns to draw. You're on the same team, and your score is how many of the four drawings you solved.

No letters or numbers in the drawing: that's the one rule that keeps it fun. You can still talk, but saying the word, spelling it or miming it on camera is cheating, and it's much funnier to watch someone struggle with an octopus.

• Draw the biggest, simplest shape first. A volcano is a triangle with smoke before it's anything else.
• Add the one detail that makes it unique: the tentacles on the octopus, the hole in the donut.
• Use color to cheat a little. Yellow plus a curve is a banana before you've finished drawing it.
• Draw context, not just the object. A snowman with snowflakes around it is guessed faster than a snowman alone.
• Watch their guesses. If they're close (“lake”, “sea”), draw what separates them (a lighthouse, an island).

To play Pictionary on any video call, one person thinks of (or generates) a word, draws it on paper and holds it up to the camera, while the other guesses out loud. Use a thick marker; thin pencil lines disappear on phone cameras.

On Chatingly the canvas syncs live, so your partner sees each line as you draw it and the timer runs on both screens.

More ideas in 12 games for any video call.