Skribbl.io is an online multiplayer game created by ticedev, and free to play on the Skribbl.io website in either a private game with friends, or a public game with other online players. I played in a public room.
Skribbl.io is a judging game, where the players take turns drawing a word and the other players try to judge what they’re drawing, competing with one another to guess the word first. The gameplay involves an artist that chooses from 3 words and can use different colors and brushes to draw within a time limit (usually around 1 minute) as well as players that are judging the drawing and typing their guesses to try and guess the word being drawn before other people. Both the artist and the guessers are awarded points for correct guesses. From my play, it is clear that Skribbl.io is able to facilitate a well-balanced competitive atmosphere that keeps players entertained regardless of their role of judging or being judged, and is also able to accommodate the low-commitment level of online players and their constant movement in and out of games.
In these public games, I was always placed into rooms with 4-5 people in them already, which seemed to allow for a sweet spot number of players where the guessing was competitive, but the rounds didn’t take so long that you never got a turn to draw.
(The room that I had just joined with 5 players already in it.)
(Players getting added to the room as other players leave, helping to maintain a consistent group of 5-7 players.)
This room dividing mechanism allows for Skribbl.io rooms to almost always have an ideal density of players, and when players leave the game, Skribbl.io adds in a new person so other players still feel like it is worth it to continue playing. Because players are often in and out of the game or away from the keyboard, Skribbl.io also includes a kicking tool to get inappropriate or idle players out of the game. This helps to maintain the pace of the game for interested players. 
One key mechanic of the gameplay is that random letters of the word being drawn are shown as hints to all the players guessing. This allows for players that aren’t as imaginative to try and guess based on their knowledge of the word bank vocabulary and adds another dimension to the game. This mechanic is able to balance players that feel they are unable to understand what is being drawn and then giving up. Instead, players will always feel that they have a chance since they can try to get information from both the drawing and the letters, so that the sense of “fun” is maintained and people want to continue playing.
(People randomly guessing of 3 letter words after being given the 3-letter count.)
Even though the public room was a group of strangers, Skribbl.io allowed for increased fellowship since we all learned more about each other from our drawing styles and also bonded over creating new jokes. For example, if someone drew something funny for one word and another person got the same word, they would sometimes draw it again badly and it would get worse and worse with each iteration, creating a shared inside joke and facilitating friendship building. Since Skribbl.io is not moderated and drawings are entirely up to the players creating them, there are times where players tap into their creativity and intentionally draw more outrageous or intriguing drawings that make it more difficult to guess but make the game more interesting and satisfying when you finally understand the drawing. Skribbl.io does a great job of making sure both people guessing and people drawing are having fun, by tapping into the sense of challenge with guessing first, and giving the artist the palette and brushes to draw most anything to add to their sense of expression.
(Drawing of the word “potato” which is fairly simple but was turned into a very creative drawing and everyone was still able to guess the word.)
A key feature of Skribbl.io is the chat function. The chat serves as the format for guessing, and also allows for people to talk. Players often chat briefly between each round and this either facilitates anti-fellowship or increased fellowship. A downside of Skribbl.io is that it is entirely player moderated, which means that inappropriate drawings and chats are possible and can make the gameplay uncomfortable for others. However, the chat was often very wholesome and allowed for people to talk and get to know each other’s humor beyond the game. The opt-in aspect of chatting as well as the anonymity of the names and characters allowed for people to talk to other players when they felt ready as it wasn’t a key feature of the game.
(People saying good game and being sad when one of the other players left, even though they had began the game as strangers.)
(A conversation between two players that could have been perceived as uncomfortable, but was in the context of a past funny drawing and both players had already formed a relationship after playing 4 rounds of the game. )
