![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary2.png?resize=291%2C288&ssl=1)
What it is: A way to play pictionary that works best with specific categories, like idioms or, in this post, movie titles. It’s not as competitive as regular pictionary and takes a lot more creativity!
Best for: Older players (teens or above) because of the difficulty involved
What you need:
- A wipe-off board and dry erase marker, a chalkboard and chalk, or a paper pad and marker; basically a surface to draw on that all players can see
How to play: Just like in regular pictionary, players take turns drawing silently, trying to get other players to guess a word or phrase.
In what I’ve dubbed “mixtionary,” it works better if players come up with their own ideas of what to draw and if you don’t have a timer. You might not even want to keep score. It’s just a fun way to see who can creatively get others to guess a word or phrase in a challenging way, because instead of drawing any picture, your challenge is to illustrate the individual sounds of the phrase, mixing pictures to put together the entire phrase.
So in this post, I’ll use movie titles as an example. (Also, mostly family/PG movie titles.) Can you guess this one?
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-04.png?resize=618%2C204&ssl=1)
If you need a hint, cows say MOO, and the picture of the lawn mower is pointing to the LAWN…
Mulan!
See how the pictures make up the whole phrase? Here’s another one:
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-03.png?resize=643%2C197&ssl=1)
In this example, you can see how letters can come into play. Considering how difficult this game can be, I recommend allowing letters (instead of in regular pictionary where letters are usually against the rules).
In this game, use a bubble letter, like the first E, to indicate that the letter should be pronounced individually, like “eee.” Use normal letters, like the “er,” to indicate that the letters should be read instead of pronounced individually, like the end of the word, oh, “Potter,” for instance.
Want another? (Excuse my sloppy drawing by the way; this is my go-time pictionary drawing style. No time for fancy pictures!)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-07.png?resize=679%2C137&ssl=1)
I’m not going to give away that one… How about some more?
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-02.png?resize=356%2C160&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-05.png?resize=714%2C163&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-09.png?resize=565%2C295&ssl=1)
In this last example, notice how you can use more complex equations to dissect sounds. So you’ve got your first picture, then a little equation, a picture of the EARTH minus the H sound (leaving you with “urt”). Plus the last picture… Can you guess the movie title?
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-08.png?resize=619%2C354&ssl=1)
This one’s a little tricker. Remember, a bubble letter means you pronounce the letter, like “ess.” A regular letter means you read the sound the letter makes. Another point is that if there’s a plus sign or a minus sign, it indicates that those two sounds are part of the same word. But if there’s no plus or minus sign between pictures, that indicates a word break. So in the above example, since there’s no plus sign after the T, the first and second lines are separate words.
How about one more?
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-06.png?resize=439%2C117&ssl=1)
See how the game works? You can play with movie titles, book titles, maybe even idioms. Since you won’t be able to illustrate all movie titles this way, it’s best to let players think of their own, or if you have a big list (like my word generator provides) allow skipping until players find one they feel like they can illustrate.
OK, finally, to end, here’s one last hard one that, I admit, is a big stretch and maybe nigh unto impossible, because it’s kind of an obscure movie to begin with. Guess it correctly in the comments, or guess all of the previous pictures, and I’ll give you a free escape room kit from my site!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mixtionary1-01.png?resize=550%2C230&ssl=1)
(Here’s your one clue. See how there’s no plus or minus signs? That means it’s three separate words.)
Variations: For more variations on the classic game of pictionary, try musical pictionary or pictionades. If you’re looking for lists of movies or other pictionary words, check out my printables page or the word generator.
Good luck, and happy playing!
Harry Potter, Pinocchio, Shrek, ?Liontopia?, Stuart Little, Forest Gump, Cape Fear, Mighty Joe Young
Nice job, Sherry! You got Mighty Joe Young!!! Liontopia and Cape Fear weren’t quite right, but I’m impressed! Which escape room do you want? Science Lab Breakout, Space Pirate Attack, or Color Crisis? You can visit the links to read about them. Email me or reply and I’ll send you a discount code.
Mulan, Harry Potter, Pinocchio, Shrek, Zootopia, Stuart Little, Forest Gump, and Cars.
We haven’t been able to get that last one yet, but we are still working on it.
Thanks! This is a fun game, we will definitely be playing it.
Audrey, I’m way impressed! Thanks for playing! I won’t tell you the last one in case you want to keep working on it (just don’t read the other comments on the post!) Which escape room do you want? Science Lab Breakout, Space Pirate Attack, or Color Crisis? You can visit the links to read about them. Email me or reply and I’ll send you a discount code.
Mulan,Harry Potter,Pinocchio,shriek,zootropia,Stuart little,forest grump and cars
Just stumbled onto this awesome page! Is the last one The Boss Baby?
Good guess, but no! It’s an older movie than that (1998!)
Mulan, Harry Potter, Pinocchio, Shrek, Zootopia, Stuart Little, Forest Gump, Cars, Mighty Joe Young. I love this website so much, definitely be using lots of the games here! 🙂
You got it! Thanks for visiting the site! 🙂
I needed a quick virtual game to play with my 7th graders and I stumbled onto your site- this was a hit! Thank you so much!
Awesome! Glad to help!
Harry Potter, Pinocchio, Shrek, Zootopia, Stuart Little, Forest Gump, Cars…but argh, I got stuck on the last one! I read the comments, and apparently it’s “Mighty Joe Young”.
I definitely wouldn’t have gotten that, because I’m from Australia and we never call coffee “joe”. (I was sitting here going “Mighty… Tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Cup ‘o soup?… none of which really fit, haha!)
Regardless, I had fun!
Haha, sorry about the “joe”! Funny how different parts of the world can affect games like this. I’m glad you had fun!