How to play doodlz.app

Getting into a game

Open the home page, type a nickname (or leave the box blank and one is picked for you), build your avatar with the arrows or the randomise button, and press Play. To join a specific friend's room instead, type their five character room code into the code box and press Join. Codes are not case sensitive.

When it is your turn to draw

1. You are shown a short list of secret words. Pick the one you like the look of before the timer runs out, otherwise one is chosen for you.
2. Draw the word. You may not write letters, numbers or spell anything out — that is the one hard rule of drawing.
3. Use the pen for outlines, the fill bucket for large areas, and the undo button when a line goes wrong. Clearing the canvas wipes everything for every player, so use it sparingly.
4. You earn points for each player who guesses your word, so draw the obvious parts first and add detail later.

While you are drawing, your chat messages are hidden from the guessers. That is deliberate: it removes any way of leaking the word in text.

When it is your turn to guess

1. Watch the canvas and type your guesses into the chat box. Guessing is unlimited — there is no penalty for being wrong.
2. The row of underscores above the canvas shows how many letters the word has. As the timer runs down, hint letters are revealed one at a time.
3. The earlier you guess correctly, the more points you take, so type fast rather than waiting to be certain.
4. Once you have guessed correctly your messages are only visible to other players who have also guessed, so you cannot spoil it for anyone.
5. Give the drawing a thumbs up or thumbs down with the buttons in the corner of the canvas.

Scoring

Points scale with speed. The first correct guesser takes the largest share, the next takes slightly less, and so on down the order. The drawer's score grows with the number of players who solved the word, which rewards clear drawings over clever ones. After three rounds the highest total wins.

Tips to win more often

• Draw the silhouette of the object first. A recognisable shape is worth more than a beautiful texture.
• Use colour early — a yellow blob is a banana far sooner than an outline is.
• As a guesser, type single common words rather than long phrases; short guesses cover more ground per second.
• Watch the letter count. A five letter word with a revealed "h" in position two is almost always a short list.
• Do not clear the canvas because a line is slightly off. Undo, or work around it.

Keyboard shortcuts

B pen, S eraser, F fill, U undo, C clear, Enter jumps into the chat box so you can start typing a guess immediately.