Skribbl.io is an online multiplayer drawing and guessing game, similar to Pictionary but with strangers (or friends!) on the Internet. It is published by algodextrous on Android (although I’m not sure if it’s related to the actual Internet game). The target audience I think is similar to the audience of Pictionary: really, it’s anybody! But the real player base is usually younger kids, middle through high school, playing skribbl.io on their computers during class…
In skribbl.io, judging maintains the “group norms” of a particular room. Judging presents itself not in how points are assigned, since the computer operates as the “real” moderator, but in how players interact with each other. The only way to approve or disapprove of a drawing is through liking or disliking it. Judging also manifests itself in muting players or kicking out players: you vote for both. Some aspects of judging, like “liking,” in skribbl.io facilitates a more welcoming and friendly space. However, some other ways that judgment manifests, like the dislike button and the unmoderated chat, can undermine this online community.
There are two ways that judging manifests itself in the game: first, you can like or dislike drawings with a button on top, which disappears after you either like or dislike something. Players often used this function to praise lovely drawings (wonderful!) or to downvote players who either 1) wrote the word as the picture, or 2) didn’t start drawing fast enough. The feature has no real impact on the game: its impact is concentrated solely in the group environment that it creates. When players played the game with the spirit of the game in mind (not just by cheesing the rules), it made for lovely interactions like this:
An example of a wonderful, friendly room (probably full of children under 13). The word was creeper.
Players feel similar to each other when they all like the same drawing, and they can reciprocate the positivity that others show them. I found myself liking more drawings as the game went on; it was an easy, simple way to show appreciation for someone’s work! Only good vibes from the like button.
A drawing that I liked.
The dislike button I think serves a similar function; it reinforces group norms. If a player draws something inappropriate or doesn’t follow the spirit of the game, players often downvote that player. But players theoretically could also reinforce group norms in the opposite direction (for example, dislike drawers for being too slow). I didn’t see this happen personally, but I just know that it does happen in certain rooms – if it can happen on the Internet, especially anonymously, it will.
The option to mute or kick other players by voting has a similar double-sidedness. There were a few times where players joined, became the drawer, and didn’t actually draw: in these instances, they were quickly kicked out. This is positive! But I think it can also be a double-edged sword; because you can kick people out any time, you can also use it as a way to express your dislike for another player.
A player who disrespected the spirit of the game who was subsequently kicked out.
Overall, in these ways, judgment allowed players to set the community standard/the vibe for a particular room. Even if you aren’t a vocal “vibe-setter” in real life, per se, the limited scope of the buttons did make it easy to reinforce positive community norms. On the other hand, giving players the option to kick out a “bad apple” or mute a “bad apple” will obviously also give players the option to kick out a naysayer of a negative vibe. This didn’t happen too much for me personally, but I think it is important to think about.
There were some things about the game, though, that I think allowed too much disclosure, and that are definitively negative. In the photo above, for example, a player is named “i wanna kms,” an obviously inappropriate name. There were other more egregious names – as well as some pretty egregious and offensive chat messages. Because the name-picking and the chat (which doubles as the guessing mechanism) are unmoderated, or at the very least uncensored, it allowed for too much disclosure! – and we know this is bad news bears for fostering healthy online communities.
There are a lot of ways that judgment – and communal decision-making – in skribbl.io allows players to foster a healthy, positive online community. I saw lots of people making funny things and bonding! But there were also a couple rooms that were deeply troubling, especially with the names and the general vibes. I do think skribbl.io could be improved by, say, having limitations on swear words/negative words in chat, or at least some sort of auto-moderation. Putting guardrails on the kind of judgment people can make and verbalize will help make this a better experience for all players! I think it is also especially important in the case of skribbl.io because it caters to a young player base.
Cute! I think skribbl.io is doing some things right 🙂
