Best Drawing Board Games | 9 Tested Family Picks

Telestrations is the best overall drawing board game for families because every player draws, passes, and guesses, so the whole table laughs at the same runaway sketchbook.

I am Spector, a dad to Alex (7) and Emma (10), and drawing games are what we reach for when the cousins visit and nobody wants a rulebook lecture. You hand out a marker, flip a card, and within a minute the table is howling at a horse that somehow became a birthday cake.

Here is the honest part. The best drawing game for a seven year old is not the same box as the best one for an adult dinner party, so I have marked who each game is really for. Official facts like player count and age come from the publisher or the box, and the opinions are mine from years of playing these at our own table.

If you would rather guess words than draw them, our guide to Just One is the cooperative version of the same evening.

Affiliate disclosure: this page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the picks above.

Best drawing board games for family game night

The best drawing board game for most families is Telestrations, with Sketchy Tales as the kid friendly pick and Pictionary as the classic team game everyone already knows. The table below compares all 9 on player count, age, and play time, and every game name links to an Amazon search.

Rank	Game	Players	Age	Time	Why we picked it
1	Telestrations	4 to 8	12+	30 min	Best overall draw and pass party game
2	Pictionary	4+ in two teams	8+	30 min	Best classic team game for a mixed table
3	A Fake Artist Goes to New York	5 to 10	8+	20 min	Best hidden role drawing game
4	Sketchy Tales	4 to 8	8+	20 min	Best drawing game for young kids
5	Doodle Quest	1 to 4	6+	15 to 20 min	Best first drawing game for a 6 year old
6	Pictomania	3 to 6	8+	25 to 40 min	Best competitive pick for teens and adults
7	Pictionary Air	4+ in two teams	8+	30 min	Best high tech drawing game for a living room
8	Scrawl	4 to 8	17+	30 min	Best drawing game for adults
9	Drawful	3 to 8 plus audience	Digital	15 min	Best digital draw and guess game

Player counts, ages, and times follow the current base editions of each game. Revised editions and family versions can change those details.

Match the game to your table before you worry about the theme. A party of eight wants Telestrations or Scrawl, a quiet pair of kids wants Doodle Quest, and a competitive group of teens wants Pictomania.

Telestrations: the best overall family drawing game

Telestrations is a 4 to 8 player party game published by The Op in 2009, and it is the purest version of the telephone game on this list. Every player draws a secret word, passes the sketchbook, and then guesses what the next player drew, over and over until the book returns to its owner. It won the BoardGameGeek Best Party Game award in 2010, and the standard box is rated 12 and up, with a 6 player family pack rated 8 and up for younger tables.

If your normal group is six or more, our guide to the best board games for 6 players has more picks that scale without added downtime.

• Similarities: Both turn one drawing into a chain of wrong guesses around the table, and both are funniest when nobody can draw.
• Differences: Pictionary is a team race against a one minute timer, while Telestrations passes a personal sketchbook so every player draws and guesses in turn.
• Why this game fans will enjoy it: If your family loves the moment a word goes wrong, Telestrations makes that reveal the whole game instead of a side effect.

Pictionary: the best classic team drawing game

Pictionary is the drawing game most families already own, invented by Robert Angel in 1985 and now sold by Mattel. The current box plays in two teams, so it needs four or more players, and it is rated for ages 8 and up with about 30 minutes a game. One player sketches while teammates shout guesses against a one minute timer, and an All Play square has every team drawing the same word at once.

If your family would rather guess a word from clues than draw it, Taboo keeps the team pressure but swaps the sketchpad for spoken clues.

A Fake Artist Goes to New York: the best hidden role drawing game

A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a 5 to 10 player deduction game designed by Jun Sasaki and published by Oink Games in 2011, and it is rated for ages 8 and up. Everyone draws one line on a shared picture except the fake artist, who does not know the word, and the table then votes on who faked it. It is the smartest small box on this list, and it suits a table that already enjoys bluffing. If your group loves hidden roles, Codenames is the word team version of the same thrill.

Sketchy Tales: the best drawing game for young kids

Sketchy Tales is a Big Potato drawing game for 4 to 8 players, rated for ages 8 and up, and it plays in about 20 minutes. It follows the Telestrations pass and guess idea but keeps every prompt family safe, and the Disney edition adds characters that younger kids already love. For a family with a seven year old this is the version I would start with, reading the prompts out loud for the youngest player.

Doodle Quest: the best drawing game for a 6 year old

Doodle Quest is a Blue Orange game from 2014, designed by Laurent Escoffier and David Franck, and it plays 1 to 4 players from ages 6 and up. Instead of drawing a word, you draw a line on a clear sheet to steer a diver around obstacles, then check your path against the scene card. It is the least party and most skill based pick here, and it is the one Alex can genuinely win on his own.

Pictomania: the best drawing game for competitive teens and adults

Pictomania is a 3 to 6 player game designed by Vlaada Chvatil and published by Czech Games Edition, and the second edition is rated for ages 8 and up. Everyone draws and guesses at the same time, so there is almost no waiting, and you score by guessing other drawings quickly while keeping your own readable. It is the most brainy pick on the list, and it rewards a table that likes racing the clock.

Pictionary Air: the best high tech drawing game for a living room

Pictionary Air is a Mattel game released in 2019 where one player draws in the air with a light pen and a free app shows the sketch on a phone, tablet, or TV. It plays in two teams, is rated for ages 8 and up, and it removes the pads and markers entirely. It is the flashiest pick here, and it is the one that wins over a kid who would rather be holding a screen than a pencil.

Scrawl: the best drawing game for adults

Scrawl is a Big Potato party game for 4 to 8 players, rated for ages 17 and up, and it plays in about 30 minutes. It is Telestrations with adult phrases, so the drawings and the guesses turn rude quickly, and there is a family version rated 12 and up for an older kid table. This is a grown ups after the kids are in bed pick, and I would read the cards before putting it on a family shelf.

Drawful: the best digital draw and guess game

Drawful is a Jackbox Games title where one screen shows the drawings while every player uses a phone or tablet as a controller, and Drawful 2 supports 3 to 8 players plus an audience. Everyone draws a strange prompt, then the other players write fake answers and try to spot the real one. It is digital only, so it needs a screen and phones, but it is the cheapest way to get a big group drawing together when nobody wants to shuffle cards.

More fast party games for family night

If the mood is more talking than sketching, 5 Second Rule is the fastest party filler in our closet, and it works with a mixed age table. For the bigger picture of what else earns a place on the shelf, our best board games of all time list is the long version.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best drawing board game for families?

Telestrations is the best overall drawing board game for families because every player draws, passes, and guesses, so the whole table laughs together. The standard box is rated 12 and up, and a family pack is rated 8 and up.

How many players do drawing games need?

Most drawing games work best with four or more players. Telestrations and Sketchy Tales handle 4 to 8, A Fake Artist Goes to New York needs 5 to 10, and Doodle Quest plays with as few as two.

What is a good drawing game for a 7 year old?

Doodle Quest is the best drawing game for a young child because it is rated for ages 6 and up and only asks you to draw a line that matches a picture. Sketchy Tales is the next step, since it is rated for ages 8 and up with an adult reading the prompts.

Is Pictionary good for kids?

Yes. The current Mattel Pictionary box is rated for ages 8 and up and is played in two teams, so it suits a family game night. Younger children can join when an adult reads the word cards for them.

What is the difference between Telestrations and Pictionary?

Pictionary is a team race where one player draws and teammates guess against a timer. Telestrations is a passing game where every player draws and guesses in turn, so the fun comes from watching one word change around the table.

Can you play drawing games with only two players?

Doodle Quest is the cleanest two player drawing game on this list, and Drawful works with three. Most party drawing games, including Telestrations and Scrawl, need four or more players to work.

Are drawing games good for adults?

Yes, drawing games work for adult game nights as well as family tables. Scrawl is designed for ages 17 and up with adult phrases, while Pictomania and A Fake Artist Goes to New York add racing and bluffing for older players.