How to run a Big Game!
The Big Pictionary Game was first designed to link the frustrations of the Pictionary player with
the communication frustrations and struggles experienced by people affected by autism. The
much loved board game Pictionary is fused with the traditional Trivia Night format to create a fun
event that helps people get an insight into the world of autism.
There are lots of different versions of the big game. We have laid out an option for you here
which you can adapt to suit your numbers, group and location. We hope you find it as fun, fast,
and loud as we did!
Structure
Our game format consists of 6-8 rounds of Pictionary. You can intersperse these with some
Bonus Rounds of other quick, fun games.
• Players should be split into teams of 3-6 people.
• At each table, two teams will play a five minute round against each other.
• At the start of each round every team will nominate a person to draw for that entire round.
There is no change of drawer during the round.
• An envelope with 10 Pictionary clues will be provided for the 2 drawers to share.
• When the starting bell rings the 2 drawers (one from each team) pull the first card out and
both look at it. They agree with a nod of heads or “Ready, Set, Go” to start drawing for
their respective teams.
• The first team to guess the clue correctly gets the point. The drawers can then pull out the
second card and repeat the process. This continues for the full five minutes or until all ten
cards have been guessed correctly.
• There is no passing on cards.
• At the end of the round each team counts up the number of cards they correctly guessed
and marks this on the scorecard for that round which is collected at the end of each round
by the organisers.
• The winning team gets up and moves to the next table (CLOCKWISE) for the next round
(in the event of a tie the team with the youngest player moves on).
• There is a break between each round of 10-30 minutes.
• At the start of the next round each team chooses a different drawer.
• The points are tallied at the end of the competition and prizes awarded. In the event of a
tie the winner will be declared by looking at the scores in each round – starting with the
last round. The team with the highest score wins.
You will need:
1) A table for every two teams you have playing
2) Envelopes containing ten clues for each round (you need the same number of envelopes
as you have tables). All the round one envelopes should contain the same clues etc.
Each card should just contain one clue.
3) Scorecards handed out to each table at the beginning of every round.
4) An MC is required to be the time-keeper and announce the start and end of each round.
Tips
We recommend that you print out a copy of the game rules and structure for each table so people
can read them if they are not sure. Things can get pretty competitive!
You might want to give each round has a particular category. The standard Pictionary categories
are: Person, Place, Animal, Object, Action, and Difficult. This list is not exhaustive or prescriptive,
other categories to consider are famous artists, rock albums, sports stars, historical events or
celebrities. The choice is yours.
Suggested Running Order
6.30
7.00
7.15
7.20
7.27
7.45
7.52
8.07
8.15
Venue Opens
Welcome – speeches & explanation of the rules
Practice Round
Round 1:
Bonus Round and/or short break
Round 2:
Bonus Round and/or short break
Round 3:
Longer break for drinks or food
Fundraising games or raffles/silent auctions
Scoreboard update
8.45 Round 4:
8.52 Bonus Round and/or short break
9.07 Round 5
9.15 Break for food & drinks
Fundraising games or raffle draw/silent auction closing
Scoreboard update
9.40 Round 6
9.47 Bonus Round
10.00 Announce Raffles
Announce Game Winners
Prizes