Gartic Phone: the telephone game, with drawings
Gartic Phone is a free online party game from the Brazilian studio Onrizon, launched in 2020. It is the old telephone game with a twist. Someone writes a sentence, the next person draws it, the next one describes the drawing, and by the end the sentence has turned into something nobody wrote.
How a round works
Everyone starts by writing a short, strange sentence. The game passes each sentence to another player, who has to draw it. Then that drawing goes to someone else, who only sees the picture and writes what they think it shows. Writing and drawing alternate until each chain has gone around the group. Nobody sees the whole chain until the end, so every player only knows the one step they were given.
At the end, the game plays every chain back from the start. That reveal is the main event: watching a clear sentence fall apart one step at a time. It grew fast during 2020 and 2021, when streamers and friends used it on calls. In 2023 it also became available inside Discord.
Modes worth trying
- Normal. The classic write, draw, describe chain.
- Knock-Off. Everyone tries to copy the same drawing from memory, and the copies drift.
- Animation. Each player adds a frame, and the group builds a short animation together.
- More modes. The game has added several others over time, so check the host menu for the current list.
Hosting tips
- Write specific sentences. "A cat selling insurance to a fish" breaks in funnier ways than "a cat".
- Keep timers short. Rushed drawings make better chains than careful ones.
- Be on a call. The reveal is much better when everyone can laugh at the same time.
More on Roam
Make your own party game for a call with Roam
Roam is a free iPhone app that turns a sentence into a playable game. Describe a quick party game for your group, put your friends in it, and play it together. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "party game for a group call, everyone is a tiny chef, one secret saboteur swaps the orders, vote out the saboteur each round"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Who made Gartic Phone?
Onrizon, a game studio from Brazil. It launched Gartic Phone in 2020.
Is Gartic Phone free?
Yes. It is free to play online, and it is also available as an activity in Discord.
How many people do you need for Gartic Phone?
It works from a small group up, and it gets funnier with more players because the chains get longer.