Doodle Party: how to play
Objective
Draw clues and guess words to build a score across all selected rounds. In new games, each solved drawing awards one point to its winning guesser and one to the drawer. Existing games keep the point values shown in their room. Team totals combine their players’ points. The highest team or solo total wins, with ties sharing the win.
Only the host needs an account. Other players join with a room code. No registration needed.
How to play
Take the pen
Players draw in join order. When it is your turn, reveal your private word, then tap Ready to draw to start the 60-second timer. If the word has you stuck, tap Skip word first; the timer will not start.
Draw it your way
Use the colors, pen sizes, eraser, undo, and clear controls. No letters, numbers, spelling clues, or saying the word aloud. Skip word loads a fresh word and clears the canvas without awarding points or adding time.
Make a guess
Everyone except the drawer can guess, including teammates. Type a private guess on your phone, matching the word exactly. Capitalization and extra spaces do not matter. You can also call the correct word aloud for the drawer to record with Got it.
Credit an answer aloud
The drawer or host taps Got it to record a spoken answer and immediately load a fresh word. The 60-second timer keeps running, with no player picker. After time runs out, the host chooses one named winner for each recorded spoken answer before advancing. If someone called the final word just before the buzzer, the host can confirm it during review or cancel before recording. If an answer was marked by mistake, the host can remove that spoken entry before the next turn; the drawer’s points and any assigned guesser’s points are corrected together.
See the answer
The turn ends when its fixed 60 seconds run out. Each first correct typed guess or Got it loads a fresh word and blank canvas without resetting the clock. The host can skip an absent drawer, advance after the answer, or end the game.
Devices and setup
- A verified host creates the game and plays too.
- Join with the code or QR link and your own name. No player account is needed. Choose or create an optional team in the lobby.
- Gather 3–12 people, with at least 3 phones for drawing. Choose 1–5 rounds; everyone draws once per round and scores carry over. The host locks teams and phone players when everyone is ready. The host can still add people who only guess aloud.
- Decide together who will guess: the drawer’s team only, or everyone. The app leaves this house rule to your group.
- Open the shared audience screen on the TV for the live drawing, timer, scores, and winners. Keep the drawer’s phone private.
- Drawings disappear when the host advances or ends the game. Rooms expire after six hours; there is no drawing gallery.
How many players?
- Minimum
- 3 phone players, including the host.
- Recommended group
- 4–8 people. Team members can use separate phones and their own names.
- Larger groups
- Up to 12 people, including anyone the host adds without a phone. Drawing players and teams lock when play starts.
Ways to play
Individual players
Everyone joins on their own device and takes a 60-second drawing turn each round.
Team play
Each person joins with their own name, then chooses a team in the lobby. Team members use separate phones, keep their own drawing turns each round, and add their points to the team total.
Choose who guesses
Agree before you start: only the drawer’s teammates guess, or everyone guesses. The app does not restrict guesses by team, so the group follows its own house rule. The drawer cannot submit a guess.
Guess without a phone
The host adds your name and optional team. Watch the party screen and call out your guesses. The drawer records answers with Got it, then the host credits your points after the turn. These players guess only.
Scoring and who wins
The app’s scoreboard uses the point awards below, whichever house rule you choose for who guesses.
Each drawing has one winning guesser, earning one point whether typed or assigned by the host. A player can win several drawings in the same turn.
The drawer earns one point for each solved drawing.
A team’s score is the sum of its players’ points. Individual points still show who earned them.
Existing games keep the point values shown in their room.
After all selected rounds, the highest team or solo score wins. Matching high scores share the win.