Gartic Phone comes from Onrizon, the studio behind Gartic.io, and it arrived in December 2020, just as millions of people were looking for things to do with friends over video calls. It became a favourite with streamers almost immediately, and it is easy to see why. The format produces funny moments on a schedule, and the audience gets to watch them unfold.
The idea borrows from the old playground game of whispering a message round a circle. Everyone starts by writing a sentence. That sentence goes to the next player, who has to draw it. The drawing goes to the next player, who has to describe what they see, without knowing the original. Repeat until the chain comes back round, then watch the whole sequence replay from start to finish.
Why the replay is the whole point
During the game itself, things are oddly calm. Everyone is quietly concentrating on their own small task, trying to draw “a penguin applying for a mortgage” or guessing what on earth a lumpy brown shape might be. You never see the full picture while you play. That restraint is exactly what makes the ending work so well.
Then the replay starts, and the room erupts. Each chain plays out step by step, so you watch a sensible prompt mutate into something completely different, and you see precisely which friend made the leap that sent it off the rails. The best moments come from honest, careful mistakes rather than deliberate silliness, which is why even serious players end up crying with laughter.
Modes that change the mischief
Normal mode is the classic write-draw-describe loop, and it is where every group should start. Beyond that, the game offers several variations. Knock-Off asks players to copy a drawing from memory, which produces a lovely kind of slow decay. Animation has everyone adding frames to build a short moving sequence, which is harder and stranger. More modes have been added over the years.
Crowd mode is built for streamers. It lets an audience join through an invite link and vote, which turns a stream into a participatory show rather than a performance. For a normal friends’ night you can ignore it entirely, but if you have ever wanted your viewers to feel part of the game, it is one of the best tools in the genre.
Gathering a group without the faff
Setting up is painless. The host opens a room, picks a character and nickname, and shares the invite link. Friends click in from a browser or the mobile app, and once enough people have arrived the host starts the game. The room settings let you adjust timings and modes, so it is easy to give slower artists a bit more breathing space.
The one real requirement is numbers. With only two or three players the chain is too short to go properly wrong, and the replay loses its punch. Our best nights had six to ten people, enough for prompts to travel a long way. A voice call running alongside helps, because half the fun is the running commentary during the reveal.
Where the laughter runs thin
Because there is no scoring, Gartic Phone has very little skill headroom. You can become a slightly better communicator through drawing, but there is nothing to master and no ladder to climb. That is fine for a party game, but competitive groups may find themselves asking what the point is after a couple of rounds.
Pacing can also drag when one player takes too long. Everyone waits for the slowest person at each step, so a perfectionist drawer can stall a round. Shorter timers help. And while the format is reliably funny, it is the same joke each time: the second chain is usually great, the fifth slightly less so. Play two or three, then switch to something else.
Your first few sessions with Gartic Phone
- Gather at least five friends on a call and play one round in Normal mode with the default timings.
- Write a deliberately specific opening sentence; detailed prompts produce far better wreckage than vague ones.
- Try Knock-Off mode on your second evening and watch a drawing slowly decay from memory.
- If anyone streams, test Crowd mode with a few viewers voting through the invite link.
- Save your favourite replay and share it; the group chat will thank you for days.
What had us cheering
- The replay reveal is the most reliably funny moment in any game we tested.
- No scoring means nervous players relax and join in without fear of losing.
- Several modes keep the format fresh across a few different evenings.
- Crowd mode lets a streaming audience take part instead of just watching.
What made us groan
- Small groups produce short chains and much weaker punchlines.
- One slow drawer can hold up the entire room at every step.
- There is little to get better at, so competitive types drift off.
The group Gartic Phone suits best
Groups of five or more who want laughter rather than competition, from university friends to a family spread across Britain. It is the best choice on our list for streamers, and a lovely icebreaker for a work social where not everyone knows each other.
Where we land on Gartic Phone
Gartic Phone scores the highest for pure laughter of anything we tested, and it is the game we recommend when the goal is simply a good time with no winners or losers. It loses ground on depth, because there is little to master, and it needs a decent-sized group to sing. But with six or more friends and a voice call, it is close to perfect.
