Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Artistic Communication Breakdown: Drawception

By Adam Smith on March 27th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

The second phrase came from a strange mind but that is now all I can see when I look at the innocence of a farting gnome

Here’s how it works: the website shows you a phrase to draw or a picture to describe in a limited number of characters. Your response becomes part of a chain and when 12 people have drawn or described, the chain is complete and you can see where your contribution sits and just how much it deviated from the originator’s intentions. Simple, creative and frequently hilarious. Drawception shall now accompany you through every working day. Some examples below.

I was sure the McDonalds reference I made would be wrong. Turned out it wasn’t! But then somebody misinterpreted it right at the death.

“Ghost scares a sleeping sun” is just one of those phrases that don’t crop up often enough.

“Embarassed totem pole” is the only possible description of that image even though it’s clearly not what the artist intended.

Obviously superb.

And the most unexpected image of a pizza assaulting a tophat I’ve ever seen.

__________________

« | »

, , .

84 Comments »

  1. 27/03/2012 at 19:07 ZIGS says:

    This is the best thing since sliced bread

  2. 27/03/2012 at 19:08 Mr Chug says:

    Before jumping to wild accusations: does this predate or postdate Doodle or Die?

  3. 27/03/2012 at 19:15 westyfield says:

    I love this so much, been drawing/writing all afternoon. Also, looking through these, it seems I’ve been in the same game as one A. Smith esq. a few times.

  4. 27/03/2012 at 19:15 Berzee says:

    Dude! I love Pictophone!
    I never imagined it would make it to the internet, but now I wonder why I never did. This is brilliant!

  5. 27/03/2012 at 19:18 Berzee says:

    Oh look, it requires signing in to SOCIAL MEDIA
    How garbage

    • 27/03/2012 at 20:20 stahlwerk says:

      but it’s FREEEEE*

      *) value of social graph not included

    • 27/03/2012 at 21:08 BubuIIC says:

      This application will be able to:
      Read Tweets from your timeline.
      See who you follow, and follow new people.
      Update your profile.
      Post Tweets for you.

      Er… I don’t think so!

    • 27/03/2012 at 21:11 Brun says:

      Agree. Social Media integration is stupid, especially COMPULSORY integration. It’s been a huge distraction for both the gaming and wider technology industries. Gaming companies should be investing in making better games, not new ways to Tweet your Facebook from in-game.

    • 27/03/2012 at 21:53 Sivart13 says:

      I don’t know why people get bent out of shape about this. As a web application developer, having “Log in with Facebook” or “Log in with Twitter” means I can piggyback off an existing service you have a login/password for, rather than forcing you to create a new one.

      • 27/03/2012 at 23:10 Crane says:

        Because I don’t have an account with one of those sites, and I don’t want to faff around creating one, because it tends to be a much more time-consuming process than just sticking in the same username, password. and throw-away E-mail account I use for every other random website where I don’t care about possibly getting hacked.

      • 28/03/2012 at 15:40 deadfolk says:

        How about because my account got suspended when they decided I wasn’t a real person, and they want a scan of my passport before they’ll re-enable it?

        I think not.

    • 27/03/2012 at 22:04 Phantoon says:

      Pretty sure Doodle or Die doesn’t require you to make an account.

    • 28/03/2012 at 06:45 mckertis says:

      I’ll just go play iSketch without even registering.

  6. 27/03/2012 at 19:23 frenz0rz says:

    This is the best thing ever.

  7. 27/03/2012 at 19:24 SirKicksalot says:

    I can’t stop playing. I’m supposed to be working. God help me.

  8. 27/03/2012 at 19:26 cornflakes says:

    Oh, I knew this as the party game Eat Poop You Cat. Awesome that it’s online, and (another “duh why didn’t I think of that” moment) it’s perfect for the medium.

    http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30618/eat-poop-you-cat

  9. 27/03/2012 at 19:40 jaronimoe says:

    oh my god, this is too funny and adicting :D
    I just wasted a whole hour on this when I should be finishing up some work ;(

  10. 27/03/2012 at 19:42 Author X says:

    And here, I just last week got the bright idea in my wannabe-game-designer head to take the “picture telephone” game I’ve played at parties before, also known as Mixed Messages in nintendo’s DSiWare shop, and recreate it online in a social game environment.

    Who’d have thought I wouldn’t be the only person to have such an original idea, immediately after Draw Something exploded and got OMGPOP bought for hundreds of millions of dollars? Oh well, maybe I’ll come up with another million-dollar idea soon. Like slingshot physics… in space! I should get on that.

  11. 27/03/2012 at 19:48 nimzy says:

    Awfully similar to that http://doodleordie.com/ thing that’s been bandied about recently.

    • 27/03/2012 at 21:04 futabot says:

      I really, really wish we had Drawception’s layout mixed with Doodle or Die’s drawing interface. Drawception creates stuff that is more akin to a webcomic while DoD just feels like a Tumblr.

  12. 27/03/2012 at 19:53 Reapy says:

    Can’t find any way to sign up to the site. I guess they want to harvest social data. Ah well, clever idea.

  13. 27/03/2012 at 19:53 Lafayettedroog says:

    i can’t seem to log in? how do you sign up?

  14. 27/03/2012 at 19:56 deck.ard says:

    Is the website down for anyone else?

  15. 27/03/2012 at 20:00 Malk_Content says:

    Didn’t do this one myself but it seems we are well represented: http://drawception.com/viewgame/OQYEgMQf2y/

  16. 27/03/2012 at 20:12 Torgen says:

    I’d feel hypocritical for blocking all the Facebook games notifications from my friends, then signing on to this with Facebook and inflicting notices into *their* feeds, so guess I”ll pass. :(

  17. 27/03/2012 at 20:53 Dizzard says:

    I am actually dying looking at some of these finished drawception games.

  18. 27/03/2012 at 21:02 McDan says:

    Awesome idea. And I think RPS has just caused the site to go down from too many submissions.

  19. 27/03/2012 at 21:16 Hanban says:

    This is amazing.

  20. 27/03/2012 at 21:16 mmalove says:

    This is amazing, though it looks like the explosion of volume may have killed their server. Had quite a few uncontrolable laughing fits, which is always good on a Tuesday.

  21. 27/03/2012 at 21:25 Neoxess says:

    I really cant remember giggling quite so much as I did browsing some of the submissions.

    My favourite, and I suspect RPS inspired:

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/zdGaDfQWmp/

  23. 27/03/2012 at 21:58 Jerakal says:

    Good job guys, your linking to this broke their servers.

  24. 27/03/2012 at 23:06 Quasar says:

    My RPS-inspired submission went very strange indeed: http://drawception.com/viewgame/xZR2dtbyGd/

  25. 28/03/2012 at 00:13 Lokik says:

    Wow, this thing is way too addicting.

  26. 28/03/2012 at 00:17 Zanchito says:

    Shit I’ve lost 80 minutes to this thing and it’s past 1 am now. Everything was running smoothly until panel 9: http://drawception.com/viewgame/6frFz8yRkA/

  27. 28/03/2012 at 00:18 Varanas says:

    After getting the text “Green soldier fires a shark missile over city”, I don’t think it is necessary for me to play any longer. http://drawception.com/viewgame/Ch58w5YPCf/

  28. 28/03/2012 at 00:37 Lambchops says:

    Chinese whispers in drawing form?

    I’m in!

  29. 28/03/2012 at 00:51 Lambchops says:

    The best one i’ve been involved in so far is this:

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/b3HqQOnFc5/

    I love this game!

  30. 28/03/2012 at 01:04 Zanchito says:

    I think too many RPS people are playing right now. Well, until you get bellydancing trees. http://drawception.com/viewgame/BHrx3YADw8/

  31. 28/03/2012 at 01:19 jonfitt says:

    Unbeknownst to me I was involved in an RPS inspired submission:
    http://drawception.com/viewgame/OYLzexWO5Y/

  32. 28/03/2012 at 02:03 Lambchops says:

    Me going to bed at a sensible time and me going to bed at 2 have been decided by this nonsense!

    My other favourite I’ve been involved in so far, this time from the description perspective:

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/2AXqN3WGQH/

  33. 28/03/2012 at 02:05 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:

    It appears there are now many people playing this game who have decided that everything

    a) Looks like a penis.
    b) Is a penis.

    Great game while it lasted.

  34. 28/03/2012 at 02:05 Domothy says:

    I, quite proudly, started the most favourited one on the website – Sexy Old Lady

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/mFh1LwxSRT/

  35. 28/03/2012 at 02:24 seventhrib says:

    I love it when someone misinterprets a grammatically ambiguous sentence, like in this one: http://drawception.com/viewgame/czZQtbOOzk/

  36. 28/03/2012 at 02:53 frenz0rz says:

    This one turned out pretty hilarious – An American Werewolf in London

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/d4TOjYt8Wk/

  37. 28/03/2012 at 03:01 Geen says:

    http://drawception.com/viewgame/AETFShbsgh/
    From concerts to skeetball to murder.

  38. 28/03/2012 at 03:05 greenbananas says:

    Too many shotgunners for the site, still. My contribution, and how scots seem to always attract violence:
    http://drawception.com/viewgame/fF43P9Ph3y/

  39. 28/03/2012 at 11:56 RagingLion says:

    Ah, hello chinese pictionary. This is a game I like playing in real life (though you need a lot of bits of paper to do so) whenever there’s large groups of people. It rarely fails and is frequently hilarious.

  40. 28/03/2012 at 13:16 The Sombrero Kid says:

    AMAZING IDEA!

  42. 28/03/2012 at 16:25 Wang Tang says:

    I spent half of this day looking at and partaking in the drawings. I almost literally fell off my chair because of some games.

Comment on this story

XHTML: Allowed code: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Respond to our gibber

  • G_Man_007 : “Am I the only person who read that as "Tanglers"? It sounded dark and foreboding. I'm sure Tangiers is too. The game and the place...” on The Composite City: Tangiers
  • roninnico : “Infuriatingly its already sold out. I didn't have time to get it yesterday, but i thought a few hours wouldn't make a difference. I was ...” on The RPS Bargain Bucket: Hit Back
  • sirlach : “I personally can't wait for JA:F for the following reasons. Sirlach's Top Ten Reasons Why you Should Back Jagged Alliance Flashback. 10. Blow SH&T up! ...” on Enhance! Jagged Alliance Flashback Diorama
  • baby snot : “Apparently prices are going up to match demand!” on The RPS Bargain Bucket: Hit Back
  • The Random One : “Hey Craig, stop knowing stuff. Your only job here is to not know anything, and you're making it really hard for us to be mean ...” on Road Rage Turns Into Car Wars In Autoduel

Read our finest words

Telltale On ‘Weird’ Experiments, Revisiting Comedy

Search for clues

Play indie, mods, demos

Browse the archive