Telestrations* is a party game described as a drawing version of the childhood game Telephones (or in the UK Chinese Whispers). You start by drawing a word and passing it round the group to see if the last person can work out what the original word was — which from my experience is not often.
We have a similar game called Scrawl which our children have been desperate to play, however as its rated 17+ it is not suitable for them. We played Telestrations earlier in the year when we visited some friends and the children loved it, so when Asmodee offered us a copy to review they were very keen for us get our own copy
Game Type – Real time drawing party game, meaning everyone draws at the same time.
Aim – The aim is to have fun, although if you’re feeling competitive you can aim to be the person with the most points at the end.
Players – 4-8 players, it is better with more players. The box says 12+, but we’ve played with our 8 year old. The ability to play with younger children is likely to depend on whether they can read the words and write their guesses.
Time to Play – The suggested time is 30 minutes. This will depend on how many rounds you play and whether you stick to the 60 seconds maximum limit to draw your picture.
Components
The box comes with a plastic insert to hold all the components and it does a good job of holding them in place even if you store the box on its side. Inside the box you get:
Box of double sided word cards
8 erasable sketch books with different colour binding coils
8 dry erase markers
clean up cloths (these are stored under the sketch books so you may not find them if you’re not playing the full 8 players)
60 second timer
1 die.
How to play
Objectives
The main objective is to have fun. However, if you’re playing with a competitive group you can score the best pictures and correct guesses, and in that case the person with the most points wins
Setting up Telestrations
Each person gets a sketch book and marker and write their name in the front of the book. Decide if you’re playing the yellow or blue side of the cards (this side or that side) and take a card.
Playing Telestrations
Roll the die and match the number to a word on your card, this is your secret word. Write it on the first page. Everybody does this at the same time.
If you’re playing with an even number of players turn to page 1 and draw your word. If you’re playing with odd numbers turn to page 1 and pass to the next player, so they can draw it (they’ll need to look at your secret word). This ensures the last turn is a written guess.
You have 60 seconds to draw the picture. When the timer has finished, turn the page and pass the book to the person to your left. They look at the previous page and guess the secret word. After writing their answer, they turn the page and pass the book to the left. This continues until you get the sketchpad with the same colour coil back.
Ending the game and winning
When you get the notebook with the same colour coil back you reveal the pictures and guesses. We like to do this in reverse, starting with the last guess and working back to the secret word.
We’ve never scored it. But if you want to score, there are two options included in the instructions, based on accuracy of guesses and favourite guesses or drawings.
Can you guess the two secret words below?
Do I recommend it?
Yes. Telestrations is a great, fun, simple party game playing up to 8 people. You can use it as an ice breaker if people don’t know each other very well or as light relief between other games.
Things I like
Simple to learn
Funny
Involves drawing
Quick moving as everyone is doing the same action at the same time
Things that may create challenges
Need 4 or more people
Younger children may smudge the pages and get pen on their fingers etc
If younger children are not great at spelling or writing, it will make it hard to work out their guesses
Other games you may want to consider
Other Party Games*
Codenames Pictures (my review)
Telestrations (my review)
Just One
Decrypto
The Resistance
Other real time games*
Magic Maze
Sushi Go Party
Exit: The Haunted Cabin
Galaxy Trucker
*Disclosure – this post includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after using it I will earn some money from the seller for suggesting you visit them. However, it will not cost you anything extra.
Board games are important to our family as a way of spending quality time with each other, and friends. One thing I particularly like is that there are so many different games, so many different mechanisms that everyone can find one they enjoy. And everyone gets a chance to win because they are better at some types; trust me there is no need to allow the kids to win in our house. Just a few days ago, my 8 year old son beat us all at Splendor and my 11 year old daughter regularly beats me at Hero Realms and Villagers.
Our favourite board games
We have six favourite board games, each with votes from two different family members. It is an interesting list as Hero Realms is an old favourite and four of them were new to us last year. It is also interesting that we didn’t play them that many times e.g. I only played Tiny Towers three times and Wingspan twice.
Hero Realms
This is a fantasy deck building game for 2-4 players where you buy and discard cards to build a deck that you hope is stronger than your opponents. My son started playing Hero Realms* when he was 6 but it is really in the last year that he really got into it. It is interesting to play because the balance of power can quickly change; all you need is one good hand to turn the balance your way.
I was given a copy of Scrawl* at a conference and I absolutely love playing it. However, be aware, out of the box, it is not child friendly. Our children are really keen to play it as they hear us laughing so much, so we find the “clean” clue cards for them to use.
Everyone starts with a saying which they draw, the next person writes a description of the drawing, which the next person draws and so on until it gets back to the original person. Think Chinese Whispers / Telephone but using drawing and writing instead of whispering. If you want a child friendly version try Telestrations*.
Splendor
We were given Splendor* last year and it was a huge success with all of us. It is a card drafting and set collection which involves engine building (buying cards that help you buy more cards in future rounds). It is based on gems and jewellery, although our son was disappointed it didn’t include real rubies and diamonds!
We were introduced to Tiny Towns* by friends, and our daughter requested we got a copy for our own collection. You are building a town on a 4 x 4 grid using coloured blocks in specific patterns. The game play is simple, but can be frustrating as you try and work out where to place each coloured block to help you later in the game.
Villagers
We supported Villagers* on Kickstarter, it is another card drafting and set collection card game. You want to develop a thriving village which produces food and uses its skills to develop a profit. You do this by enticing people with different skills to join your village. I’ve played this as a 1, 2, 3 and 4 player game with adults and children and it works will in all options.
Wingspan
My husband wanted Wingspan* after playing it at a gaming weekend in Bristol, and I was happy to get it because it looks so pretty. But it is also a great game to play. It is another engine building game involving card drafting and set collection. The components are beautiful and include a bird house dice tower, scientifically accurate bird cards and even eggs.
Do you play board games as a family? What are your favourites? Which do you recommend? What games do you plan to play in 2020?
*Disclosure – I was given some of these board games free. This post also includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after following a link I will earn a percentage of the sale but it will not cost you more. These games are genuine choices by me and my family.
Games we acquired after trying someone else’s copy: 3
Beyond Baker Street
Just One
Tiny Towns
Change in our game collection: +11 to 75
Games we removed: 19
New Games: 30
Bargain Quest
Beyond Baker Street
Blue Lagoon (gifted)
Carcassonne
Catan
Century Golem
Chocolate Factory
Concept
Dream Home
Just One
Love Letter
Papillon
Root
Rubik’s Cage (gifted)
Rubik’s Match (gifted)
Santorini
Scythe
Splendor (gifted)
Takenoko (gifted)
Terraforming Mars
The Faceless
Ticket to Ride
Tichu
Tiny Towns
Topiary
Ultra Dash (gifted)
Vadoran Gardens
Villagers
Wingspan
During the year we owned a total of 94 games and I played 53 of them 56%
Full list of games I played in 2019
Rummikub 2
Sushi Go Party 10
Azul 3
My first Carcassonne 2
Ice Cool 2
Drop-It 10 (gifted)
Queen Domino 2
Linkee 1
Hero Realms 5
Tsuro 10
Dream Home 5
Grabolo 9
Timeshock 10
Code Names 1
Scrawl 5 (goodie bag game)
Staccups 4 (game I won)
Photosynthesis 2
Pursuit of Happiness 1
Magic maze 1
Grimm Forest 1
Scythe 1
Exit the secret lab 1
Rising 5 1
Pandemic 5
Rhino Hero 4
Kingdomino 2
Dobble 9
Playing cards 8
Animal upon animal 3
5 second rule Jr 1
Sagrada 6
The magic labyrinth 2
Reef 1
Tokaido 1
Architects of the west kingdom 1
The Faceless 3
Cluedo 1
Patchwork 2
Clank! 2
Gizmos 2
Colt Express 1
Beyond baker street 2
Jenga 1
Dino Hunt Dice 2
Phase 10 2
Villagers 8
Dixit 2
Pandemic Legacy 1 6
Slam it 1
Just One 6
Adventure Mart 1
Victorian Masterminds 1
Shadow Amsterdam 1
Sushi Roll 2
Team3 1
Maiden’s quest 6
Vadoran Garden 2
Concept 3
Carcassonne 2
Yeti in my spaghetti 1
Harry Potter trivial pursuit 1
Blue Lagoon 2 (gifted)
Takenoko 3 (gifted)
Splendor 10 (gifted)
Topiary 7
Castle panic 2
Tsuro of the seas 1
Century 3
Passtally 1
Santorini 10
Throw Throw Burrito 1
Tiny Towns 3
Dinosaur Island 1
Kana Gawi 1
Wingspan 2
Abyss 1
Love letter 1
Ultra Dash 1
Chocolate factory 3
Ticket to ride 2
Rubik’s Cage 3 (gifted)
Rubik’s Match 2 (gifted)
Celestia 1
Lotus 1
Code name pictures 1
Dead of Winter 1
Forbidden Island 1
Champions of Midgard 1
council of four 1
Grimm Masquerade 1
Quadropolis 1
Mission: Red Planet 1
Papillon 1
Articulate 1
*Disclosure – this post includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after using it I will earn some money from the seller for suggesting you visit them. However, it will not cost you anything extra.
I was very excited when my friend told me about the 10×10 game challenge for two reasons 1) it would encourage me (and hopefully the family) to play more games and 2) I could create a spreadsheet to analyse the data. And I admit that may have been more exciting than the prospect of playing games as I do love creating spreadsheets!
What is the 10×10 game challenge?
According to BoardGameGeek, where I believe the challenge originated, the challenge is to play 10 games 10 times each in a year. This challenge encourages people to play each game several times to explore and experience them in depth. There is normal and hardcore challenge depending on whether you want to choose the ten games as you go along or define them at the start of the challenge. As I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for I did the normal challenge.
Did I enjoy the 10×10 game challenge?
Yes I did, in fact I really enjoyed it. It added a new interesting dimension to my gaming; and not just because I had a spreadsheet. I’m very pleased that I completed the challenge, although it was tight because I played the tenth play of the tenth game on New Year’s Eve! I’ve enjoyed
finding out more about the type of games I like to play
watching the children develop their game playing abilities
spending time with family and friends
However, it was also frustrating at times as my fellow game players were not always as keen to play the games on my list. At times it actually felt I was playing as many games as possible instead of focusing on playing a small number more.
It was also difficult to decide what counted as a play. As different games have different play lengths is one play actually equal? The rules on BoardGameGeek say “If you play a game multiple times in a row, each completed game counts as a play.” I disagreed. Some of the games I play with the children are very quick such as Grabolo and I could get to ten plays in one day, which didn’t seem very challenging. Therefore I counted the number of days I played a game, no matter how many times I played it.
The ten games I played ten times
In my quest to get ten plays of ten games I actually played 69 games, a total of 253 plays (an average of 3.6 plays each). I’ve put the full list at the end of the post. But here are the ten games I played ten times; it is an interesting list as it is pretty different to my favourite games of last year. Links with * are an Amazon affiliate link.
Although on average I played 21 games each month, I didn’t have my 10th play until September. It wasn’t looking good that I’d complete the challenge, but managed to get five games to ten plays in December.
I enjoyed the normal 10×10 game challenge so much I am doing it again this year.
What I learnt from doing the 10×10 game challenge
As well as playing lots of games and creating a spreadsheet I also learnt a lot more than I expected during the challenge.
The games I played don’t necessarily reflect my choice
I play a lot of games with my children and often let them chose the games. So my list of ten games is more of a reflection of what they enjoy playing than what I enjoy. For example I’d like to see more puzzle games e.g. Azul and fewer dexterity games e.g. Grabolo.
Playing a game more often with children helps them develop their own strategies and start winning
Children often don’t have the experience to be successful on the first few plays of a game. However, the more you play a game, the more they can see what works and doesn’t and can try different strategies. Hero Realms is the first game I played ten times and that was mostly driven by B who discovered it and loved it. She got better each time so it wasn’t long before she started beating me and I had to get tips from my husband to have a fighting chance!
It is quicker to set up a game you’ve played several times
When you’ve played a game a few times you don’t need to refer to the instructions as often. This means it is easier to set up the game and you get down to playing quicker. Or, in some cases the children have set up games when I’m doing something else so we start playing as soon as I’m there (they’ve learnt this also means we play the game they choose).
It is possible to find more time to play games
The challenge provided enough encouragement to find more times to play games. And I was surprised how easy it was to find pockets of time. My favourite was organising game night; although this sometimes backfired as people would bring their own games which didn’t help me get ten plays! But I also played games with one of my children while the other was in a dance class, and any other children in the waiting area.
Recording the games we played over a year means we have a very good record of which games we play and which we don’t. This means we’ve been able to consider why we haven’t played the games and get rid of the ones we know we don’t enjoy. This means we now have space to get more games, which is very convenient just before UKGamesExpo. It has also helped us question whether we’re ready to get expansion set. For example we were planning on getting the Magic Maze expansion, but realised despite having played the base game 10 times we still had lots of scenarios to work through.
Good to have quick play games
It is great to have games which are quick to set up and play because it means it is possible to fit in a play during a short period of time. I think our children are ready to move on to Carcssonne from My First Carcassonne but we’ve decided to keep it. Although it is simple, it is also fun and can get competitive, so is a game we frequently play when we get in from after school activities.
The games we play go in phases
I was surprised how hard it was to reach ten plays of a game. We’d enjoy a game, play it a few times and then decide to move on to something different. One exception was Grabolo, which I got in a conference goody bag, which we played lots because my son LOVED it. It took 69 days to get to ten plays of Grabolo, compared to 191 days for the next quickest game, Animal upon Animal. The average duration to get to ten plays was 257 days and the longest was 339 for My First Carcassonne.
There were times when I wanted to play games, but couldn’t tempt anyone to join in. So it is great that an increasing number of games have a one player option; we have two: Magic Maze and Sagrada. I still prefer to play games with other people, but it is nice not to be reliant on them.
Well that depends on whether you enjoy playing games. If not, the challenge is unlikely to change your mind. But if you enjoy games and want to encourage yourself to play more than yes I do recommend it. And if you love analysing data then absolutely yes because you can collect lots.
Have you taken part in any game challenges? Do they add to your gaming enjoyment?
Full list of games I played during the 10×10 game challenge
I’ve marked a few of these games as gifted as I’ve been given them to test, however, please note all my comments are honest
*Disclosure – I was given some of these board games free. This post also includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after following a link I will earn a percentage of the sale but it will not cost you more. All the plays were honest choices by myself, family or friends.
2018 was the first year I kept a record of the games I played, as part of tracking how I was doing for the 10×10 challenge. Here’s a look back on my year.
We love playing board games. And we enjoy playing as a family and with friends, at home and out and about. It has been an interesting year for us as we’ve visited a local board games cafe, Thirsty Meeples and the UK Games Expo for the first time. I’ve also been taking part in the 10×10 challenge, with the aim to play ten games on ten different days, which has given me an extra focus on the number and type of games I’ve played.
We each listed our top five board games * of the year and I’m very pleased there is enough overlap that I’ve been able to create a top five for the family. Interestingly, each game had two votes so they are not all loved by all members (especially as Scrawl is 17+ game).
I’m intrigued that none of these games appeared on last year’s list. However, as we got four of them this year, it will be interesting to see if their novelty lasts into 2019.
Azul
Azul is a tile drafting game to create patterns with different coloured tiles. I loved this the first time I played it, and not just because I won, because since then I’ve been beaten every time. My daughter particularly is very good at making good choices while drafting to get high scoring patterns.
Drop It
We played Drop It at UK Games Expo and were then lucky enough to be sent a copy. You drop different coloured and shaped pieces into the frame to earn points. However, there are a number of challenges due to restrictions such as not touching another piece of the same colour and the pieces frequently don’t land where you expect.
Rummikub is a game we’ve had for a number of years, however my son has learnt the rules this year and likes number patterns so has asked to play it a lot. The game has similar rules to the Rummy card game where you create sets or runs of tiles, with the aim to get rid of your tiles first.
Scrawl
I got a copy of Scrawl in a blogging conference goody bag and I absolutely love playing it. Although as it is not child friendly I haven’t played it as much as I’d have liked! Everyone starts with a saying which they draw for the next person to write a description of the drawing, which the next persons draws and so on until it ends up back with the original person. Think Chinese Whispers / Telephone game but using drawing and writing instead of whispering.
Sushi Go
We were introduced to Sushi Go on a weekend away with our university friends, and have since got our own copy. It is a quick and cute card drafting game meaning you chose a card to keep from the cards in your hand, and then pass the cards to the next person. At the same time you take the desk of cards you are being passed from the person on the other side of you, and choose a card to keep, and then pass on the ones left. This continues until all the cards are used. Then you count up your score based on the different rules for each food group (it is easier to play than this may sound).
The votes broken down by person
Here are the favourite games by each person. Again these are in alphabetical order as it is too difficult to select a favourite, let alone list five in order of preference.
It is worth noting I think B was heavily influenced by a recent gaming weekend with friends as we only owned two of these games. However, she got Sushi Go for Christmas and plays Potion Explosion on her tablet whenever she gets the chance.
Do you play board games as a family? What are your favourites? Which would you recommend we try? What games do you plan to buy in 2019?
*Disclosure – I was given some of these board games free. This post also includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after following a link I will earn a percentage of the sale but it will not cost you more. These games are genuine choices by me and my family.
