Q&A for How to Play Pictionary

No, the players cannot use words in Pictionary. The whole point of the game is to guess words by drawing pictures. Some people use dashes to indicate the amount of letters to be guessed, as part of the drawing, but that’s about as far as the guessing help should go!

The aim of the game Pictureka is to win the most cards or to be the first to collect six cards. To do this, you need to be able to quickly find characters and objects which are hidden on the tiles, and each find allows you to win cards. When you find them, you need to shout out "Pictureka!" before another player does, winning yourself a card. The game is played both in competition with other players and under timed conditions, so it feels a bit like a race. For the official rules, which are too long to explain in a short answer, check the rules booklet accompanying the game or look online. It is also possible to combine Pictureka with other games, in which case you’ll need to combine rule sets as well.

If you don’t mind the game being less competitive and more about just having fun drawing and guessing, then you could have a 2-player Pictionary game. Swap the roles of drawing and guessing between you each turn and just enjoy the game for the fun of it rather than adding up scores too seriously.

Pictionary is a trademarked word that combines the concept of "pictures" with "dictionary." The aim of the game is to guess words from pictures.

Charades is a word guessing game to be played at parties, and is played by acting out words, phrases, movie or book titles, etc., through mime and action without actually saying the words. It is often played in teams but can also be played individually. For the complete instructions on setting up the game, its rules and how to play it, see How to Play Charades .

Yes, as long as you don't write numbers or letters.

It all depends on the group you play with. Ask them if doing this is accepted, or if they would rather you not.

You roll the dice, then move squares according to the number the dice show.

Your team doesn't get that point.

If someone in your group has a mobile phone, open up the clock app and use the timer or stopwatch feature, if it has one.

Yes, as long as everyone playing the game agrees to it. Be sure not to use hand gestures that might give away the answer.

No, you don't have to roll the exact number on the dice to win: you just need to guess the picture correctly.

Decide this ahead of time with your group. Usually letters are forbidden but symbols are okay. If you play this way, you might want to mandate that symbols that contain letters (i.e @,€,$) are not allowed.

If you're going to guess afterward, then yes, that would generally be considered against the rules. If you don't plan to make a guess after the other team is finished, it would not technically be cheating. However, some people may still take exception to it on the grounds that you may inadvertently help the other team or hinder them.

It depends on the house rules. Some players consider it to be cheating, while others find it to be fine as long as you're not cheating or making things too easy. Ask the group if it's OK with it, and decide together.

It all depends on your group and what you decide ahead of time. In my opinion, that would be an acceptable answer, but again, it all depends on your group and what rules you decide on together.

If you rolled the dice and you had to draw 2 pictures in the same turn then no, it doesn't start over, however, if your team guessed the word/s correctly then your team gets to play another turn and the timer does start over.

Each team rolls the dice, and the one with the highest number starts the game. The first word played should always be "all-play" game.

You can have a 3 person team and a 2 person team. You could also have a time keeper and 2 people per side and then rotate in for the timekeeping position for everyone gets to play.

Yes, but that can be determined by the players before beginning the game.

No, you don't have to roll the exact number on the dice to win: you just need to guess the picture correctly.

If a player writes a number then the team is disqualified from that round. No points are awarded to that team.

It depends on the rules you set up for the game beforehand. If you decide that only letters and numbers are forbidden, then it should be allowed.

No, you can only draw pictures.

Sure, if you have dice and cards (either from the game or ones you've made yourself); you can print a copy of the board from Google Images for reference. You could also pick up a used board from eBay quite inexpensively, check garage sales, or post on local social media trade/sell groups that you're looking for one.

Yes, you can. However, if the group that you are playing with has some special rules, follow those.

No. The whole point of the game is to guess by looking at the drawings, not the card. If you don’t guess it in time, it might not be your fault because it might be because the drawer did not draw it clearly!

Maybe. It depends on whether or not your team allows it. If you can’t decide, you can use a random spinner to help you choose.