Parents' Guide to Draw Something

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Common Sense Media Review

Chris Morris By Chris Morris , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Pictionary-like app addictively fun; beware random matches.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 14+

Based on 9 parent reviews

age 9+

Based on 10 kid reviews

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.

What's It About?

In the Draw Something app, players hand-draw pictures using a rudimentary art pad; their opponent then attempts to guess what the drawing is, selecting from a group of letters. If they're stumped, players can detonate "bombs" to eliminate some of the letters, though that doesn't always help. Solving puzzles earns players coins, which they can use to buy more bombs. Players can play with their people they know, or play with random opponents.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 9 ):
Kids say ( 10 ):

The "with Friends" trend has spawned plenty of imitators, but DRAW SOMETHING is unique. The game takes the basic concepts of Pictionary -- drawing something from scratch and having others guess that object -- and adds a one-on-one competitive element. It's utterly addictive and a heck of a lot of fun.

For parents, that could be a problem, though. Since the game is unregulated and you can play random opponents, there's always the chance you'll be paired with someone who finds it amusing to draw genitalia or the like. Most players, thankfully, don't do this, however, and with the inclusion of a Facebook tie-in, you can always play against someone you know and trust. The hard part will be putting the game down.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Play Draw Something with your kid, either as an "opponent" or as a drawing team against another player. Talk through different approaches to drawing a word.

  • Encourage kids to play with people they know in real life rather than random match-ups. Let them know that if they receive an inappropriate drawing they should end the game.

App Details

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