To be clear, I am a professional artist, and drawing games are my absolute jam, so I may be more biased in how much I enjoyed the game, but I am so excited to talk to y’all about this game. Please enjoy my MonsDRAWsity review. In a sea of games at PAX Unplugged, from indie to Triple-A, one of the games that left the biggest impression on me was MonsDRAWsity by designer Eric Slauson and Deep Water Games. Here is my MonsDRAWsity review.
Notice: We have censored any anamoly cards discussed in this review, as to not spoil them for first-time players. You can read this review without spoiling yourself!
MonsDRAWsity Review
MonsDRAWsity is a monstrous party game advertised for 3-8 players, and best for 5-8 players aged 8 or older. The story of the game is the round’s judge is the ‘witness’, who saw a paranormal creature. They get to look at a creature on a card for 20 seconds, then place it face down. The witness spends the next two minutes the rest of the players, or “Sketch Artists”, as they draw along on a whiteboard, showing what they think the monster looks like.
Points are awarded via the witness and the other players voting for which image was the closest, and the witness also gets a point if the person they voted for is the crowd favorite too.
Life of the Party
This game is the life of the party. It is different enough from most games in the party game genre that it stands out, both in theme, and gameplay. It is super easy to learn, the anomalies range from cool to hilarious, and I genuinely enjoyed my time playing. Each round, you are so focused on what this creature could look like, and it’s always funny when the witness mentions something out of nowhere that makes you have to change your drawing.
I also love that different artists drew different anomalies, and all had their own unique style. I have only seen a few of them, as you are not supposed to look through the deck, but I loved the few I did see. Also, the box art is great, and what a clever and catchy title too.
This game is great to play with friends, family, or any combination of the two. This would also be a very fun game to do on stream as well, if everyone has tablets, for any content creators looking for a new drawing game. The digital version is available on Roll20.
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Artist’s Advantage
There are a couple of downsides to the game, one being that after you make it through the deck once, you have seen all of the monsters. This means that if you play again after that, you may remember some. The good news, however, is that there are enough anomalies, and some similar enough anomalies, that being able to guess based on memory isn’t always the best route to go. Also, getting expansions with new anomalies will help keep things fresh.
Another con is that as someone who does do art professionally, and has a very strong mind’s eye, I do feel like I had an advantage over the group I played with. I thought the game was very fun, and it did make me think a lot, but if there are vast skill differences between artists it can be unfair. The game would also be much harder for those with Aphantasia, as picturing the monsters may not be possible.
Verdict
Downsides aside, this game was so much fun. Even typing up this review makes me want to play it again. Overall, I definitely recommend the game, and plan to continue playing it going forward.
Great
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to learn | May be less fun after completing the deck the first time |
| Supports up to 8 players | Art skill differences between players may be frustrating for some players |
| Creative concept and monster designs | Not accessible to those with Aphantasia |
| A great way to get drawing | |
| Fun party game |
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