Exquisite Corpse Game
Pass the phone drawing game.
INFORMATION
CONCEPT
The task was to identify a need, conceptualize a solution, and deliver a functioning mobile experience that demonstrates contemporary design principles and practice.
The Exquisite Corpse Game is a simple mobile app that lets you create chaotic, funny, collaborative art with your friends, without interrupting the social flow of the group. Every drawing becomes a little memento of time spent together.
IDEATION
This app was inspired by nights out at my local pub with friends, where casual conversation sometimes benefited from a light activity. Quiz apps felt too demanding, requiring everyone’s focus at once. I wanted a game that was social, playful, and easy to pass around, but didn’t demand constant attention, allowing conversation to continue flowing.
The solution came from a mix of inspirations: a Game Changer episode (“Pencils Down”) and the Surrealist drawing game Exquisite Corpse. In the original, players draw different parts of a figure on folded paper without seeing each other’s work, resulting in chaotic and hilarious final images. I reimagined this as a mobile drawing game: portable, simple to share, and focused on user-generated humor.
The content people make will always be better than any kind of content I can generate myself. Giving people a structure to create their own images or content with unexpected, funny outcomes means it can be enjoyed over again and over again with different results.
The first image show from the top left my local pub where I noticed the problem we were having of a nice, light activity while we were having wonderful, locally made beers. Image sourced from: Headbox. Accessed June 1, 2025. Caxton Street Brewing Co. https://www.headbox.com/au/spaces/34098-book-exclusive-hire-caxton-street-brewing-co-petrie-terrace
The next image is a still from the Game Changer episode Pencils Down, where three artists were brought on and were given prompts and the funniest, best drawing won points. Image sourced from: Dropout. Artists Design New Pokémon (ft. Sarah Natochenny) | Game Changer. YouTube. November 14, 2024. https://youtu.be/IXv-KKmLjSw?si=jN3uBWn6P9XdfHOI
Finally, an example of the original Exquisite Corpse Game. Cadavre Exquis, Valentine Hugo, André Breton, Tristan Tzara, Greta Knutson. Landscape. c. 1933. Image sourced from: MoMA. Exquisite corpse. 2025. https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/exquisite-corpse
WORKFLOW
The first prototype, developed in Figma, was simple: three drawing sections, 30-second turns, and a final reveal. Bright colors ensured visibility in pub settings, and a skeleton mascot anchored the theme. My early “hand-drawn” UI felt cluttered, and peer feedback pushed me toward cleaner layouts, more negative space, and improved legibility.
Key refinements included:
Visual guidance: Side markers saying “Draw Here” clarified the drawing space.
Timer redesign: A spiral countdown with a red urgency cue replaced the unclear numeric timer.
UI clarity: Simplified color palette of yellow (menus/gallery), pink (gameplay), blue (highlights), and black (drawings/mascot).
User Testing & Iteration
Testing with friends revealed usability issues. Unclear rules, invisible timer, and confusion over drawing areas. Refinements:
Adding a “How to Play” dropdown for quick instructions.
Refining screen transitions with pass-the-phone prompts.
Reworking navigation, moving buttons to the top to prevent accidental taps.
Final App
The final experience, developed in Unity balances playfulness with clarity:
Gameplay: Players draw head, torso, and legs in sequence, guided by visual prompts and a spiral timer.
Transitions clearly defined through pass-the-phone screens.
Reveal: The finished figure serves as the punchline.
Gallery: Drawings save automatically in a grid view, with the option to view fullscreen.
VIDEO