Such a simple concept yet fun and utterly addictive.
After hearing about Draw Something from several sources I decided to give it a try. On first entering the game I didn’t realise that you couldn’t just play it with a friend in the room, you need to link up with a user online. You can link with a user over Facebook, email, username or you can select the random option in order to create a new game with anyone on the system. Once you have created a game, the next step is to choose a word from the three provided, each earning a specific number of coins. Once the word is chosen you need to create your drawing that will be played out to the other participant for them to guess. When your drawing is done, all you need to do is sit back and wait for them to guess the word and draw something back for you to guess.
It’s easier than it sounds sometimes – whereas drawing something like an egg is relatively easy, attempting to draw Beckham or Atlantis is somewhat trickier. This is where the fun really starts! Trying desperately to guess something, only to find that it was laid out in front of you all along is slightly frustrating but also pretty funny. Trying to earn as many coins and to create as long a running streak as possible is quite a challenge and this keeps you going throughout the game. Finding that your friend has failed to guess your drawing and you’re back to the start is not exactly crushing but it just makes you more determined to be careful with your drawing; I found that my drawing skills actually improved throughout the game. I felt that my drawing of a banana was truly artistic and I really wish that there was an option to post it to a social network site as I was immensely proud. Some of my friends have produced such masterpieces in order to help me guess their word that I feel there should be a board somewhere they can be posted.
The game plays out a little like the TV show Catchphrase as the drawing that your friend has created is brought to life in front of your eyes – except without having to buzz in or hear the dulcet tones of the legendary Roy Walker. Draw Something is not unlike playing a less complicated version of postal chess with a good friend far away.
You can use the colours provided as well as different brush widths and there is an eraser to cover up any little imperfections. With the coins won, you can add new colours to your palette or buy letter dynamite to blow up any of the letters that are not appropriate to the word in-game. The comical sounds are fun and add to the games charm and if you don’t like them, they can easily be turned off and on.
The great thing about the Draw Something is that you can take your turn then get back to the game when you have time, allowing you to fit it in with your daily life as well as playing with users in different time-zones. I thought that it might be easy to lose interest if the user doesn’t respond to their move straight away but I was very wrong; the alert notification telling me that I have a Draw Something request to continue our game fills me with girlish glee that doesn’t stop even when I start drawing. It may not be fast paced but it is very enduring.
Not only is the game fun but it also could be considered educational. It is genuinely tough to guess some of the drawings and it can lead to you think in more depth to use your grasp of words to pull together an answer. It could possibly help to improve your vocabulary and help you reconnect with people that you have perhaps lost touch with over the years.
There’s a very social element to the game and you can play the game with friends all over the world as I am currently. It’s a shame there isn’t a section within the game to add a comment to either your drawing or your friend’s drawing. For example, while attempting to draw a country a friend of mine was relying entirely on my geography skills which is not exactly wise – my geography skills are…shall we say…not so good. In order to tell him that he perhaps shouldn’t be relying on my geography knowledge, I had to use Facebook. Perhaps this is something that can be added in a later version?
The Help pages aren’t perhaps as helpful as they could be and they don’t seem to clearly state how to play the game but this isn’t much of a problem as the game is fairly self explanatory and intuitive.
Draw Something has had great praise heaped upon it and this is no surprise as the game is so much fun. I am adding my voice to the recommendations as the game is truly addictive and enormous fun. Highly Recommended.
Draw Something is available from the iTunes store as either a free (as supported) version, or a paid Ad Free version at £0.69, or on Android from Google Play for Free.
