Drawing Games With Friends: Play Online Free

The easiest way to play drawing games with friends is to create a private pikto.fun game and send the link: everyone joins from their browser, on a computer, a tablet or a phone, and one player draws while the others guess. It is a free multiplayer drawing game, so there is nothing to install. Here is how to set up a draw with friends game, which settings to pick, how to play on a video call and what themes to try.

Create a private game

Open the home page and choose to create a private game.
Share the invitation link in your group chat, or give the code to your friends.
Wait until everybody has arrived, then start.

A private game welcomes up to 30 players. Each player can join as a guest, with no account, so even the friend who never signs up for anything can play in seconds. If you only need a quick game with strangers, the Pictionary online page shows how to use the quick game instead.

Settings worth knowing

The host decides how the evening goes:

Number of rounds: from 1 to 10. Three or four rounds make a nice short game, and ten make a full evening.
Length of a turn: 60, 90, 120 or 180 seconds. Beginners and kids like longer turns.
Difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard or Kids.
Mode: Classic, Themed, Absurd or Sprint.
Options: Forced color and Blind mode, for an extra twist.
Categories: choose the ones you like among the 26 categories.
Custom words: type up to 200 words of your own, such as inside jokes, names of your colleagues, a school lesson or a list for a birthday.

The full list of the game rules explains each mode in more detail.

Play on a video call

Drawing games work very well when you can see each other. The simplest setup is to start a video call on Zoom, Google Meet, Discord or Microsoft Teams so you can talk and laugh, and to open the game in your browser next to it. Each person plays on their own screen.

A few tips for a smooth evening:

Put the video call on one device (or in a small window) and the game on another or in a separate tab.
Share the game link in the call chat, so latecomers can join without asking.
The word is hidden by default on the drawer's screen, so the drawer can share their screen if they want everyone to see the canvas, without revealing the word.
If a connection drops, the game resumes automatically when the player comes back.

For Discord, there is a dedicated guide.

Theme ideas for a game night

Pick the categories to match your group:

Family evening: Animals, Food, Everyday objects, with Kids difficulty for young players.
Movie night: Movies and series, Characters, Superheroes.
Gamers: Video games, Manga and anime, Fantasy.
Pure silliness: Absurd mode, with weird animals, impossible objects and silly situations.
Birthday or team event: custom words about the person or the company.
Quiet quiz: Places and monuments, Nature, Science and inventions.

If you need words for another party game or for a classroom, browse the word lists and the word generator.

Tips for a great game

Start with an easy round so everyone gets used to the tools.
Keep turns short with a group of beginners and long with a group of artists.
Add PiktoBot, an AI player that guesses and draws, if you are only two or three.
Vote for the best drawings and react with stickers: it keeps the mood playful.
Agree on a few funny house rules, such as drawing with your non-dominant hand. They are only agreements between friends, and the game will not enforce them.
Hit “Play again” at the end: the same group often wants a second game.

Games for different groups

Two or three friends: add PiktoBot, keep the turns short and play more rounds.
A group of 6 to 10: the sweet spot. Everyone draws several times and the chat stays lively.
A big group of 20 or more: use a private game up to 30 players and pick Sprint mode so nobody waits too long.
Kids and grown-ups together: choose the Kids difficulty and long turns, then let the children pick the category.

Ready?

Open the home page, create your private game and send the link. Your first game can start in a minute.