ONE DRAWING. ONE PERSON BLUFFING.
Sketchy Business
Everyone is drawing the same thing. One of you has no idea what it is.
Everyone adds one mark to the same drawing. One player only knows the category and has to fake knowing the actual word. Artistic ability is optional.
- 4–12 players
- 10-20 minutes
Free to set up. Start with Sketchy Business, then choose 3 games for A$10 or all 6 for A$15 before you pay.
A short look inside a sample BanterBox, with selected examples from all 6 games. Free, no email needed.
How to play
Four things happen each round.
Step 1
Set the word and deal
The game master draws a word card privately and announces only its broad category. They write the secret word onto the normal deal cards, shuffle in the Hidden Artist card and deal one card to each player. Everyone checks their own card in secret. Most players now know the word. One person does not.
- Priya
- Tom
- Mia
- Sam
Step 2
One mark each
Going clockwise, each drawing player adds one continuous mark to the same shared picture without lifting their pen. It can be a line, curve, loop, circle, squiggle or shape. Once your pen leaves the page, the turn is over. No talking, letters or numbers.
- Priya
- Tom
- Mia
- Sam
Step 3
Go around again
With 4-6 players, go around the table twice before the vote. With 7-12 players, go around once. Either way, each turn is one more continuous mark. By now the drawing should look slightly more useful and significantly more incriminating.
- PriyaTomMiaAvaSamHidden Artist
Final guess Passport
Close enough
2 points
Step 4
Point, reveal, then maybe guess
On three, everybody except the game master points at the person they think is the Hidden Artist. If the Hidden Artist escapes the vote, they score 2 points. Catch them and they get one final guess at the secret word. Same person, thing or scene, or the table agrees it's clearly close enough, and they still take the round with 2 points. Miss it and every player who correctly pointed at them gets 1 point.
The drawing makes perfect sense. To the person drawing it.
One player sketches the clue while everyone else tries to work out what on earth they are looking at before the round gets away from them.
PERSONALISED DRAWING WORDS
The best details are the ones you can actually draw.
Your stories give us the raw material. The details that turn cleanly into something drawable, an object, place, animal or food the group will recognise, can become word cards, sitting alongside strong general drawing words so every round still works.
THE DRAWING GAME FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T DRAW
Bad artwork is your best cover story.
Nobody gets enough strokes to draw a masterpiece. That means the talented player, the terrible artist and the person who has absolutely no idea what the word is can all look suspicious for completely different reasons.
Draw too clearly and the faker wins
Draw too clearly and the Hidden Artist learns the word. Draw too vaguely and your own friends decide you are the one faking it. There is no completely safe stroke.
The game master role rotates
The game master does not draw, vote or score. Running the round is neutral work, and the seat passes one player to the left after every round, so everybody gets a turn running it and a turn drawing.
Catching them is only halfway
Catching the Hidden Artist only gets the table halfway there. They still get one final guess at the word. If everybody drew it too clearly, the room can expose the faker and still hand them the round.
Questions
What if nobody can draw?
That is completely fine. Each turn is only one continuous mark, so the game is not rewarding the best artist; in fact, a rough drawing makes it harder to tell who genuinely knew the word and who was bluffing. Bad art is often better cover for the Hidden Artist.
What does the Hidden Artist know?
They hear the broad category that the game master announces to everyone, but they never see the secret word. Their own Hidden Artist card does not print the category either. They have to infer the word from the drawing as it develops and make a convincing mark without giving themselves away.
What drawing materials do we need?
Give each drawing player a different coloured pen or marker so the table can tell whose marks were whose during the vote. The game master needs a pencil to write the secret word onto the reusable deal cards. The printable canvas is included, but ordinary blank paper works too.
See the other games
Every game plays differently. Mix and match from the personalised BanterBox collection.
Secret Missions
Secret tasks that turn the whole event into the game.
Majority Rules
The biggest crowd wins every round.
The Outsider
One player does not know the secret word. Give a clue that proves you know it, spot who is bluffing, and do not make the answer too easy to steal.
Bet Your Mate
Guess the number. Bet your chips.
The Pitch
Two situations. One line that somehow works in both.
Ready to play?
Pass the pens and test your group with Sketchy Business.
Draw just enough. Trust nobody's artistic ability. Find the Hidden Artist before the picture gives the word away.
Create Sketchy Business