Spanking Yoda
This game is a sort of mashup of Pictionary and Telephone. The name "Spanking Yoda" presumably comes from a particulary memorable round of play. It's also sometimes known as “Pictionary Telephone” or “The Line Drawing Game.”
Number of Players: At least 5, the more the better
Supplies Needed: Pen and paper for each player
Object
Ostensibly to preserve the original phrase as it passes around, similar to a game of Telephone. There is no scoring—players see how dramatically a message can transform from beginning to end, and may win accolades for managing to preserve the original phrase, for excellent (or terrible) drawing, inventive phrases and interpretations, or most humorous overall transformation.
Setup
Players should be arranged in a circle or around a table. Begin by giving each player a piece of paper and something to write with. This works best with a long, narrow piece of paper (tearing a standard letter-sized sheet in half lengthwise works great). The game works best if players begin with challenging phrases and make an actual attempt to correctly pass on the original phrase.
Game Play
- Each player writes a phrase or sentence along the top edge of their paper. Once all players are finished, each passes the paper to the player on their right.
- Each player takes the new sheet of paper that’s been passed to them and illustrates the phrase directly below it. The drawings don’t have to be good—in fact, the game is more fun if they’re not.
- Each player then folds back the top section of the paper to hide the initial phrase. It is important that ONLY the drawing is showing, and none of the text is visible. When all are ready, everyone passes their paper to the right.
- Each player should now have a piece of paper with just a drawing visible. The task is now to write down in words what the drawing is depicting. This should be done directly below the drawing, so that the top of the paper can be folded back again to hide the drawing.
- Each player should fold the top of the paper back again, so that ONLY the new phrase is visible to the next player. Once everyone is ready, the papers should be passed to the right again. Each player should translate the visible text into a drawing, and fold back the top again so only the drawing is visible.
- Continue passing the papers around for a few more rounds of writing and drawing, until the page is almost used up. Make sure to end with a text round, and then make one final pass to the right, so that each person has a paper with a new phrase or sentence at the end.
Scoring
There is no scoring or winning in this game. Instead, at the end of the game, each player unfolds the piece of paper in front of them and reads it aloud to the group from start to end, showing off the illustrations.
Variations & Clarifications
- Drawings should not include any text or numerals.
- More obscure, abstract, and specific initial phrases can make for a more entertaining game.
- If players are unfamiliar with references in the text or if they can’t decipher drawings or handwriting, that’s okay! They should just take their best guess and continue the game.
- To keep things moving along, it may be helpful to use a two-minute timer for each drawing round.
- Some players may be faster writers or illustrators than others, but they shouldn’t jump ahead—everyone should be writing at the same time, drawing at the same time, and passing their paper at the same time.