The trendsetters online may have stopped playing Garlic phonebut not my family. Developed by Onrizon, Garlic phone combines the children’s game Telephone with the board game Pictionary. It may sound a bit simple, but this light-hearted game is a real pleasure. More importantly, it’s the perfect game to share with family and friends this holiday season.
What makes it perfect for the whole family? Well, a lot of things. For starters, it’s free and you can play it any device with a browser. I’ve seen family members join in and play easily on phones, computers and tablets. So even if you have a younger child without a phone, you can probably find another device for him or her to join in. No expensive consoles are required and up to 16 people can participate in one game.
The only downside is that the game does have some ads, but once you watch them the game is up and running. Garlic phone is super easy to learn and navigate. While drawing can be intimidating for someone who doesn’t play video games often, even that can be fun. In my personal experience, the crudest drawings lead to some of the funniest rounds.
It’s also very easy to pick up and play. In the game’s main mode, you start by typing a prompt. Then another player will draw a picture of that prompt. From there, someone receives your drawing and then types in what he or she thinks the prompt was. The cycle of guessing and guessing continues, making ridiculous misunderstandings and hilarious accidents funnier with each new guess. It often results in hilarious sequences of clues and drawings as people make sense of the well-worn images.
At the end, you and the players can review the series of drawings and clues in an endgame summary. I just love giggling at all the drawings while my family and I scribble on our phone screens scattered around the living room. At the end we download the funniest drawings as photos, so it even feels like we can get a little souvenir of the night.
Easy to learn, cute and fun, Garlic phone is the perfect family activity for this holiday season.