It’s been a tough three months. Isolated. Alone. Bored. Watching Netflix and making sourdough. Now we can almost smell normality and go back to eating out, drinking out and also having people around for dinner for the joy of a shared home cooked meal.
Speaking of simple pleasures, there may be no greater joy than a games night. We know that games nights aren’t for everyone, but they really should be. Nothing ruins people’s sense of self than being mercilessly mocked by their so-called friends. Who, it turns out, have savage competitive motivations to overthrow the hosts with a fist pumping win.
We can recommend Pictionary as a game to bring you and your friends together and also divide your night! This classic 80s game has been reinvented with new modern clues and a pop culture section that make even the coolest, most up-to-date guests groan (try drawing Heston Bloomenthal).
The updated board is colourful and has lots of interactive “all-draw” elements that deliver high stress stakes. There are cards to draw on, instead of paper – although they are difficult to clean.
The game itself, for the uninitiated, is fast paced, you are asked to draw the clue on the card – from one of the following categories: object, action, person/place/animal, difficult and pop culture, in 60 seconds for your partner to guess what it is without using words, numbers or symbols.
Now it sounds easy, but when you draw Sherlock Holmes, climate change, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds these precious 60 seconds seem more like five seconds to save the world.
This is where the rubber hits the road. You’ll find out how literal or abstract your partner and friends are, how good you are at drawing and simplifying concepts, how quickly you can problem solve and how you both perform under pressure. You’ll also find out that everyone could have drawn it better than you, particularly your partner who couldn’t decipher your interpretation of Picasso and suggests a “helpful” alternative drawing, which would have led to a win. You will fall about laughing (it’s guaranteed) at the ridiculous suggestions you had and were adamant about – like handlebar bums instead of fly off the handle or guitar man instead of guitarist. Sometimes, it seems our brains don’t work just as they should.
As we come out of lockdown and start our lives again, Pictionary is a great way to dust off the laughing cobwebs and remind us why we love socialising with our dearest favourite people (even if they are terrible drawers, outrageously mean and competitive).
The game also includes kids cards for any little people 8+. Available at most retailers including Kmart, Big W and Myer.
