For this critical play, I played skribbl.io with two other people. Skribbl.io is a game created by algodextrous (a college student) that was originally hosted on android. Although it’s essentially digital Pictionary, the limited drawing mechanics, word choice, chat mechanics, and overall design and aesthetic contribute to skribbl.io’s ability to invoke a fellowship and expression type of fun that’s often difficult with digital games.
The first thing that stands out about Skribbl.io is the design—everything looks elementary and (somewhat poorly) hand-drawn. I often find that with drawing games, some people feel anxious or prematurely give up because they “can’t draw”. The design and aesthetics of skribbl.io take away this pressure; players immediately understand that the drawing aspect of the game is casual and that the objective is not to draw the best image out there. This attitude helps develop the fellowship and expression types of fun for the game.
Other mechanics that help to develop the expression type of fun in skribbl.io are the word choice and the drawing board.
On the drawing board is a timer—the person that begins the game can adjust the time that each player has to draw their picture. (The default is 80 seconds, and the maximum is 4 minutes.) In addition, the pen used to draw is very pixelated, and the settings for it are limited.
Each round, skribbl.io makes a player choose from three words that are stray from the typical, every day objects. These objects are difficult to draw—especially with limited time. As a result, illustrations are often somewhat abstract representations of what the word is (ie, a pacifier, a car, and a man for “Vin Diesel” because a literal drawing of Vin Diesel would be too difficult). Players are forced bring a bit of their own understandings of expression and the world to the table during the game. The game is not about being a good artist, but about being creative, fostering the self-expression type of fun. This mechanic—together with the drawing board–also leads to a lot of rough and incomprehensible drawings that people tend to laugh at as a group, building fellowship.
Finally, the chat mechanic—arguably the most important feature in the game—allows for players to constantly converse without interrupting the game itself. With an analog game, speech is reserved for guessing. Since everyone is yelling out 50 guesses per second, no other conversation happens alongside the game. This is great for keeping people engaged and in “the magic circle”, but can prevent players from building fellowship. In skribbl.io, guesses are typed in a chat box on the right side of the screen, and each guess are showcased to all players. While I was playing, I found that players often made comments on the guesses themselves aloud. For example “[guessing] ‘heartbroken’ is crazy” (the word was pistachio). These small interjection throughout the game allow for players to enjoy conversation and laugh together without the need to stop playing. Also, being able to see everyone’s guess allows for all players to be included, whereas in an analog version, quieter players might get drowned out.
This two-lane conversation created by the chat mechanic is the strongest dynamic in skribbl.io and is why even though the game can be played without players being together in person, it is much better when they are.
