WBG Score: 7.5
Player Count: 2-6
You’ll like this if you like: Pictionary, Telestrations, A Fake Artist Goes To New York
Designed by: Ed Naujokas, James A. Vaughan
Published by: Big Potato Games
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
There is a lot about Big Potato Games that I love. First and foremost, they make really fun games. But they also put a lot of effort into the sustainability of their games. They are a certified B Corp company, which from personal experience I know is not an easy feat. And you can see this in the production of their games. But the games still have that special feel. I always feel like there is at least one standout component to get my family and friends excited when I open their games. Ghost Can't Draw is no exception, with a large plastic glow-in-the-dark Ghost Doodler piece. It's very cool! And perfect for the coming spooky season. But is the game any good? Let's get it to the table and find out.
How To Set Up Ghosts Can't Draw
Each player takes a Ghost token in their chosen colour. Take the second token of the same colour for each player playing and place it into a central area. You may get this later! Now take the main board and place the Ghost Doodler on the top. Slip into the central hole a dry wipe pen (provided) and clip it fully into the hole. Now take the deck of cards and draw the top card from this and add it to the cards showing "You are a Paranormal Investigator" cards, one for each player. Shuffle these and deal them out so all players get the same Paranormal Investigator cards, and one gets a card showing a random thing to draw.
Place all the point tokens into a central area, and lay out the dry wipe cloth ready. Now, download the Ghosts Can't Draw timer using the QR code in the rule book, and press start. You will be told by the timer to sit around the table and get ready to play.
How To Play Ghosts Can't Draw
All players must now place their index and middle fingers onto the edge of the Ghost Doodler. Make sure your wrist is not leaning on the table, and then press "Begin" on the timer. It will remind you not to press down too hard on the Doodler, to make it fair for the player playing as the ghost. Press "Begin" again, and the game will start. The timer will instruct all players to close their eyes, and then instruct the Ghost player to begin drawing. A timer will start. The ghost player now needs to try to move the Ghost Doodler around, with all other players still touching it, of course, in a way that they draw, as best they can, the thing that is showing on their card. This is surprisingly difficult!
The timer is very quick, maybe 20 seconds or so. The timer will then tell the Ghost to stop drawing, and for all players to now open their eyes. Players must now think who they believe the Ghost player to be based on who they felt was controlling the movement of the doodler. Press "Vote" on the timer and you will have a 3, 2,1 countdown, at which point all players must point to who they believe the ghost is. The Ghost player then identifies themself. Any player who correctly guessed can now take their second Ghost token set aside during setup. The Ghost player must now draw seven extra cards and shuffle them with their one card that they drew, and place them all face up on the table. Press "Next" on the Timer and it will tell all players to try and guess what the ghost was drawing, based on what they can see on the board, and the eight available options. Players will place their Ghost tokens down on the card they think is correct. If they have two tokens they can either guess on two separate cards, or double down on one card.
The Ghost will score one point for every separate player who guesses correctly. The other players will gain one point for each correct guess. Hit "Next Round" on the Timer, and it will instruct you to do the whole thing again. Get the "Paranormal Investigator" cards back from each player, draw one more card to add to it, shuffle them up, and deal them out again. This way, the player acting as the Ghost is random every time. It may be that not every player plays as the Ghost during the game; it is random. Play like this for five rounds, and the player with the highest score at the end is declared the winner.
There is also a two or three-player variant where players play together trying to guess the drawing. The rules are the same, but the second ghost tokens are excluded from the game. After the drawing has been done, and before the eight options are shown, the other player or players can try to guess the picture before they see any options. If they guess correctly, all players earn a collective two points. If they guess incorrectly, the non-playing "Poltergeist" gets two points. If you decide not to guess like this, and instead want to see the right options, then just one point is up for grabs either way. Play five rounds and see if the team can beat the Poltergeist.
Is It Fun? Ghosts Can't Draw Party Game Review
This game is incredibly fun for lots of different reasons! Guessing correctly another player's drawing feels good. Having other players guess your own drawing is a nice feeling. And laughing at all the terrible drawings is a lot of fun for everyone! It doesn't feel mean or spiteful, as it can sometimes do in other drawing party games, as the nature of how everyone draws in this game means everything is always quite bad anyway! There is a very short amount of time, first of all. And then of course, you are not directly in control of the pen. And of course, your eyes are closed as you draw! Having these sorts of pictures, drawn under these conditions does not feel too personal!
The process of the drawing is a lot of fun too. No matter what role you play, as the Ghost or as one of the Paranormal Investigators, feeling the Ghost Doodler move around the board, as the timer plays its spooky music is hilarious. The rules suggest that the player drawing uses as much space as possible. Make your picture big. Use all the space you can. It certainly avoids those scribbled over dust balls that mostly come out for the first few tries! But as your eyes are closed, it is hard to tell quite how big you are going. Opening your eyes when the timer instructs, and then revealing what has been drawn is hilarious. It rarely resembles what you felt, either as the Ghost, or as someone just feeling the movement. But it is surprising how often you can guess correctly when presented with a few options. Simply as the options are all completely different. The below does not look like anything, right?
But now if I give you a few options, I bet most of you will guess correctly?
Any takers for Dart Board?
Like any party game, you can play however you wish. The rules for this game work well, and I would recommend you stick to them. But if at the end of a game, someone has not been the Ghost yet, I imagine you will all want to carry on for a few more rounds to give everyone a chance. The points can be tallied or not. That's up to you. I find most of the joy in this game comes simply from the process of revealing the nonsense that has been drawn. Hopefully all players can revel in this silliness, not take any criticism personally, and accept this game is about forcing you to draw bad pictures, and enjoying the reactions these all get. Although you do get the odd picture that does actually look like the thing it is supposed to be. Sort of!
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a new party game that works for up to six people, perfect for Halloween time, and that encourages a high amount of interaction but does not require any player to perform in any way. It also does not single anyone out in the way a game like The Chameleon can, making them feel under pressure. This game is just about silly fun and I am very much here for it!
Can you phantom it? I got all the way through this review without any silly puns! In truth, I was worried you’d see right through me and ghost the site. So, I conjured up my wider vocabulary, summoned my haunting writing style, and bootifully reviewed this game without any of that transparent tomfoolery. It took a lot of spirit to resist, but I’m no apparition of my former self—I’m keeping it frightfully professional. You're welcome for this ghoul-finessed review, free of spectral silliness.
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