Components
- 1 Playing Board
- 1 Card Box
- 204 Pictionary Mania Cards
- 2 Category Cards
- 2 Reusable Drawing Tablets
- 36 Category Tiles
- 2 Detachable Styluses
- 2 Playing Pieces
- 1 Sand Timer
- 2 Turn Tokens
- 1 Rules Sheet
- 6 Challenge Chips
Object of the Game
Play along the path and be the first team to complete three of the five Category Tiles in the center of the board, AKA the Winner's Circle.
Setup
Separate into two teams, as evenly as possible.
Set Card Box and Timer on the table next to the board (these will be passed from team to team).
Each team picks a color: blue or green. Distribute one Playing Piece, one Turn Token, three Challenge Chips and one Drawing Tablet, of the same color, to each team.
Shuffle the Category Tiles and deal six to each team face down.
Without looking at the tiles, each team lays their six tiles face down on the board starting at the yellow arrow. There will be empty tile spaces leading up to the center, the Winner's Circle.
Lay five Category Tiles face down in the spaces in Winner's Circle. The balance of the Category Tiles are placed face down in a pile in the center of the Winner's Circle. This is the draw/discard pile.
 Playing board |
Teams place their Playing Pieces on the first tile next to the arrow.
All team members will take turns being the Picturist, the player who sees the card directs the action and tries to get their team to guess the word on the card. Take turns in the same order throughout the game.
The Turn Token is the game piece that lets everyone know who the current Picturist is for each team. As you take turns, move the Turn Token in front of the current Picturist.
Distribute one Category Card to each team; it'll help you remember which category is which.
Note: If you'd like to customize the game to your liking, you can choose to play the categories you prefer.
Remove those Category Tiles you don't want and "stack the deck" of Category Tiles.
Game Play
Teams vie to see who will start the game by playing an ALL-PLAY. Both teams play an ALL-PLAY simultaneously. One member from each team draws the same item trying to get his teammates to guess first! (More on ALL-PLAY below).
For this initial ALL-PLAY, use the Classic Play category (see category definitions below). The team that wins this first ALL-PLAY starts the game; they will flip over the first Category Tile under their Playing Piece to reveal which category they'll play.
You don't need to use the Timer for the ALL-PLAY; it's a race between the teams!
The icon and colors on the Category Tiles indicate two things:
Which category the Picturist must play; how he'll try to get his team to guess the item on the card.
Which item on the card to play.
The Categories
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Classic Play
Just draw your best and have your teammates venture to guess what the item is. Every team member other than the Picturist should guess.
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Direct-a-draw
Communicate with your teammate, who doesn't know what the item is, by directing her to draw in SHAPES ONLY.
She and the rest of the team guess what the item is. For example, if your item is ICE CREAM CONE, you can say "Draw a circle with an upside down triangle underneath it".
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Drawback
Ohh, that tickles! Using your finger, draw on your teammate's back while he copies the shape onto the tablet. For example if your item is SUN, you can use your finger to draw a round circle with lines coming out of it.
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Shut Eye
Sure you can draw but how about with your eyes shut?! Is that a DOG or a sausage with a tail?
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People Putty
This time.it's personal. Using your teammate as a puppet, can you pose him into a BODYBUILDER? And will your team guess or just keep laughing?
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All in the Wrist
It's hand over wrist! Hold your teammate's wrist and get her to draw the item on the tablet. Stay stiff. Otherwise, that BEAN will look too much like a tomato!
The six items on the card correspond to the listed categories.
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The Picturist should draw a card from the Card Box, look at the corresponding item, put the card face down so no one can see it, and attempt to draw, do or direct the item.
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The opposing team will turn over and monitor the Timer when the Picturist begins play!
If the turn team guesses the correct answer before the Timer runs out, they may advance their Playing Piece forward to the next tile. However, do NOT turn over the next tile yet; it's a surprise until the next turn!
If the team does NOT guess the answer in time, they do NOT get to advance to the next tile, and they must replay that category on their next turn with a new card. Continue to play a new card in that category each turn until you guess it correctly.
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Some answers may be oh so close to the written item. We'll let you decide if it's good enough to count as "correct". Get a group consensus here (or fight it out; we don't mind).
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Once the time runs out, play passes to the opposing team, and again the action is directed by whoever is the Picturist. (Place the Turn Token in front of the Picturist each turn as a reminder).
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Continue play, alternating teams. When a team completes the last Category Tile on their path, advance to the Winner's Circle and place their Playing Piece on any tile.
Play in the Winner's Circle continues in the same manner as before, only when one team completes three of the five tiles, they win!
Pictionary Mania Play Tips
Do's
Everyone besides the Picturist should guess. So, even if your body is being manipulated during "People Putty" or your wrist has been possessed during "All in the Wrist", you can help out by guessing what the item is!
It may help to communicate the item in stages. For example, if you're trying to get your team to guess a TRACKSUIT, you can draw a track first, 'clear' the tablet, then draw a suit.
You can also use a "sounds like" strategy. If you think MOOSE is harder to draw than NOOSE, feel free to draw an "ear" so your team knows to shout out things that sound like the communicated item.
During the "Drawback" category, it will help to look over the shoulder of the person copying your item to make sure they're on the right track. Also, take your time and draw big with big strokes. Ahhh...
For the "Direct-a-Draw" category, you may communicate by using shapes only, i.e. you can say "draw a circle" but not "draw a bowling ball". It may also help to tell your teammate the location and size of the object he'll draw on the tablet such as "draw a small square at the bottom of the screen".
Arrows are brilliant little helpers. If your team is yelling out CAR instead of WHEEL, pointing to the object will help lead your team to the right answer.
Don'ts
Don't use numbers or symbols in any of the categories.
Don't peek! Only the Picturist may see the card being played.
During the People Putty category, don't do a "charades duet" or use yourself as a prop. Your teammate is your puppet, not your partner. Just be creative in how you get him to act out "KISS".
All-play
Every third space on both paths has the All-Play symbol. ALL-PLAY allows a member from each team to draw the same item trying to get his teammates to guess first!
The winning team gets to go again! There is no challenging during an All-Play and you don't need the Timer. Continue alternating teams afterwards.
Challenge
Each team has the option of challenging their opponent three times before either team gets to the Winner's Circle. The three Challenge Chips keep score of how many times each team has challenged.
When
When you see your opponent on a Category Tile that you'd like to try or you think they're "challenged" at doing, now's the time to challenge them!
How
When you initiate a challenge, place one Challenge Chip off to the side of the board. Now, the bidding begins! Bid back and forth for the right to play that Category Tile. It should go like this:
Challenging team: "We'd like to challenge! My team can complete 2 items in the same amount of time for that category!"
Playing team: "Oh yeah. My team can complete 3 items!"
This goes back and forth until one team concedes to the other. NOTE: Challenge wisely: it may be tough to draw 4 items with your eyes shut in one minute! The Picturist taking the challenge is the player whose turn would be next.
Then, What
The Challenging team's Picturist will pick as many cards as items they've bid. Example: If a team has to guess 3 items in one minute, the player will draw 3 separate cards and play the items corresponding to the category they're playing.
The Challenger must complete the number of items he has bid in the time allotted in order to succeed. For the team that is taking the challenge, there will be a penalty or a reward. The other team can just watch and enjoy the show...
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Challenge Reward
Whew! If the playing team completes the number of items bid, they may remove a tile from the end of their path and place it face down on the stack of tiles in the center.
This shortens their path to the Winner's Circle. NOTE: If a team wins a challenge while on the last tile on their path, well done! They go directly to the Winner's Circle.
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Challenge Penalty
If the team does not complete the number of items they bid, they must take a tile from the center stack and add it to the end of their path. This lengthens their path to the Winner's Circle.
Winner's Circle
Once one team completes all the tiles in their path, they may place their Playing Piece on any tile in the Winner's Circle. Once one team is there, there are no more challenges.
However, you may still play an ALL PLAY. As on the main paths, play one tile at a time. If your team successfully completes a Category Tile, take it and put it in front of you. If you do not succeed, keep your Playing Piece on the same tile, wait for your next turn and keep trying until you get it.
End of the Game
When one team has completed three of the five tiles in the Winner's Circle, they win!
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