Draw it fast. Guess it faster.
How to play Doodle Duel with a friend
- Pick a wordYou get three: easy, medium and hard, worth 100, 200 and 300. A harder word scores more if they get it.
- Draw it in 60 secondsNo letters or numbers. Just the drawing.
- Spell what you seeThe guesser taps letter tiles to fill the slots. When every slot is full, the guess is sent. A wrong word locks the tiles for three seconds.
- Swap and repeatYou each draw three times. Most points after six drawings wins.
Fast pays — and the artist gets paid too
A guess straight away is worth the word's full value. The value falls as the clock runs, down to 40% at the buzzer: a hard word is worth 300 at once and 120 at the end.
The artist gets half of whatever the guesser scores. So when you draw, you are not trying to stump anyone. You are trying to be understood as fast as possible, because their speed is your score too.
That is what makes it a duel rather than a party game. Both of you score on every drawing. The winner is whoever draws more clearly and reads faster.
Draw to be read, not admired
The fastest drawings are not the best-looking ones. They are the ones with the right first line. A cat is two ears and whiskers; a whole cat takes twenty seconds and says the same thing.
Start with the one shape that names the word, then stop and watch. Add detail only when they stall. Every second you spend shading is a second the value is falling.
The same logic picks your word. A hard word you can say in one shape beats an easy word you can't, because 300 read in five seconds is worth more than 100 read in fifty.
Live, later, on one phone or in Messages
Live, you guess while they draw and watch the lines arrive in real time.
A move at a time, you draw now. Your friend taps Watch when they are ready, sees it drawn, guesses, and then draws the next one for you.
On one phone, you pass the phone between rounds. On an iPhone, Doodle Duel also plays inside Messages.
It is friends only: there is no matchmaking, so your drawings only ever go to someone you invited. If one is out of line anyway, tap Report drawing.
Three things that actually help
- Draw the one shape that names it first. Ears and whiskers say cat faster than a whole animal.
- Guessing? Count the slots before you look hard at the drawing. The number of letters rules out most answers.
- Don't fire off guesses. A wrong word locks your tiles for three seconds, which is longer than a careful look.
Doodle Duel questions
How does Doodle Duel score?+
Easy words are worth 100, medium 200 and hard 300 if guessed straight away. The value falls as the clock runs, to 40% at the buzzer. The artist gets half of what the guesser scores.
Do we have to be online at the same time?+
No. Live, you guess while they draw. A move at a time, your friend watches the drawing when they're ready, guesses it, and draws the next one back.
Can strangers see my drawings?+
No. Doodle Duel is friends only, with no matchmaking, so a drawing only goes to the person you invited. Any drawing can be reported with Report drawing.