Team Building Blind Drawing Game: Enhancing Communication and Collaboration

What Is the Blind Drawing Game?

The blind drawing game is a paired communication exercise where one person describes an image and the other draws it without seeing the original. The pair sits back to back. The describer has the picture. The drawer has paper and pen. No peeking, no showing, no naming the object directly. The result reveals how badly instructions degrade between someone who can see and someone who can’t.

The exercise takes 15 to 20 minutes including debrief. It needs nothing except paper, pens, and a set of simple images printed or displayed on a phone. That’s it.

What makes this exercise worth running isn’t the drawing. Nobody’s producing art. What makes it worth running is the gap between what the describer thinks they said and what the drawer actually heard. That gap is the same gap that exists in every email, every meeting, and every project brief your team produces. The exercise just makes it visible in about three minutes.

I’ve used this with teams that insist their communication is already excellent. It takes one round to show them it isn’t.

How to Run the Exercise: Step by Step

The full exercise takes 15 to 25 minutes for a group of any size, working in pairs. Here’s the exact process from setup to debrief.

Step 1: Pair Up and Set the Rules (2 minutes)

Divide people into pairs. If you have an odd number, one group of three works (two describers, one drawer, or rotate). Have pairs sit back to back or at separate tables where the drawer cannot see the describer’s image.

The rules:

• The describer has an image. The drawer has blank paper and a pen.
• The describer describes the image using shapes, positions, sizes, and directions. No naming the object directly. “It’s a house” is not allowed. “Draw a large square in the centre of the page” is.
• Round 1: The drawer cannot ask questions or speak at all. One-way communication only.
• Round 2: The drawer can ask questions. Two-way communication.
• Each round gets 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 2: Round 1 — One-Way Communication (3 to 4 minutes)

Give describers their first image. Start the timer. The describer talks, the drawer draws, and the drawer stays silent.

This round is almost always a disaster. The describer says “draw a triangle at the top” and the drawer draws a triangle at the bottom because “top” means different things when you can’t see the reference point. Watch for:

• Describers who get frustrated and start talking faster instead of clearer
• Drawers who stop listening and start guessing
• The moment both people realise this isn’t working but can’t fix it because the rules prevent them

Step 3: Round 2 — Two-Way Communication (3 to 4 minutes)

Give describers a new image (different from round 1). Same setup, but now the drawer can ask questions: “How big is the circle?” “Left side or right side?” “Is it above or below the square?”

The difference is immediate. Drawings improve dramatically. The drawer can confirm their understanding, correct mistakes early, and build a shared vocabulary with the describer mid-exercise. This is the point of the exercise, and it only works because round 1 showed what happens without it.

Step 4: Reveal and Compare (3 minutes)

Have each pair put their drawings next to the original images. Walk around. The results are usually funny, which is good. Laughter defuses the frustration of round 1.

Ask pairs to compare their round 1 and round 2 drawings. The improvement is almost always visible. That’s the lesson made physical.

Step 5: Debrief (5 to 10 minutes)

This is where the exercise earns its time. See the debrief section below.

20 Image Prompts for Your Sessions

Here are 20 images sorted by difficulty. Start with easy ones to warm up, then increase complexity as the exercise progresses. You can print these descriptions, find matching simple illustrations online, or draw them yourself on index cards.

Easy (good for round 1 warm-up)

1. A circle with a smaller circle inside it (target/bullseye)
2. A square with an X through it
3. Three triangles stacked on top of each other (a tree shape)
4. A rectangle with two circles underneath (a simple car)
5. A star with five points

Medium (good for round 1 main or round 2 warm-up)

6. A house: square body, triangular roof, rectangular door, two square windows
7. A snowman: three circles of decreasing size stacked vertically, stick arms, dot eyes
8. A sailboat: triangle sail on a horizontal line, curved hull underneath, water line
9. A flower: circle centre, five oval petals around it, a stem with two leaves
10. A clock face: circle with twelve tick marks, two hands pointing to three and twelve

Hard (good for round 2 challenge)

11. A cat sitting: oval body, round head, two triangular ears, whiskers, curled tail
12. A bicycle: two circles for wheels, frame connecting them, handlebars, seat, pedals
13. A tree with visible roots below ground and branches above, a swing hanging from one branch
14. A person standing with one arm raised waving, wearing a hat and holding a bag in the other hand
15. A castle: rectangular base, three towers of different heights, a flag on the tallest, an arched doorway

Expert (for teams that breeze through the rest)

16. A kitchen scene: a table with a bowl of fruit on it, a window above showing the sun, a cat sitting on the floor beside the table
17. A street scene: two buildings of different heights, a car parked between them, a streetlight, a person walking a dog
18. A map: an island shape with a mountain in the centre, trees on one side, a beach on the other, a boat offshore, a compass rose in the corner
19. A workspace: a desk with a monitor, keyboard, and coffee mug, a chair, a plant on the desk, a window behind showing rain
20. An abstract pattern: overlapping geometric shapes (circle, triangle, rectangle) of different sizes, some filled in, some just outlines, arranged asymmetrically

Tips for Choosing Images

The best images for this exercise have a mix of simple shapes and spatial relationships. They should be describable in under four minutes but complex enough that the drawer can’t guess what it is from the first few instructions.

Avoid images that require cultural knowledge not everyone shares. A snowman works in most climates. A specific brand logo doesn’t. Stick to objects, scenes, and geometric patterns that anyone could describe with shapes and directions.

What the Exercise Reveals About Your Team

The blind drawing game exposes five communication patterns that show up in everyday work. Watch for them during the exercise and name them during the debrief.

1. The Assumption Gap

The describer says “put it in the middle” and assumes the drawer knows where “the middle” is. The drawer assumes “the middle” means the middle of where they’ve drawn so far, not the middle of the page. Both are reasonable. Neither is right.

This is the same gap that exists when a manager says “get it done by Friday” and the team member assumes Friday end of day while the manager means Friday morning.

2. The Vocabulary Problem

The describer says “draw a thingy that looks like a squiggly line” because they can’t find the right word for what they see. The drawer has no idea what a “squiggly line” means in context.

In real work, this is the colleague who says “make it more dynamic” or “give it more energy” in a design review. They know what they mean. The person doing the work doesn’t.

3. The One-Way Failure

Round 1 almost always produces worse drawings than round 2. The difference isn’t skill. It’s feedback. When the drawer can’t ask questions, the describer has no way to know their instructions are being misunderstood. They keep talking, confident they’re being clear, while the drawer produces something that matches none of the instructions as intended.

This is every project where the brief goes out, nobody asks questions, and the result comes back wrong three weeks later.

4. The Over-Explainer

Some describers talk too much. They give twenty instructions in rapid succession, piling detail on detail, and the drawer can’t process them fast enough. The result is a mess not because the instructions were wrong but because there were too many of them.

This is the manager who sends a 2,000-word email when a 200-word email and a five-minute conversation would have done.

5. The Quick Confirmer

In round 2, the best pairs develop a rhythm: instruction, confirmation, next instruction. “Draw a large square in the centre.” “Got it.” “Now a triangle on top of it.” “Done.” Short, clear, confirmed.

This is the pair that will draw the closest match to the original, and it’s the same communication pattern that works best in real projects.

Debrief Questions That Actually Work

Spend at least as long on the debrief as on the drawing. The exercise is the setup. The conversation is the point.

Questions that surface real insights:

• “In round 1, when you were the drawer and couldn’t ask questions, what was the most frustrating moment? What would you have asked if you could?”
• “Describers: how did it feel when you couldn’t see what was being drawn? Did you change how you gave instructions because of that?”
• “Compare your round 1 and round 2 drawings. What specifically changed when questions were allowed? Was it the quality of the instructions, or the ability to confirm understanding?”
• “Think about a recent project where the result didn’t match the brief. Which round was that more like: round 1 or round 2?”
• “What’s one thing you’ll do differently in your next team email, meeting, or project brief because of this exercise?”

The last question is the most important. If people can’t name one specific change, the exercise was entertainment, not development. Push for specifics: “I’ll add a ‘confirm you understood’ step to my project briefs.” “I’ll ask more questions instead of assuming I understood.” “I’ll stop writing 2,000-word emails.”

Variations for Different Goals

The same basic exercise can serve different purposes depending on which rules you change. Here are five variations and what each one teaches.

Adapting for Remote Teams

Blind drawing works remotely with minor adjustments. The core mechanic (one person describes, one person draws) transfers directly to video calls.

How to run it on Zoom or Teams:

• Breakout rooms: Put pairs into breakout rooms. The describer shares their screen with the image, but the drawer turns their camera off (or looks away from the shared screen) while drawing on paper.
• Digital drawing: Both people use a shared whiteboard tool (Miro, Jamboard, or MS Whiteboard). The describer has the reference image open on their own screen. The drawer draws on the shared canvas. The describer can see the drawing forming in real time but the drawer cannot see the reference.
• Chat restriction: For the one-way round, mute the drawer’s microphone entirely. For the two-way round, unmute. The physical act of muting and unmuting makes the difference between rounds visceral in a way that just “don’t ask questions” doesn’t.

Remote blind drawing sometimes works better than in-person because the drawer literally cannot see the describer’s gestures. In person, people unconsciously use hand signals and body language even when the rules say they shouldn’t. On a video call with the camera off, that option disappears entirely.

When Blind Drawing Doesn’t Work

This exercise is effective for many teams but not all. Skip it in these situations.

• The team includes people with drawing anxiety. Some people are genuinely uncomfortable being asked to draw in front of colleagues, even simple shapes. If you know your team includes someone who’d rather present to the board than sketch a triangle, use a different exercise. The lesson is about communication, not art, but the anxiety is real regardless.
• You don’t have time for the debrief. A blind drawing session without a debrief is just a drawing game. If you only have 10 minutes total, skip it. The exercise needs at least 15 minutes and ideally 20 to 25.
• The team has done it before. Like any exercise, it loses its power on repeat. Switch to a variation (chain drawing, team drawing) or a different communication exercise entirely.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the blind drawing game take?

Plan for 15 to 25 minutes total: 2 minutes for setup and rules, 3 to 4 minutes for round 1 (one-way), 3 to 4 minutes for round 2 (two-way), 3 minutes to reveal and compare drawings, and 5 to 10 minutes for the debrief. The debrief should take at least as long as the drawing rounds combined.

What materials do you need for the blind drawing game?

Blank paper (one sheet per person per round), pens or pencils, and a set of simple images for the describers to reference. You can print images, display them on a phone or tablet, or draw them on index cards beforehand. A set of 10 to 20 images at varying difficulty levels is enough for most sessions. No special equipment needed.

What’s the difference between blind drawing and back-to-back drawing?

They’re the same exercise with different names. “Back-to-back drawing” refers to the physical setup where pairs sit with their backs to each other so the drawer cannot see the describer’s image. “Blind drawing” is the broader term that includes any setup where the drawer cannot see the source image, whether that’s back-to-back seating, separate tables, or a remote video call with the camera off.

Can blind drawing work for large groups?

Yes. Run multiple pairs simultaneously in the same room. The noise and energy of several pairs describing and drawing at the same time actually adds to the experience. For groups larger than 20, consider the team drawing variation where one describer addresses multiple drawers, which also teaches a different lesson about how the same brief produces different results.

What types of images work best for blind drawing?

Images made of simple geometric shapes with clear spatial relationships work best. A house (square body, triangular roof, rectangular door) is ideal. Abstract patterns, simple scenes, and everyday objects work well. Avoid images that require cultural knowledge, fine detail, or colour to describe. The image should be describable with shapes, sizes, positions, and directions alone.

The Bottom Line

Blind drawing works because it makes the invisible visible. Every team has a gap between what they think they’re communicating and what’s actually being understood. You can talk about that gap in a meeting, or you can show it to people in three minutes with a pen and paper.

The exercise doesn’t require skill, budget, or preparation time. It requires twenty minutes and a willingness to look at the results honestly. Round 1 will be bad. Round 2 will be better. The question your team has to answer is which round their everyday communication looks like.

If the answer is round 1, at least now you can see it.