Pictures is Major Fun!

MAJOR FUN REVIEW

- Stephen Conway

The Concept

A game of Pictures starts with a simple premise: you don’t have to be the next Van Gogh or Kahlo to discover there’s a little artistry in each of us.

There’s no drawing and painting involved. Instead, you’ll use blocks and rocks and sticks and symbols and shoelaces and tiny colored cubes to create your version of a picture. Will others be able to find your picture when it’s hanging in a gallery with others?

The Components

At first glance, Pictures might look like someone has emptied the random contents of a desk drawer into the box. There are five sets of art objects:

6 chunky wooden blocks in different shapes

24 colored wooden cubes with a frame card

19 icon cards

A long shoelace and a short shoelace

A set of 4 sticks and 4 rocks (yes, actual rocks)

Included with this odd assortment you’ll find a deck of 91 picture cards and a set of coordinate tokens with a drawstring bag. The picture cards run the gamut of animals, landscapes, objects, vehicles, wide vistas, and close-ups.

To play, deal out 16 picture cards in a four-by-four grid. Place coordinate tokens along the rows and columns. Once each player selects a set of art materials, you are ready to begin!

The Mechanics

Each turn has two phases in Pictures — a creation phase and a guessing phase. The creation phase begins with each player selecting a coordinate token from the bag. This token identifies which picture in the grid is yours. Keep this secret from everyone else.