The Exquisite Corpse Drawing Game is a hilarious group game for teen parties, easy DIY party game for kids and family game night game with supplies you have at home.
This game even makes a fun ice breaker activity for all ages — from work party activities, sleepover activities, or classroom party games!
How To Play The Exquisite Corpse Drawing Game
Object of the Exquisite Corpse Game
The goal of the Exquisite Corpse game is to blindly collaborate to create a monster or corpse drawing.
You do this by having each player contribute a drawing on a section without seeing the other players’ part of the drawing.
The final result is a hilarious composite creature or monster figure.
There’s no “winning” or “losing” — the fun is in the reveal and the creativity along the way.
AND, You do NOT have to be an artist! I cannot draw at all and I had so much fun playing this as a family game!
We really laughed a lot playing this game and then my daughter played with her teen art club and it was a big hit! So, it really does work for a variety of ages.
Game Supplies
This paper fold-over drawing game uses only two supplies: paper and pencils (or pens)!
- 8 1/2 x 11-inch sheets of paper (notebook paper or blank printer paper you can write on, not glossy paper) — one folded sheet of paper for each player*
- Pens or pencils for each player
- At least 3 players
PARTY GAME TIP: If you have a large party, divide them into different groups of 3 people in each group.
* We played this so that every player started with a sheet of paper and everyone starts by drawing the head on the first section. Then, everyone passes their paper to the person on their left to complete the next section. That way everyone is drawing at all times instead of waiting. Definitely have extra paper folded and ready because, trust me, everyone will want to play this more than one time!
Exquisite Corpse Game Setup & Game Play Rules
Game Setup
Before the game starts, fold the pieces of paper into three equal horizontal sections (thirds), placing the last flap on top with the opening facing up.
This will be the section that the first player starts drawing the corpse (or monster) head on.
Explain The Game
The goal of the game is for each player to draw the specific body part on the designated section of the paper without looking at the other player’s drawing.
Traditionally, the drawing order is:
- Top section: head
- Middle section: torso
- Bottom section: legs/feet.
Remind everyone that the crazier the drawing the better!
You can give it a theme or just let everyone add whatever they come up with.
PARTY GAME TIP: If you have a large group, you may want to set a timer for 30 seconds to 1 minute for each section to keep the game moving quickly.
Playing The Exquisite Corpse Draw Game
1st PLAYER:
The first person will draw the head. The crazier the better!
After drawing the head, extend two lines from the outer edge of the drawing into the middle section so the next player knows where to start the drawing.
Then, turn the paper over so that the blank middle section is visible (and top is face down).
Pass the paper to the next player.
GAME TIP: Make sure that the previous drawer extends lines from their drawing a little into the next section so the next player knows where to start the drawing. (Remember, they won’t see the previous section’s drawing!)
2nd PLAYER:
The second drawer starts at the lines coming from the previous drawing and draws the middle or torso of the corpse/monster in the middle section.
After completing the torso, Player 2 then draws two lines from the torso down in the third section to start the section for Player 3.
Player 2 folds the last third of the paper up and over the middle section so that the blank section 3 is showing.
Pass the paper to Player 3.
3rd PLAYER:
The third player finishes the drawing by adding the legs / bottom portion to the corpse monster.
Be sure to start at the two lines that player 2 extended down into the third section so that everything is lined up.
Game Reveal
Once everyone has added their part, unfold the paper to reveal your weird and wonderful collaborative creature.
Laugh, admire, and give it a name. Congratulations! You have a new member of your family!
If you want to give prizes, you can have the group vote on the best creature corpse and then give prizes to the three people who worked on that drawing!
(We played without prizes and still had a ton of fun.)
SEE MORE TEEN GAMES SEE MORE KID GAMESI hope you have as much fun with the Exquisite Corpse Drawing Game as we did! Definitely add it to your games for holidays or party games!
