Drawing games are perfect for couples because nobody needs to be good at them. In fact, the worse the drawings, the more you laugh. They work at a table with paper and pens, on a video call with each of you holding up a sketchbook, or on your phones with a shared drawing canvas. Here are 12 drawing games for couples with simple rules, how long each takes and how to play when you are apart.
What you need
Paper and pens, or a drawing app on your phones. A timer, which every phone has. And a list of prompts, which you can write together before you start or pull from a generator.
For long-distance play, decide between two set-ups. Either you each draw on paper and show the result to the camera, or you both use a shared canvas where you can see each other’s lines appear live. MileHeart’s Live Drawing is one option for connected partners.
- Keep rounds short, two or three minutes.
- Swap who picks the prompt each round.
- Screenshot the best drawings.
Guessing games
The classics. One person draws, the other guesses.
1. Draw and guess
15–30 minutes
Pick a word in secret, draw it in 60 seconds, no letters or numbers. Your partner guesses. Switch roles after each round and keep score.
2. Memory lane
15 minutes
Like draw and guess, but every prompt is a moment from your relationship: your first date, the time you got lost, your favourite meal together.
3. Speed sketch
10 minutes
Ten seconds per drawing, ten prompts in a row. The chaos is the point.
4. Reverse guess
15 minutes
Your partner describes an object without naming it, you draw it from the description, then compare with what they meant.
Creative drawing games
No winners, just funny results.
5. Blind portraits
10 minutes
Draw each other without looking at the paper, only at your partner’s face. The results are always ridiculous and somehow still recognisable.
6. Non-dominant hand
10 minutes
Same prompt, drawn with the hand you never use. Compare who did worse.
7. Squiggle challenge
10 minutes
One person draws a random squiggle; the other turns it into a picture. Swap.
8. Same prompt, different worlds
10 minutes
Both draw ‘our holiday’ or ‘our dream house’ at the same time and reveal together. The differences start great conversations.
Draw-together games
Games where you make one picture together, which feels especially close on a shared canvas.
9. Exquisite corpse
15 minutes
One draws a head, folds the paper, the other draws a body without seeing the head, then legs. Unfold. On a shared canvas, cover parts with a block of colour instead of folding.
10. Line by line
15 minutes
Take turns adding one line at a time to a single drawing, with no talking about what it is meant to be.
11. Comic strip story
20 minutes
Draw a four-panel comic together, one panel each, alternating. Give it a title at the end.
12. Build a world
30 minutes
Start with a blank island and take turns adding things: a house, a volcano, a dragon. By the end, it is your world.
Prompts to get you started
Easy: a cat wearing a hat, a pizza, our phones, a snowman, a coffee cup. Medium: our first date, a dragon on holiday, your dream car, my morning routine. Hard: jealousy, the internet, a Monday, the sound of rain.
Personal prompts make the best games: your pet, each other’s favourite food, the city you will visit next. Write ten on slips of paper, or use a question generator for inspiration.
Make it a date night
Combine two or three games into a 45-minute date: a speed sketch warm-up, a round of draw and guess, then a world-building drawing to finish. Keep the final drawing and add a date to it. For more ideas, see our drawing ideas for couples and online games for long-distance couples.
Q & A
A few questions you might have
What drawing games can couples play?
Draw and guess, blind portraits, the squiggle challenge, exquisite corpse, line-by-line drawing, comic strip stories and world building. All need only paper and pens or a drawing app.
How do you play drawing games long distance?
Draw on paper during a video call and hold the results up to the camera, or use a shared drawing canvas where you both see each other’s lines in real time.
Do I need to be good at drawing?
No. Most drawing games are funnier when the drawings are bad. Timers and silly rules, such as using your non-dominant hand, level the playing field.
What should we draw?
Start with easy objects such as a cat in a hat, then try personal prompts like your first date, or abstract ones like ‘a Monday’.
Found an idea for the two of you?
Send it to your person and choose something to try together.
