Sketch Sprint Rules: How to Play

Each player needs a phone, tablet or computer with a browser. A TV or spare screen is a bonus, not a must.

Sketch Sprint needs at least 2 players. If fewer than 3 are in the room when the host sets up, bots fill the seats up to 3, so you always have at least two others to play with.

One person hosts a room and shares the room code or invite link. The host picks two settings and taps Start. The players draw in the order they joined.

• Rounds: 1, 2 or 3 (2 by default). In each round every player draws once.
• Time to draw: 60, 80 or 100 seconds a turn (80 by default).

1. The drawer is shown three words: one easy, one medium and one hard. Nobody else sees them.
2. The drawer has 12 seconds to pick one. If they do not, a word is picked for them.
3. The drawer draws the word. Everyone else watches the drawing appear on their own phone, stroke by stroke, and types guesses.
4. The turn ends when everyone has the word or the clock runs out.
5. The word is shown to everyone for 6 seconds, with the drawing and what each player scored. Then the next player draws.

Harder words are worth no more points than easy ones. They are just more fun to draw and to guess. Pick the one you think you can draw best.

A word that has been drawn once is not offered again in the same game. The game has 500+ words, all things anyone can draw badly and anyone can name.

Only the drawer sees the word. Draw it as clearly as you can, because you score when people get it. Do not write letters or numbers.

While you draw, you see the wrong guesses come in and a tick for each player who has it.

Type a guess and press Enter or tap Guess. You can guess as many times as you like until you get it. There is no chat: the guess box is the only place to type.

Every guess gets one of three answers.

• Right: you see “You got it!” and the word. Everyone else just sees a tick by your name, so nobody can copy your answer.
• Close: you see “So close!”. Only you see it, and your guess stays in the box so you can fix it. A close guess is one letter off (two letters for a long word), the word inside a longer guess, or most of the start of the word.
• Wrong: you see “Not it”, and your guess pops up as a bubble for the whole room to see, the drawer included.

Guesses are forgiving. Capital letters, spaces, hyphens and other punctuation do not matter. A leading “a”, “an” or “the” is ignored, and a plural counts, so “cats” is right for “cat”.

Guessers see a blank for every letter of the word, so you know how long it is. Spaces and hyphens are shown from the start.

At half time one letter fills in. At three-quarters time a second letter fills in. Hints never show more than half the letters, so a three-letter word gets one letter at most.

Guessers score for being right, and more for being quick.

• A right guess at the very start of the turn is worth 100 points. The value falls steadily to 30 points at the end of the turn. A right guess halfway through is worth 65.
• The first player to get the word scores 20 more.
• The drawer scores for every player who gets it: up to 50 points a turn, shared across everyone guessing, and never more than 25 for each right guess. With two guessers, each right guess gives the drawer 25. With five, each gives 10.
• Nobody scores for a wrong guess, and wrong guesses cost nothing.
• If nobody gets the word, nobody scores that turn.

After the last turn of the last round, the finish line shows everyone’s total. Most points wins. Players with the same total share a place, and nobody wins with 0 points.

The host can then start another game or go back to the room.

• The turn ends the moment every guesser still in the room has the word.
• If every person guessing has the word and only bots are left, the bots get 3 more seconds and then the turn ends. Nobody waits out the clock for a bot.
• If the drawer leaves, the game waits 8 seconds in case they come back. If they do not, the turn is skipped and nobody scores on it.
• A player who leaves keeps their place in the drawing order and their points.
• Anyone who joins after the host taps Start can watch the drawing but cannot guess. They play in the next game.
• The drawer cannot guess on their own turn.
• Your own score shows at the top of your screen throughout the game.

Bots are added only while the host is setting up, never in the middle of a game, and only enough to make 3 players. In the room, the host can set each bot to easy, medium or hard.

A bot drawer picks a word it knows how to draw. It draws with a drawing a person made for similar words, if there is one, or else its own simple doodle, and it finishes drawing well before the clock runs out.

A bot guesser does not look at the drawing. It makes a wrong guess or two from words like the answer, then gets the word at some point in the turn. Harder bots get it sooner and miss it less often. A bot never guesses before there is something on the page.

As a party: everyone in the same room on their own phone. The wrong guesses are half the fun when you can hear them read out.

With friends anywhere: share the room code or invite link, and everyone plays from wherever they are. Everyone sees the drawing live on their own screen.

Solo: start a room on your own and 2 bots join you. You take turns drawing for them and guessing their drawings.

Open joinme.games/watch on a TV, laptop or spare screen and type in the room code. It follows the room from game to game.

While the drawer chooses, the TV shows who is choosing. During the turn it shows the drawing large as it is drawn, with the blanks and hint letters, the clock, a tick for each player who has it, and the wrong guesses as they come in. It never shows the word until the turn ends. Then it shows the word, the drawing and the points, and at the end the finish line.

• One finger draws.
• Two fingers pinch to zoom in, up to 6 times, and pan around. The fit button brings the whole page back. Drawings are lines, not pixels, so they stay sharp at any size.
• Tap the swatch to pick from 9 colors.
• Tap the dot to switch between a thin and a thick pen.
• Tap the square for the eraser.
• Undo takes back your last stroke, as many times as you like.
• Clear wipes the page. It asks you to tap again to be sure.

How do you play Sketch Sprint?

Each turn one player picks one of three words and draws it on their phone. Everyone else watches the drawing appear on their own phone and types guesses. The faster you get it, the more you score. Then the next player draws.

How many players do you need for Sketch Sprint?

Two or more. If fewer than 3 are in the room, bots fill the seats up to 3.

Can you play Sketch Sprint alone?

Yes. Start a room on your own and 2 bots join you. They draw from drawings people made or their own doodles, and they guess, sometimes wrongly.

How do you win Sketch Sprint?

Score the most points by the end of the last round. A right guess is worth 100 at the start of a turn, falling to 30 at the end, and the first to get it scores 20 more. The drawer scores up to 50 a turn when people get the word.

When do you get hints?

From the start you see a blank for each letter. One letter fills in at half time and another at three-quarters time, but never more than half the word.

Is there a chat?

No. You only type guesses. Wrong guesses pop up for everyone to see, a near miss tells only you “So close!”, and a right guess shows as a tick.