What Art Fraud is
Everyone draws the same word together, one line each — but one of you doesn’t know it. Draw too well and you tip off the faker; too vaguely and you look like them.
The published game keeps one player out of the drawing to invent the word. Here the deck does that job, so a table of five is five people drawing rather than four. Everybody gets a pen, and everybody is a suspect.
Your line is the only thing you say all round. Draw something too readable and the faker reads it too; draw a shape that commits to nothing and the table starts looking at you. Lifting your finger ends the line, so it is a decision, not a sketch.
Pens are assigned by the server rather than chosen. Two friends who picked the same avatar still get two different inks, and nobody can put a line down in somebody else’s colour — which is what the whole accusation rests on.
For example, suppose the category is animals and the shared word is penguin. One player might draw a short flipper, another a curved body, while the fake artist tries to add a convincing line using only the category and what is already on the page. After two drawing turns each, the group votes; an accused fake artist still has a final chance to name the word.
Why play Art Fraud here
Everybody draws
The deck picks the word, so nobody sits out to run the round — a table of five is five suspects, not four.
Your own pen, your own phone
Inks are assigned by the server and nobody can put a line down in somebody else’s colour, so an accusation can always be checked.
Across a table or a call
Each phone shows only what its owner should see, so the faker’s blank screen stays blank over Zoom too. Free, no app, no sign-up.
How to play Art Fraud
- Everyone gets the same word. One of you gets nothing but the category.
- Take turns drawing ONE unbroken line each on the shared sheet. Two turns each.
- No letters, no numbers, no arrows. Everyone draws in their own colour.
- Then everyone points at once. The most-pointed-at player is the accusation.
- Catch the faker and they still get one shot at naming the word.
- They name it, or they were never caught: 2 points to them. Otherwise a point to everybody else.
- A tie the room cannot break twice running goes to the faker.
How to win at Art Fraud
Keep something for pass two
Spend everything on your first line and your second has nowhere safe to go.
Hunt the unconnected line
A stroke that touches nothing anybody else drew is the tell worth chasing.
A split table is a gift
Two players tied at the top forces a runoff, and a second tie hands the round to the faker.
As the faker, commit early
A confident first line buys you a second turn to copy whatever the table has told you by then.
Catching them is half the job
A caught faker still picks from six words in the same category, so a drawing that gave the game away scores the room nothing.
Questions about Art Fraud
Is there a Question Master?
No — the deck deals the category and the word, so nobody sits the round out watching. It also means the word is never one player’s invention.
What happens if the vote ties?
The tied players go to a runoff and the room points again, at them only. Tie twice and the faker walks — a table that cannot agree has not caught anybody.
Does a caught faker still win?
They get one shot at naming the word from six options, all from the round’s category. Name it and they take 2 points anyway; miss it and everybody else takes 1.
Can the faker see the word at all?
No. Their phone doesn’t hold the word until the round is over, so there is nothing to find in it — all they get is the category, printed for everybody.
What happens when I press Play?
Table Party opens a room with Art Fraud selected. Invite enough friends for the displayed four-to-ten-player range before starting. The group shares the drawing, but each player keeps their role private on their own device.
Is Art Fraud free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Art Fraud?
Between 4 and 10. Below 4 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Art Fraud over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
