Game: Gartic Phone
Creator: Onrizon Social Games
Platform: Browser-based (https://garticphone.com/)
Target Audience: Ages 13+, casual and social gamers, online friend groups, party settings
Central Argument
Gartic Phone is a super fun drawing game where chaos is practically inevitable .It’s not about being good at art or winning. It’s about making each other laugh and watching things slowly fall apart in the funniest of ways. Everyone plays a small part, and by the end, it’s wild to see how much the original idea has changed. This mix of creativity, randomness, and group fun really inspires the vibe we want for our game. We want players to feel connected, silly, and like they’re building something together, even if it doesn’t go as planned.
Analysis + Ethics
In Gartic Phone, players take turns writing silly prompts, drawing them, and then guessing what someone else drew. That new guess gets passed on and drawn again — kind of like telephone but with doodles. In one round I played, someone wrote “swole Pikachu,” and by the end, it turned into “deformed potato” Watching that transition was hilarious, and no one cared if the drawings were bad. At the end, it was just funny.
The time limits help keep things fast and make it low-pressure. Since the game doesn’t have points or winners, it’s not stressful. You just go with the flow. That makes it a really good game to play with friends or even people you don’t know that well.But there are a few things that could be better. Sometimes rounds take a bit long, especially if people drop out or aren’t paying attention. And since anyone can write a prompt, there’s a chance someone puts something inappropriate, especially in public games. Overall, the game kind of depends on everyone playing nice.
For our game, we want to make sure players feel safe and respected, even when they’re messing around or playing with strangers. We might use curated prompts or words.The current structure of Gartic Phone shows how being goofy together can make a strong game. That’s something we want to keep in our own design, even if we add more competition or secret roles. In our version, players will try to help or trick each other through drawing — like the “evil” drawer trying to mislead the guesser. It still has the fun of interpretation and surprise, but adds more strategy and decision-making.
Course Ideas + Learning
In class, we learned about MDA — mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics — and Gartic Phone is a good example of how those work together. The mechanics (drawing and guessing with a time limit) create the dynamics (funny misunderstandings and fast reactions), which leads to the aesthetics (surprise, laughter, shared moments). It also shows how removing pressure (like points or rankings) makes people more willing to try and be creative.
The game also has strong formal elements like roles (writer, drawer, guesser), turns, and hidden info. No one knows what’s coming next, and that keeps it exciting. We’re using similar ideas — passing turns, roles with different goals, and guessing based on drawings — but we’re adding more structure and challenge.
One thing we really liked is how Gartic Phone doesn’t need people to be good at drawing. That’s something we want to keep — players should feel like their drawing matters, even if it’s messy. We want to balance chaos and strategy, where players still get to be funny, creative, and clever.
Evidence
(I cannot recall the prompt given)
Conclusion
Gartic Phone reminds us that games don’t have to be complicated to be great. When people are creating together, even just with doodles, it feels fun and memorable. For our game, we want to keep that same energy — letting people be creative, play off each other’s drawings, and laugh when things go off the rails. At the same time, we’re excited to mix in a little more challenge and strategy through secret roles and team play. But in the end, it’s still about people having fun together, just like Gartic Phone does so well.
