How to Play Telestrations

Players

• 4-8

Materials

• 142 “This Side” & “That Side” Cards in Card Box
• 8 Erasable Sketch Books
• 8 Dry-Erase Markers
• 8 Clean-Up Cloths
• 60 Second Timer
• 1 Die

Telestrations Scoring

• Competitive: 1 point to Guessers for each correctly matched secret word or previous guess, 1 point to Sketchers if their sketch helps a guesser make a match, and 1 point for every player if the last guess matches their secret word.
• Friendly: Give 1 point to the player with your favorite sketch, give 1 point to the player with your favorite guess, and give yourself 1 point if the last guess matches your secret word.

Additional Setup Notes

• Place the card box, timer, cloth, and die in the center of the playing area
• Decide as a group which cards everyone will be using: “THIS SIDE” or “THAT SIDE” cards
• Each player should receive a sketchbook, marker, and one card
• Players should write their name on the front of their sketchbook, taking note of the color of their coil

Telestrations is an infectious party game perfect for fans of Pictionary and the beloved “telephone” game. Players take turns drawing prompts in hopes their fellow players will be able to guess the prompt and pass the message along via their own doodles. Telestrations is a hilariously visual version of telephone that will have you and your friends laughing in no time.

Telestrations is played in a series of rounds designed to create optimal confusion and chaos. 

Get the Word: Select one player to roll the dice and start the round. Whatever numerical value the player rolls will determine which word is chosen from each player’s card. Players will match the rolled number with their card and write the secret word in their booklet above their name. 

If players match with a blank space, they can choose any word. In the case that a word is underlined, that means the word represents a category of nouns. Players can then choose their own word within that category. For example, for the category “horror movies” you could write down the word “Scream.”

Check Player Count: The number of players in the game determines the next step. For off-numbered groups, each player will pass their booklet to the player to their left directly after the first step. From there, players will then look at the secret word and sketch it out on the next dry-erase sheet. If there is an even number of players, players will sketch out their own word before passing the book to the next person. This is done so that the round always ends on a written guess rather than a doodle.

DRAW!: After determining how the sketchbooks will be passed, players have 60 seconds to draw their secret word. When the timer runs out, players only get “a couple of seconds” to complete their doodle. After each player’s O.G. masterpiece has been completed, everyone should flip to the next blank page and then pass the open book to the player on their left.

Guess: After everyone has passed their books, it’s time for the guessing game to begin! Each person will now take turns guessing what the previous player drew. Players should flip to the previous page and take a few seconds to look at the sketch to come up with their best guess. Once they’ve got an idea, players should write down the guesses in the booklet. 

Round & Round: Players will alternate between drawing the word on the booklet and guessing the previous player’s drawings. These guesses will continue until each player gets the book they started with back. 

The Big Reveal: Once everyone gets their own sketchbook back, the most hysterical part happens: the big reveal! Players will then take turns revealing their sketchbook page by page to see where the chaos began. It’s always a blast watching where the pandemonium began as the guesses go from on-the-nose to downright off-base.