Review: Telestrations

Normally I get nervous with any game that requires drawing, acting, or generally trying to get people to guess something.  One of the beauties of Telestrations is that half the fun is when people are wrong.  Poor artist?  Awesome!  Can't spell?  Spektakular!  Can't remember what the word to describe the action?  No worries, just describe the action and see how it changes things.

The game starts with each player writing a word on their pad and drawing it on the next page Pictionary-style.  After 60 seconds of drawing, each player passes their pad to the next player who then guesses what the drawing is and passes the pad to the next player.  That player draws the new word and this all repeats until each player gets their book back.  Then each player reveals their pad's evolution however they see fit (back to front, front to back, first drawing to the end and then the secret word, etc.) and everyone has a good laugh.

There are two methods to score the game, but I'll be honest, I never even read them because the game is fun enough without a winner or points.  To mix things up, our group would change directions we pass the pad and seating arrangements after each round so we never were passing to the same person twice.

The upside of this game is that I guarantee you will be laughing when playing this game, especially if you leave any judgements against poor drawing/spelling skills at the door.  The downside of the game is that you need at least 6 people for a quality game.  Also, you will learn quickly that embellishments can either be a dangerous or hilarious thing depending on if you want people to actually guess your word or not.