In Pikto, you want to draw pictures so that whoever is guessing this round might be able to identify your drawing — but will you go for a simple image that the guesser might have first crack at (and miss), or a more detailed image that might have you waiting to see whether someone else's image is guessed first?

In more detail, each player receives a dry-erase board and a pen. One player is the guesser for the round, and they step away from the table or hide their eyes while everyone else draws a word or phrase. To choose what to draw, roll the twelve-sided die, then consult the appropriate number on the card that you drew. (The box has 46 double-sided cards, with twelve words/phrases on each side, or 1104 total answers.) Show everyone but the guesser the word to be drawn.

Everyone then draws their own image on their dry-erase board, but you can use only straight lines and circles in your drawing! Nothing else! No wiggly lines, half-circles, or anything else other than straight lines and circles. If you want to draw a triangle, you must draw three straight lines and connect them. After you complete your drawing, count how many objects you drew, write that number in the lower-right corner of your board, then set your board face down on the table.

Once everyone has finished, everyone announces their numbers, and whoever has the lowest number is the first player to reveal their board to the guesser. (In the event of a tie, whichever tied player finished their drawing first wins the tie.) If the guesser identifies the image, the guesser scores two points and the drawer one point; if the guesser is wrong, then the drawer with the next-lowest number reveals their image, now giving the guesser two images with which to identify the secret word. This process continues until the guesser has said the secret word or all drawers have revealed their images.

After everyone has been guesser one or two times, depending on the number of players, the game ends and whoever has the most points wins!

Scrawl