What is the Sentence Game?

The Sentence Game (sometimes known as "Sentence Picture Sentence," "Paper Telephone," or even "Eat Poop You Cat") has often been described as a cross between the games Pictionary and Telephone. It could just as well be described as a cross between a Rorschach test and a graphic novel, although for some reason it never is.



How is the (non-internet version) game played?

Each game begins with a sentence - often a deeply disturbing or completely abstract sentence - written on the top of a piece of paper. The sentence is passed to the next player, who draws a picture in a futile attempt to depict the sentence. They then fold the paper so that the sentence is no longer visible, and pass the paper to yet another player, who must write a new sentence based on what he or she thinks the picture is showing. Then this third player folds the picture out of view and passes the sentence on to another player, so repeating the process.

Instead of mailing each other folded papers, I will send a sentence to the first player on the list, who will then draw a picture and send it to me. I will then send this picture to the next person on the list, so they can write their sentence. This continues until we run out of players, when I will take everyone's sentences and pictures and post them here.

What are the rules for sentences?

Please do your best to keep within these bounds -- makes it more fun!

Your sentence should be one sentence; but you can get creative with semicolons. That being said, it's not really a big deal if you use a period -- as long as it isn't a paragraph. The idea is to be short and concise while trying to squeeze in the main thrust of the picture. This adds to the fun.
Write an *interpretation*, not a description! That means that if you encounter a picture of a woman burning a green triangle you should write "Dolly Parton's lifetime vendetta against polygons of green hue was abruptly resolved in flame." and not "A woman with big breasts burns a green triangle ". This also adds to the fun.
Do not describe the picture as a report, such as "There is a brown box on the left and a banana on top; a monkey sits to the right; he is staring intently at the banana." That's boring. You may interpret the drawing, such as "a banana floats out of the box, just as the monkey willed it to do." But don't make things up -- only write that last sentence if it looks like the monkey is focused on making that banana float :-)
Use creative wording! Ok, this isn't really a rule, but games are more fun when you use descriptive adjectives or creative names.

What are the rules for drawing?

No words! You can use single letters or numbers if absolutely necessary and if they don't give things away. Chemical formula are sometimes allowed, too. Essentially, if you feel that you are making things too easy, don't do it - it is hard to cheat in a game with no winners. On the other hand, if a few letters allow you to make an absolutely hilarious drawing, feel free to go ahead. Here are some examples:

Writing "H20" is lame; everyone knows what it is and there are easy symbols for water. Writing "0=0" for oxygen is fine as it is quite geekier and there are not many good ways to symbolize molecular O2.
Writing "MSG" = bad. Initials are cheating if that's the common name.
Organizing complex sentences by numbering parts of your drawing is OK
Complicated and ridiculous symbols are always better than letters or numbers
Specific numbers are okay if the sentence requires them and drawing them would be tedious. If you are asked to draw 1003 spiders, you can put an x1000 by the third one.
If you can't come up with a good way to symbolize someone, you can put a letter on their shirt or above their head. Well-known people should be limited to just one letter; rare and strange quasi-celebrities can get away with two letters. Try not to resort to letters too often.
No Speech bubbles with actual speech. That's far less fun than speech bubbles that contain funny pictures. Be creative!
Clip art is (hardly) allowed... but not too much! Drawings are almost always funnier than clip art! Also, be sure to keep the cardinal rule above in mind: Don't make things too easy to guess! Part of the fun of the game comes from the challenge of making do with limited drawing skills. So with that in mind, don't use clip art to represent the thing you are using a picture of! So, if you're supposed to draw a picture of a donkey, DON'T use a clipart picture of a donkey. If you're able to draw a perfect picture that causes a sentence to stay the same (see game 64), that's impressive and funny. If you do the same thing with clipart, it's lame and boring!
These rules being said, I've seen some excellent and funny drawings that used full words or clip art -- but the words and clipart used were not hints in any way to the sentence, and the picture was hillarious! If this is the case, go ahead - just don't make it too easy and keep it funny.

(Rules borrowed heavily from thesentencegame.com)

Example

Let me know if you're interested and when I get enough people, I'll close sign ups and start the game.