Back-to-Back Drawing: Rules for Clear Communication
- How do you play the back-to-back drawing game?
- What materials and setup do you need?
- How difficult should the reference image be?
- What are the speaker and drawer roles?
- Which descriptions and questions are legal?
- What is the closed round sequence?
- How should the comparison work?
- What should the debrief ask?
- What if a rule is broken?
- What safety and access boundaries apply?
- Sources
How do you play the back-to-back drawing game?
Pair players and seat them so they cannot see each other's paper. Give the speaker a simple line image and the drawer a blank sheet. The speaker describes shapes, sizes and positions without naming the object or showing it. The drawer may ask clarification questions, but cannot ask what the picture is. After six minutes, compare the two images, discuss which instructions helped, then switch roles with a new picture.
For another low-pressure way to begin a session, see icebreakers without awkwardness.
What materials and setup do you need?
For each pair, prepare:
- two blank sheets of A4 or US Letter paper;
- two ordinary pencils or pens;
- two different simple black-and-white line images; and
- two stable chairs or a tabletop screen.
The host also needs a visible six-minute timer and spare writing tools. Keep reference images face down until roles are assigned.
Partners may sit back-to-back if both are comfortable, or on the same side of a table with an opaque folder standing between their papers. A screen is equally valid and often better for people who need back support, lip-reading access or a particular seating position. No blindfold is used.
NYU and BYU both describe pairs sitting back-to-back, with one person holding the image and the other drawing on blank paper. The screen option, six-minute round and two-picture rotation are Carolix house choices.
How difficult should the reference image be?
Choose an image made from six to ten visible elements: circles, rectangles, triangles, straight lines, curves or dots. Include a few clear relationships, such as a small circle inside a square or a diagonal line connecting two corners. Avoid tiny details, shading, text, numerals, optical illusions and pictures that depend on cultural knowledge.
Print every image at a readable size. Pairs may receive different pictures, but all should have roughly the same number of elements and relationships. If the host wants a whole-group comparison, give every speaker the same picture; do not announce a winner.
Screen images for content as well as complexity. Do not use a participant, caricature, body feature, religious symbol, political symbol or distressing scene as a surprise prompt. A neutral arrangement of shapes is the safest first round.
What are the speaker and drawer roles?
The speaker can see the reference but not the developing drawing. They give one instruction at a time and may repeat or rephrase it. They cannot show the image, gesture over the drawer's page, touch the drawer or name the pictured object.
The drawer can see only their blank page. They follow the description as they understand it and may ask a legal clarification question. They cannot turn around, look around the screen, hold up their paper for approval or ask for the object's identity.
Both players may pause. The host answers rule questions but does not translate an instruction or correct a drawing. When time ends, both put their tools down before turning or removing the screen.
Which descriptions and questions are legal?
Legal descriptions identify visible features and spatial relationships:
- “Draw a large square in the centre of the page.”
- “Place a small circle inside the square, closer to its top edge.”
- “Add a diagonal line from the lower-left corner to the upper-right corner.”
- “The triangle is about half as wide as the rectangle below it.”
The speaker may use ordinary shape names, page directions, relative size, distance, angle and sequence. They may not say “It is a house,” “Draw a clock,” or “You know the logo I mean.” Comparisons that reveal the object's identity are also out.
The drawer may ask, “Above or below?”, “Does it touch?”, “Which direction does the line lean?” or “Larger than the circle?” They may not ask, “Is it a face?” or request the first letter of the answer. A question must clarify an instruction, not solve the hidden subject.
This two-way format is a declared Carolix rule. Therapist Aid publishes a one-way version in which the listener cannot speak, while BYU's debrief asks whether drawers needed clarifying questions. Either can be useful, but mixing them mid-round makes comparison meaningless.
What is the closed round sequence?
Use these steps for both rounds:
- Partners choose or are offered their roles. The host gives the speaker one face-down image and the drawer blank paper.
- Partners take positions and confirm that neither paper is visible to the other.
- The host says “Begin” and starts six minutes.
- The speaker describes; the drawer draws and may ask legal clarification questions.
- At one minute remaining, the host gives a neutral time call.
- At zero, both stop. The speaker places the reference face down and the drawer puts the tool down.
- Partners turn or remove the screen, place the images side by side and compare for two minutes.
- The host collects the first reference. Partners switch roles, receive a different image and repeat.
There is no extra drawing after the reveal. If a pair starts late because of a host error, restart the shared timer for everyone rather than quietly extending one table.
How should the comparison work?
Place the reference and recreation in the same orientation. First identify three things that transferred accurately. Then choose one difference and trace it back to the words used. Ask: what did the speaker mean, what did the drawer reasonably hear, and what wording would remove that ambiguity?
Do not grade neatness, artistic style or motor control. If the group wants a structured comparison, check only whether major elements are present, their relative positions and whether they touch where intended. Use the result to discuss the instructions, not to rank pairs.
A player may keep either picture face down, skip public comparison or ask the host to discuss it privately. Do not photograph or display drawings without both partners' permission.
What should the debrief ask?
After both role rotations, ask pairs to discuss:
- Which instruction was easiest to act on, and why?
- Where did a word have more than one possible meaning?
- Which clarification question changed the result?
- Did giving one instruction at a time help?
- What changed when you switched roles?
BYU's guide similarly asks what was hardest, how specific speakers needed to be, which instructions helped, whether drawers felt lost and what the activity showed about communication. Keep the debrief about observable wording and listening choices. Do not diagnose personalities or relationships from one drawing.
What if a rule is broken?
Use a neutral reset:
- The image is named: the host replaces it and restarts that pair with no penalty.
- A player sees the other paper: turn both papers face down, replace the reference and restart if the pair wants to continue.
- The speaker gestures: remind them to use words; repeated gestures trigger a fresh image.
- An identity question is asked: the speaker says, “Please ask about a shape or position,” and time continues.
- The reference is upside down: keep its starting orientation; the activity tests the description actually given.
- A pair cannot sit back-to-back: use the opaque screen without treating it as a different version.
There is no score to repair. If a prompt or pairing makes someone uncomfortable, stop that round and offer another role, partner or activity.
What safety and access boundaries apply?
Use stable chairs and leave a clear route around every pair. Remove bags, drinks and cables from the floor. Players should not twist repeatedly to check the other person, balance chairs on two legs or move while holding a writing tool. A screen must stand securely and must not block an exit.
Use ordinary pens or pencils appropriate to the group. Do not use craft knives, pins, staples or sharp compasses. Pen caps, pencil toppers and broken pieces are small parts: collect them promptly and keep them away from young children and pets. Replace damaged tools.
Provide good lighting, readable contrast, larger paper, a broad dark pen, a clipboard, extra time, a scribe or a consenting drawing partner as needed. A player may face their partner and use a screen, communicate through an agreed accessible method, switch roles, pass a round or leave without explanation.
Partner choice and physical position require consent. Do not force close seating, pair someone with a person they declined, or frame an access change as an advantage. The activity works when the image is hidden; discomfort is not part of the challenge.