How to Play Paper Telephone

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Paper Telephone is a pen-and-paper party game that combines Chinese Whispers with Pictionary-style drawing. Each player starts a chain with a written phrase, passes it on, and the next player draws what they read. The player after that writes what they think the drawing shows, and so the chain continues, alternating between words and pictures until every booklet returns to its owner.

It is loved because the results are almost always absurd, and the reveal at the end produces genuine surprise even for adults. It needs no special equipment, scales easily for large groups, and works well at family gatherings, school events, or any occasion where you need a game that requires zero preparation.

A little history

Paper Telephone is a pen-and-paper adaptation of the oral game commonly known as Chinese Whispers or Telephone, which has been played in various forms for well over a century. The drawn-and-written format that defines Paper Telephone appears to have emerged as an informal party pastime during the twentieth century, combining the whisper-chain concept with sketch-based communication. Its precise origins are unclear, and no single inventor or date of invention is reliably documented. It circulates under several names in different countries, including Eat Poop You Cat and Telephone Pictionary, though these are informal descriptive titles rather than formal editions.

Setting up

1. Seat all players around a table or in a circle where passing papers is easy.
2. Give each player one sheet of paper per person in the game, stapled or folded into a small booklet, or simply a separate stack of loose sheets they will add to as the game progresses.
3. Each player writes their name on the back of their booklet or the bottom of their first sheet so ownership is clear at the reveal.
4. Agree a passing direction (left or right) before the first round begins.
5. Set a time limit per turn if you want to keep the game moving: 60 to 90 seconds per turn works well for most groups.

How to play

1. Every player writes a short, clear phrase on the top sheet of their booklet. It can be anything: a sentence, a common saying, or a funny situation. Aim for something drawable.
2. Each player folds their top sheet down so only the phrase is visible, then passes the entire booklet to the next player in the agreed direction.
3. The receiving player reads the phrase, folds it under so it is hidden, then draws a picture of it on the next blank sheet.
4. That player folds their drawing under so only the drawing is visible, then passes the booklet on again.
5. The next player looks only at the drawing, folds it under, and writes a phrase describing what they see.
6. Play continues, strictly alternating between writing and drawing, and strictly hiding all earlier sheets except the most recent one.
7. Each player may only look at the single sheet directly above the blank page they are about to use. All previous sheets must stay folded away.
8. The chain ends when every booklet has returned to its original owner. This happens naturally once each booklet has been passed to every player in turn.
9. The owner opens their booklet and reads or shows the full chain from their original phrase to the final entry, sharing it with the group.
10. Proceed through all booklets, with each original owner revealing their chain one at a time.

Winning and scoring

Paper Telephone is traditionally played without scoring or a declared winner. The payoff is the reveal, where the group enjoys how far the chain has drifted from the original phrase. If your group prefers a competitive format, award one point to the player whose phrase or drawing the group votes as funniest, and one point to the player whose original phrase survived the chain most intact. The player with the most points after all booklets are revealed wins. These are house rules rather than a standard scoring system, and many players never bother with points at all.

The fine points

The most common dispute is whether a player peeked at more than the immediately preceding sheet. The rule is unambiguous: you fold every sheet except the one directly above your blank page before you begin. If someone has clearly seen an earlier entry and been influenced by it, the standard ruling is to treat the entry as void and have them redo it on a fresh sheet, though in practice most groups let it pass and address it with a house rule before the next game.

A second dispute arises over what counts as a legitimate drawing. Players sometimes write words inside their picture to make it clearer. The strict rule is no words, letters, numbers, or symbols in the drawing: the communication must be purely visual. Similarly, a phrase entry must be words only and must not trace the outline of a picture. If a time limit is in use and a player runs over, the standard ruling is that they pass whatever they have completed, finished or not.

How to win more often

• Write phrases that are vivid and specific rather than abstract. 'A knight jousting a dragon in front of a castle' is far easier to draw and follow than 'bravery'.
• When drawing, prioritise the key subject and action over artistic detail. A stick figure doing something clearly beats a beautiful but ambiguous sketch.
• If you receive a drawing that is genuinely unclear, pick the most literal interpretation rather than the most creative one. Literal choices keep the chain closer and make the reveal funnier by contrast when it eventually breaks.
• Do not rush. A 60-second limit sounds tight but is usually enough. A careless phrase or an unreadable scrawl breaks the chain faster than anything else.
• When writing a phrase from a drawing, describe exactly what you see rather than what you think the previous writer intended. Your job is to read the image, not to guess the original phrase.

Variations

Timed Pressure

Set a strict 45-second timer for every turn. When the timer sounds, all players pass simultaneously, finished or not. This forces quick decisions, produces wilder drawings, and keeps large groups from stalling. It works particularly well with eight or more players.

Theme Round

Before the game starts, agree a theme such as films, animals, or things you might find in a kitchen. Every opening phrase must relate to that theme. This adds a useful constraint that makes comparisons between chains funnier during the reveal.

Single Sheet Fold

Instead of a booklet, each player uses one long sheet of A4 paper, folding it accordion-style with each turn. This is quicker to set up and works well when booklets are impractical, though players must be careful not to unfold the sheet accidentally when passing.

Words Only

Remove drawing entirely. Players alternate between writing the original phrase and writing a one-sentence interpretation of the previous entry, without ever drawing anything. This tests how language shifts with each retelling and plays well with younger children or groups who are reluctant to draw.

Paper Telephone: frequently asked questions