The game I decided to play for this critical play was skribbl.io – it is a multiplayer drawing guessing game (think pictionary but online). It is an online game (available at https://skribbl.io/) created by ticedev. You can either join a private room to play (with a code) or just join any random game (that is open) by clicking play.
I feel the target audience for this game would be anyone who is comfortable and familiar with using a device that is connected to the internet (Ages 9+ perhaps). It does mention on their website that children under 8 years cannot create an account on skribbl-io.net websites, but I think that is not enforced for the game itself (I have never been asked for my age).
Critical formal elements and mechanics:
- When creating a private room, you need a minimum of 2 players and maximum of 20 (you can choose this number).
- At the top, you can see how many letters the word you have to guess has (with some letters being added to it as you go) — a little hangman style
- Each round, every person gets a turn to draw (it is timed) and they can choose from a few words
- Players can guess the word that is being drawn by typing it in the chat. The round does not end when the first person guesses, but keeps going on until the time is over (points are calculated in a way that the people who guess first get more points and the lesser people that guess your word, the more points you get).
- You make your guess by typing in the chat. You can see in the chat if a player guessed the word correctly (but not the word itself — that is hidden) and can see their wrong guesses (the actual word in this case)
- You can see the points everyone got for a specific drawing/guess once the timer for it is over
- There is on overall scoreboard at the left end of the screen
The person creating the private room can also choose number of seconds that are given to guess each word, the number of rounds to be played, the number of hints and can also play the game with custom words. I think these customisations give a lot of autonomy to the players and that allows for this game to be played in extremely diverse situations (eg. custom words are so cool if you’re playing it for a friend’s birthday or at a theme party).
The mechanic of points being calculated in a way that the people who guess first get more points creates a dynamic of competitiveness and a race to be faster than others which gives rise to the aesthetic of “challenge”. The mechanics of users being able to draw out the word and getting more points the lesser number of people that guess their word gives rise to the dynamic of creativity and tricky drawing which gives rise to the aesthetic of “expression”.
I like how the round does not end the minute the first person guesses the word. This is unlike the other games in this genre – charades, pictionary etc. — but I think the online nature of the game is helpful for this as it provides a way to hide the correct word. Since it is played individually instead of in teams, it also does not include the aesthetic of fellowship unlike some other games in its genre.
I really enjoy playing this game because of how versatile it is – it can be played in your college dorm, during happy hour with office colleagues, with your close friends etc. It is a great game to warm up to people without being vulnerable at all. I also like how it can be played in a lot of languages — thus making it more inclusive for people around the globe.
One concern that I have is the chat feature in the game. Although you can have an anonymous handle, anything can be typed in the chat and this might give rise to potential hateful and abusive messages incase you are playing in an open room. In a private room, since you are playing with people you know, there is trust and the chances of this are much low (but still possible). They can perhaps alter this to just say something like – “x guessed incorrectly” (they already do this for correct guesses). I do understand there is fun in seeing the crazy guesses that people have, but the above would do more good (and not really reduce the fun of the game).
I also think I would an option to kick people from the game since people can type potential hateful and abusive messages in the chat and can also draw in a way that is offensive. There is currently only an option to like or dislike the drawing — but that is not enough.
