You’re the sole witness in a monster sighting. You only caught a 20-second glimpse of the creepy beast. Now you have to describe the monster to the sketch artists at the table. How much can you remember? Can you describe the gruesome details in only 2 minutes?
MonsDRAWsity is a new drawing game from Eric Slauson, designer of Tattoo Stories. With support for up to 8 players, was this party game a hit with our family and friends?
What Did I Just See?
MonsDRAWsity is a test of how well you can recall the details of some of the craziest creatures you’ll ever see. A round starts by having the Witness (or active player) draw the top card of the monster deck. They have 20 seconds to memorize as many details as possible.
The major details are usually easy because they are so obscure. It’s the small details that get tough. How many eyes did it have? Did the creature even have feet? With lots of contributing artists, every creature is unique and interesting.
The Witness has 2 minutes to describe everything they can recall about the monster to the other players at the table. The other players are drawing and asking questions about what the Witness saw.
After 2 minutes, players reveal their creations. The Witness has to secretly write the number of the player who was most accurate with their drawing. The monster card is revealed to all the players and now they vote for the most accurate drawing. The player(s) with the most votes gets a point. The Witness then reveals their drawing choice who is awarded a point. If the Witness picked the same drawing as the majority of the other players, the Witness also receives a point.
MonsDRAWsity is less reliant on how good the art is and focuses on the detail that is recorded on the dry erase board. Each time we ask someone to play, we hear “I don’t draw very well”. While a good artist can make a cool image, a good listener will be more accurate.
After everyone has been the Witness twice, the game ends. The player with the most points is the winner.
Monstrously Fun
I believe MonsDRAWsity works so well due to the incredible variety of monster illustrations. When a player says “It looks kind of like a bird, but not really…”, they’re not lying. The game hangs on the ability of the Witness to create a picture with their words as they spend 120 seconds describing this abomination they just saw.
The kids have had a blast with the game as their imagination runs wild on the dry erase board. Our oldest daughter is an artist but we find her begging to be the Witness because it’s so much fun. As the Witness, the depth of your description can be the difference between getting points or leaving the round empty handed.
I’ve enjoyed MonsDRAWsity at the higher player counts of 6 to 8 the most. Everyone interprets words differently so the variety of creations are so much fun to see.
Unlike some drawing games in our collection, this one seems to really connect with people. Because the monsters are so outlandish, it’s hard to get upset when your drawing doesn’t look like the card. The amount of table talk after a round is one of the biggest reasons why I need games like MonsDRAWsity in my life.
Even in this time of social distancing and not being able to have normal game nights, MonsDRAWsity has been a breath of fresh air. We’ve played this game in a friends garage in folding chairs. We’ve been able to keep some distance while laughing with friends. MonsDRAWsity has allowed us a glimpse of the game nights that we’ve missed so much over the past 6 months.
The game comes with 100 monster cards which is fantastic. The bummer is that you cannot “unsee” these characters. The box insert allows you to keep the already played cards separate from the rest of the deck. Thankfully Deep Water Games already has an expansion deck of Cute Creatures to keep the game going.
MonsDRAWsity is one of the rare drawing games that I would bring to the table with just about any gaming group. Whether your sketching a monster or describing as the Witness, this game has been a huge hit for our family.
You can find MonsDRAWsity at your local game store, online at Deep Water Games web store or on Amazon today.
This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.
High
- The game isn’t solely based on artistic ability
- Players express their creativity in every round
- Monsters are diverse, strange and so tough to describe
- Loads of laughs as players reveal drawings
Lows
- Once you play a monster, you can’t really “unsee” it
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