As I mentally composed this as a message to Anna G, I realized that such information would be better shared and distributed to the free world.
Allow me to make your next get together full of lively conversation and much laughter. My sister actually taught us this game, but I’ve attributed it to her 3 times and based on International Joke (& Recipe) Copyright Law, it is now mine and I can receive full credit.
Now, I’m a lover of games. Yes, even silly mixers. Word games, especially. One time my sister and I played Taboo with a few friends and we were able to guess one another’s words with just one-word prompts. Once even with zero words, just a look. It was amazing. So when they shared this beauty, Pictionary Telephone, my party game world became complete.
What you’ll need: Lots and lots of papers. I recommend quarter sheets (or slightly smaller if you have the luxury of a good paper cutter nearby). For each round you will need to make stacks of paper equal to the number of people playing. So if you have 8 people, you will need 8 stacks with 8 sheets of paper. A good hostess would staple these stacks to make things less confusing.
For best results, sit in the round. A table is optimal.
To begin, everyone has a stack of papers and a pen. The host would name a category (think “movies” or “things that make you go hmm”. In the case of Anna G, “weddings” or “marriage”). Each person would then come up with a phrase and write it on the top sheet of paper. (For example, “wedding bells are ringing” or “here comes the bride”). When complete, each person would lay the papers face down and slide it to the right.
When everyone is ready (be prepared to impose a time limit), they pick up their neighbor’s stack and read the phrase. Then everyone would put that sheet of paper in the back (or flip if you scored a good stapling-hostess) and on the next sheet of paper, DRAW the phrase. Yes, that means someone is trying to draw wedding bells, ringing.
When complete, each person puts their stack face down and slides it, again to the person on the right so that the stacks are making their way around the circle. You will not get your stack back until the end. So now each person is looking at a picture drawn by their neighbor. Each person will now guess what that picture is saying. They may NOT turn back to previous sheets to see what the phrase is or other drawings as it moves around the circle. They get only what the picture is and must turn the sheet to write a phrase of what they think the picture describes.
Again, when complete, put the stack face down and pass to their neighbor. You should be receiving alternating drawings and phrase-writings from the same person each time.
Continue in this pattern until you run out of paper – this means you get your own phrase back. Then share with the group one sheet at a time the progression of your phrase to see the final product. For funniest results, share the final phrase / drawing and reveal in reverse.
Trust me, you’re going to want enough stacks of paper to do this multiple times.