I reviewed the latest social gaming craze, Draw Something, a few weeks ago, and suggested it was just a fad. I still stand by that, but - for now at least – its popularity shows no signs of abating.
Indeed, I’ve been playing Draw Something fairly constantly myself, and a few funny things have happened to me that are clearly symptomatic of playing it waaay too much. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in at least some of these. Hopefully.
Behold: in no particular order, five symptoms of playing Draw Something too much.
You feel like you’re being watched
I didn’t realise, when I first started playing Draw Something, that your partner gets to see your drawing attempts in real-time, mistakes ‘n’ all. I assumed, wrongly, that they’d simply be presented with the finished product.
I’ve found that that feeling of being watched - or recorded - has carried over into other tasks, particularly when sending Facebook messages. I have to remind myself that I’m at liberty to type whatever the hell I went and as slowly as I like. Am I insane? Yes, quite probably.
Friends aren’t enough
As with all good social games, there are various ways to find people to play with/against, including Facebook and email accounts. Or, if you’re really desperate, you can play against complete randoms.
I have something like nine or ten games on the go at the moment with friends, but the temptation to launch a few more with unknown cyberfolk has crept up more than a few times.
Similarly, you can Nudge people if the wait becomes too painful. Hurry uuuup!
Colour envy
On starting off, you have just four colours to play with in Draw Something, namely black, blue, yellow and red. To be honest, the black is more than enough to draw most items, but it’s only natural to crave more colours, especially when your partners start flaunting greens and purples and oranges. Show offs.
Or maybe you’ve been tasked with drawing POOP. Suddenly that pack of browns looks incredibly appealing.
Phalluses aren’t funny any more
On windows with condensation and dirty vans the world over, there’s one thing that’s crying out to be drawn. Yes: a raging phallus. It’s universal comedy gold.
But if you’ve been playing Draw Something ad nauseam and witnessing phalluses attached to anything from GOAT to WARRIOR to KANYE, suddenly it’s not so funny. Or maybe I’m just growing up. Nah, probably the first one.
You’ve broken the turn counter
Yes, I can confirm, having played waaay too much Draw Something, that the turn counter stops at 99. Perhaps a simple oversight on OMGPOP’s part, or maybe they just didn’t predict the painting frenzy that would ensue.
Draw Something is available now for both iOS (free/69p) and Android (free/62p). It's been such a phenomenal success, that Zynga forked out $210 million for its developer, OMGPOP. Madness.
