The game in one paragraph
Pictionary is charades with a pen. Players split into teams; one player on a team draws a secret word while their teammates guess it out loud, against a one-minute timer. No letters, no numbers, no talking, no gestures: only the drawing. A correct guess before the timer runs out scores, and then the next team draws. It was invented by Rob Angel in 1985 and has been published by Mattel since 2001; the box holds a board, a die, a sand timer, word cards and pads. You only need the last three, and this site replaces the cards.
What you need
- Teams. Two or more, at least two players each. Four people is the classic game; larger groups play in bigger teams and rotate the drawer.
- Something to draw on. A pad per team, a whiteboard, or a big sheet on an easel that everyone can see.
- Words. The cards from the box, or the word generator, which also supplies the next two items.
- A one-minute timer. The box has a sand timer; the generator has a 60-second clock with a buzzer.
- The die and board, if you are playing the full game. They decide the category and track progress; see the section on the board below.
The five categories
Every official card has five words, one per category, and the die tells the drawer which line to use:
| Letter | Category | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| P | Person, Place or Animal | firefighter, lighthouse, giraffe |
| O | Object | toaster, kite, snow globe |
| A | Action | sneeze, juggle, parallel park |
| D | Difficult | déjà vu, the last straw, procrastinate |
| AP | All Play | any word; every team draws it at once |
The generator’s Classic card mode builds cards in exactly this format and rolls the die for you, so it works with a real board.
A turn, step by step
- The drawer gets a word. Draw a card and roll for the category, or press New word on the generator. Only the drawer sees it. (With Hide the word until tapped on, the phone can be passed around safely.)
- Start the clock. Flip the timer or press Start. The drawer has five seconds or so to think in most house rules, then must begin.
- Draw. The drawer sketches; teammates shout guesses without limit. The drawer may keep drawing, add to the picture, point at parts of it, or draw a new picture beside it.
- Guess exactly. The team must say the exact word or phrase on the card. “Bird” does not score for “duck”; “raining cats and dogs” must be all four words.
- Score or pass. A correct guess before the buzzer scores (a point, or a roll and move on the board). If time runs out, play passes with no penalty.
- Rotate. The next team draws; within a team, the drawer changes every turn so everyone draws.
What the drawer may not do
- Write letters or numbers, in any language, including on a drawn sign or clock face.
- Draw symbols that stand for words: no arrows for “to”, no equals sign, no hashtags.
- Talk, hum, whistle, make sound effects or mouth the word.
- Use hand gestures or act anything out. The pen does the acting.
What is allowed: a row of dashes to show how many words the answer has; a “sounds like” drawing (tugging an ear is the traditional signal, but strictly it is a gesture, so many tables draw an ear instead); crossing out a wrong guess; and drawing several pictures for one word. If the whole table agrees, relax a rule; if you are playing to win, keep them all.
All Play
The round that makes Pictionary loud. When the die shows AP, when the card’s All Play word is marked, or when a team lands on an All Play square, every team’s drawer looks at the same word and everyone draws at once when the timer flips. The first team to guess correctly wins the round and, on the board, rolls and moves. In a card-free game, the winning team simply takes the point. For a big party with several pads, some groups play every round as an All Play.
Playing on the board
Each team has a playing piece on the start square. On a turn, the drawer takes a card and the category is set by the die (in older editions, by the colour of the square the piece is on). A correct guess lets the team roll the movement die and advance; landing on an All Play square triggers an All Play next turn. The first team to reach the final square must then win an All Play to take the game, which is why the end of a board game is usually three teams drawing the same word at once and shouting. Board editions differ a little in square colours and die faces; the rules in the box for your edition take precedence.
Playing without the board
Most games are played without it. Agree a target: first team to 10 points for a short game, 15 or 20 for a long one, or a fixed number of rounds per team. One point per correct guess. Common extras: double points for a Difficult word, a one-point penalty for a rule break, and a bonus point for an All Play win. The generator’s scoreboard under the card keeps two teams’ totals; for more teams, a pad and a pencil. The adults page and the kids page have formats tuned to those tables.
House rules worth having
- Three-word choice. The drawer sees three words and picks one (set Words per turn to 3).
- One skip per game per team. The generator’s Skip keeps the clock running.
- Children draw in pairs and may nod at close guesses.
- D counts double. Makes the hard line a prize.
- Art gallery. Keep every drawing; vote for the worst one that still got guessed.
Variants
Pictionary Air (Mattel, 2019) replaces the pad with a light pen: the drawer draws in the air, the picture appears on a phone or TV through the app, and the drawer cannot see their own drawing. Pictionary Junior uses simpler words and a shorter board for children. Online Pictionary means a video call and a shared screen or whiteboard; the online guide covers the set-up. Whatever the version, the word supply is the part that runs out first, which is what the generator and the printable cards are for.
Last updated September 2026. Rules summarised from Mattel’s published Pictionary instructions; check the sheet in your edition for board specifics. This is an independent site and Pictionary® is a trademark of Mattel, Inc.