Depict

Depict
Designed by Kat Costa
Can you get your friends to guess the secret word using only pyramids?
:Players	Players:	2 - 10
:Time	Length:	Fast
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		3
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		3
Five-color sets:		5
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
[[Equipment/|]]
Setup time:		1 minute
Playing time:		10 minutes - 45 minutes
Strategy depth:		Low
Random chance:		None
Game mechanics:
Theme:		The wikipage input value is empty (e.g. <code>SomeProperty::, [[]]</code>) and therefore it cannot be used as a name or as part of a query condition.
BGG Link:
Status: Initial design (v1.0), Year released: 2021

Overview

Depict is a game of creative communication and guessing. It's a bit like Charades or Pictionary, except that you will be attempting to convey a secret word using only Looney Pyramids. There are no teams, so all players are involved every turn.

Materials

• As many pyramids as possible
• A deck of word-cards from a word game like Codenames, Taboo, Just One, Password, Decrypto, Pictionary, Concept, Squint, In A Pickle, Trapwords...
• A digital countdown timer

Objective

The goal of the game is to accumulate the most points by successfully conveying the target word to your fellow players using only a few simple materials. The active player and the correct guesser each score points based on how quickly the word was guessed.

Setup

Place all your pyramids within reach of the active player. Place the deck of word cards on the table, also within reach.

Play

Each turn, the active player draws three words from the deck and chooses one of these words to convey to the audience. The player may plan and think about how to convey the word, and at her signal a three-minute timer is started.

The active player then attempts to silently get the audience to guess the chosen word by using Looney Pyramids to paint a picture or scene. The focus of the audience should be on the pyramids, not on the active player. Therefore the active player may not use facial expressions or parts of her own body as elements of the scene.

Hands

If one thinks about the scene as being on stage, then the pyramids are the "actors" and props that make up the scene. The active player's hands may never be the focus "on stage" — that is, they may never be seen as one of the actors. But her hands may be used to move props, to animate actors, to spotlight certain elements of the scene (e.g. though pointing or drawing circles around things), for special effects (e.g. concealing / revealing certain elements of the scene), and anything else that a director, stagehand, or puppeteer might do to assist in the performance of a play. For example, if a stack of pyramids has been established to be a person in a scene, having that "person" hold a small yellow a pyramid and move as though writing with a pencil is acceptable, but the active player could not hold the yellow pyramid as a pencil and gesture as though writing herself, because her hands in that case would be "on stage."

Cards as Props

Face-down cards from the word-game may also make up part of the scene, and may be animated in the same ways as pyramids. For instance, a player may place pyramids on a playing card and then animate it flying around the table to convey the concept of a flying carpet, may hold a card sideways to indicate a wall, may place pyramids underneath a card and flip the card up to indicate the opening of a hinged lid, or may hold a card aloft to indicate the upper floor of a building. Cards may also be placed flat on the table, such as in a row to indicate a roadway, arranged in a rectangle to indicate a surrounding frame, or arranged in an overlapping manner to indicate a particular shape. However, the content of the cards themselves, front or back, may never be used as part of the scene.

Still Images, Symbols, and Alphanumeric Characters

Using the pyramids to create a mosaic or a still picture as seen from above is allowed. Arrange the pyramids into the shapes of symbols, such as a red cross to indicate medicine or a treble clef to indicate music, is also permissible. Arranging pyramids to spell out alphanumeric characters is not allowed. For instance, arranging the pyramids in the shape of a Canadian flag to indicate "Canada" is okay. Arranging pyramids in the shape of the letter "C" is not.

Confirming Guesses

The audience is encouraged to guess aloud what the active player is trying to get across, and the active player is allowed to motion to guessers who are on the right track and to gesture that a guesser should keep trying along this vein, should give up that line of thinking, etc. Nodding, pointing to the guesser, giving thumbs-up or thumbs-down, motioning in a circle, motioning to "stop," etc. are all allowed in this context. These gestures are permissible as feedback and are not considered to be "on stage."

The active player is allowed to lead the audience to arrive at the correct guess in stages: for instance, if the target word is "cavity," the active player might build a structure from pyramids and confirm a guess of "person," then, upon pointing to the head of the pyramid-person, confirm a guess of "head," then "mouth," and finally set out white pyramids in a semicircle with one pyramid missing to elicit the guess of "cavity."

Scoring

Upon the successful guessing of the word, the active player and the guesser each receive points according to how much time is left on the timer when the word was guessed. If more than one player speaks the correct word aloud at once, each correct player is awarded the points.

Time left	Points Awarded
at least 2:30	5 points
at least 2:01	4 points
at least 1:30	3 points
at least 1:01	2 points
at least 0:01	1 point
0:00	0 points

Time's Up

If the time runs out before anyone has guessed the word correctly, the active player reveals the word to the audience and takes a seat. No points are awarded.

Continuing Play

After points are awarded or the time runs out, play passes to someone who has not yet had a turn as active player. This continues until until everyone has had one turn as the active player.

Game End

After each person has been the active player once, points are added up and the player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the tied players share their victory.

Two-Player Scoring

Two-player games are played cooperatively over three rounds (meaning a total of six target word cards are conveyed). The players collectively score the total points earned based on the amount of time it took them to convey each word, using the normal chart above.

Score at least	Result
30 points	Perfect score. You must have a psychic connection!
25 points	Amazing. How did you do that?
20 points	You're getting good at this!
15 points	It's the journey that matters.
5 points	Better luck next time.
1 point	Were you two even in the same room?