Most word lists are alphabetical or themed. A table with players of different ages and skill needs something else: a list sorted by how hard each word is to draw. These Thanksgiving pictionary words come in three tiers of 15, so a host can choose which tier goes to which player. The US holiday lands on Thursday 26 November this year, and this is a list for the evening of the game, not a lecture about the holiday. The name Pictionary belongs to another company and my site has no link to it; I use the word only because that is how people ask for a list like this.
How can you tell how hard a word is to draw?
I use a count of shapes. If a word needs one shape, it is easy. If it needs two or three shapes joined together, it is medium. If it needs a scene, a number of people or an idea, it is hard.
That count is only a rule of thumb, and it is mine, not a standard. It has one useful property: you can apply it in your head without testing the word. Say "pumpkin" and you see one circle. Say "family reunion" and you see a crowd with no outline, which is the sign of a hard word.
A second test is whether the first mark a drawer makes is obvious. For tier one it is. For tier three, the drawer often needs ten seconds just to choose a first mark.
Tier one: a single shape
1. pumpkin
2. leaf
3. acorn
4. candle
5. plate
6. fork
7. corn
8. apple
9. moon
10. scarf
11. rake
12. basket
13. bell
14. hat
15. turkey
Tier two: two or three shapes
1. cornucopia
2. scarecrow
3. wheelbarrow
4. pie slice
5. harvest wagon
6. gravy boat
7. dinner table
8. wishbone
9. falling leaves
10. squirrel with an acorn
11. pilgrim hat
12. apple orchard
13. farmhouse
14. quilt
15. roasting pan
Tier three: a scene, a crowd or an idea
1. family reunion
2. giving thanks
3. long drive home
4. too full to move
5. second helping
6. kitchen chaos
7. late guest
8. leftovers
9. a quiet walk after dinner
10. grandparents arriving
11. setting up extra chairs
12. dinner conversation
13. generosity
14. tradition
15. gratitude
Why does the order matter for the score?
Because speed decides how many points a guess earns. In Boardit's Draw and Guess, a correct answer is 100 points plus four for each second left of the 100. An instant guess is worth 500, the last second is worth 100, and the middle of the clock is where most guesses land: with 70 seconds remaining the guess is worth 380, with 40 it is 260, and with 10 it is 140.
An easy word is guessed early, so its drawer and its guessers collect big scores. A hard word is guessed late, if at all, and earns a small one. That is not unfair, because the pencil passes round the table and everyone gets easy turns and hard turns, but the host should know about it. If one player is much younger, give them tier one words every time.
How do you mix the tiers at a table of different ages?
A host in Draw and Guess may type in a list of the family's custom words that stays out of sight. Each drawer is then shown a handful of options drawn from that list, so I would put one word from each tier into a mixed list and let the drawer pick. A confident drawer takes the tier-three word, and a nervous one takes a pumpkin.
A new table starts at three rounds, and the host may choose fewer or more. Each turn at the pencil lasts 100 seconds unless the host picks a shorter or longer clock. For a table with slower drawers I would choose fewer rounds and the longest clock, so that no one is rushed. Players on my site must be at least 13, so with a young child, play the tiers on paper instead.
It is also worth leaving the hint count at three, where a new table starts. Letter hints take a hard tier-three word from impossible to merely difficult, and they cost the drawer nothing.
Can the same tiers work in a drawing game online with friends?
They can, and the sorting helps even more there. In a room of friends who are scattered across several homes, you cannot read the drawer's expression, so a sensible word is your only guide to how long the round will last. Pick tier one for the first round, tier two for the second, and tier three for the last, and the game builds as the evening goes on.
If a player joins after the game has started, a new friend can still come in. A guest only has to give a name, so a cousin who turns up halfway through dessert can join the last rounds.
What do you do when a word is harder than its tier?
Sooner or later a word will be harder than you thought. "Wheelbarrow" is a good example: it is two shapes and an angle, and a player who has never seen one will need five guesses. Let the table skip it, remove it from your list, and move it up a tier on your copy. A list sorted by difficulty improves each time it is played, which is why it is worth keeping.
Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.