A pile of word cards from the game Telestrations

Telestrations game review

Telestrations is a funny drawing and guessing game. Will people be able to work out your secret word based on yours and their drawing skills?

Telestrations game review

Telestrations is a funny drawing and guessing game. Will people be able to work out your secret word based on yours and their drawing skills?

Telestrations* is a party game described as a drawing version of the childhood game Telephones (or in the UK Chinese Whispers). You start by drawing a word and passing it round the group to see if the last person can work out what the original word was — which from my experience is not often. 

We have a similar game called Scrawl which our children have been desperate to play, however as its rated 17+ it is not suitable for them. We played Telestrations earlier in the year when we visited some friends and the children loved it, so when Asmodee offered us a copy to review they were very keen for us get our own copy

Children playing Telestrations

Game Type - Real time drawing party game, meaning everyone draws at the same time.

Aim - The aim is to have fun, although if you're feeling competitive you can aim to be the person with the most points at the end.

Players - 4-8 players, it is better with more players.
The box says 12+, but we've played with our 8 year old. The ability to play with younger children is likely to depend on whether they can read the words and write their guesses.

Time to Play - The suggested time is 30 minutes. This will depend on how many rounds you play and whether you stick to the 60 seconds maximum limit to draw your picture.

Components

The box comes with a plastic insert to hold all the components and it does a good job of holding them in place even if you store the box on its side. Inside the box you get:

  • Box of double sided word cards

  • 8 erasable sketch books with different colour binding coils

  • 8 dry erase markers

  • clean up cloths (these are stored under the sketch books so you may not find them if you’re not playing the full 8 players)

  • 60 second timer

  • 1 die.

The components that come with Telestrations - sketchbooks, pens, timer, cards and die

How to play

Objectives

The main objective is to have fun. However, if you’re playing with a competitive group you can score the best pictures and correct guesses, and in that case the person with the most points wins

Setting up Telestrations

Each person gets a sketch book and marker and write their name in the front of the book. Decide if you’re playing the yellow or blue side of the cards (this side or that side) and take a card.

Some secret word examples from Telestrations

Playing Telestrations

Roll the die and match the number to a word on your card, this is your secret word. Write it on the first page. Everybody does this at the same time.

If you’re playing with an even number of players turn to page 1 and draw your word. If you’re playing with odd numbers turn to page 1 and pass to the next player, so they can draw it (they’ll need to look at your secret word). This ensures the last turn is a written guess.

You have 60 seconds to draw the picture. When the timer has finished, turn the page and pass the book to the person to your left. They look at the previous page and guess the secret word. After writing their answer, they turn the page and pass the book to the left. This continues until you get the sketchpad with the same colour coil back.

Examples of different pages in the Telestrations sketchbooks

Ending the game and winning

When you get the notebook with the same colour coil back you reveal the pictures and guesses. We like to do this in reverse, starting with the last guess and working back to the secret word.

We’ve never scored it. But if you want to score, there are two options included in the instructions, based on accuracy of guesses and favourite guesses or drawings.

Can you guess the two secret words below?

Two drawings of wizards in Telestrations
Telestrations board game

Do I recommend it?

Yes. Telestrations is a great, fun, simple party game playing up to 8 people. You can use it as an ice breaker if people don’t know each other very well or as light relief between other games.

Things I like

Simple to learn

  • Funny

  • Involves drawing

  • Quick moving as everyone is doing the same action at the same time

Things that may create challenges

  • Need 4 or more people

  • Younger children may smudge the pages and get pen on their fingers etc 

  • If younger children are not great at spelling or writing, it will make it hard to work out their guesses

Other games you may want to consider

Other Party Games*

  • Codenames Pictures (my review)

  • Telestrations (my review)

  • Just One

  • Decrypto

  • The Resistance

Other real time games*

  • Magic Maze

  • Sushi Go Party

  • Exit: The Haunted Cabin

  • Galaxy Trucker

*Disclosure – this post includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after using it I will earn some money from the seller for suggesting you visit them. However, it will not cost you anything extra.