Diwali Pictionary: words and an online game for your Diwali party
86 Pictionary words for Diwali, from diyas, rangoli and the mithai box to the Diwali cleaning and the bonus everyone is waiting for. Play them online, free, at the office Diwali party or on a video call with family, or draw them on paper round the table after dinner.
Run a 15-minute office Diwali game
One game for the whole Diwali party: the people in the office and the people on the call play together, each on their own screen.
The words keep to what the whole office shares at Diwali: lights, sweets, gifts, dressing up and the party itself, so everyone can join in, whatever they celebrate.
- Make a room with the Diwali pack. Tap “Play these online” above, type your name and create a room: it starts with only the Diwali words, and Word difficulty on Mixed. For a game of about 15 minutes, set Draw time to 40 seconds and Rounds to 2 for 8 people. Everyone draws once a round, so 16 people need only 1.
- Paste the invite link where the team talks. “Copy link” in the room copies it for the Teams or Slack channel, or the office WhatsApp group.
- Everyone plays on their own phone or laptop. At a desk, in the meeting room or at home, they open the link, type a name and pick an avatar. Nothing to install, no sign-up. Once everyone is in, the host starts the game.
- The game picks the winners. After the last round the top three take the podium, the drawing of the game is chosen from everyone's 👍 and how many guessed it, and awards like Fastest finger and Crowd favourite go out. Nobody has to judge their colleagues.
- Post the results in the team channel. “Share results” makes a picture of the podium and the drawing of the game, ready for Teams, Slack or WhatsApp. Fancy a rematch? The host presses “Play again”.
One room holds up to 16 players. A new room allows 12, so raise “Max players” in the room settings for more. A bigger team makes a few rooms, one per team or floor, each with its own link.
Diwali with family
Grandparents in one city, cousins in three more: one link in the family group, and everyone draws together on the Diwali video call.
- Everyone on their own screen. Keep the Zoom, Meet or WhatsApp video call going for the talking, and play on a phone, tablet or laptop each. Nobody has to hold a drawing up to the camera.
- Easy for the kids. Set Word difficulty to Easy and the game deals the words that draw themselves first: diya, ladoo, lantern, gift box. The pack soon runs out of those and harder ones follow, so for a longer game switch on Animals or Food & drink as well.
- More time to draw. Grandparents and little ones may want longer than the 25 seconds a new room gives: Draw time goes up to 4 minutes.
- Add the family in-jokes. The host can paste up to 500 words of their own into “Your own words”: nicknames, the family dog, the year the lights fused. They are offered alongside the Diwali words, and only the host sees the list, so each one is a surprise.
Diwali 86 words
Easy 15
- diya
- fairy lights
- fireworks
- gift box
- gold coin
- grandparents
- kurta
- ladoo
- lantern
- lehenga
- mithai box
- rangoli
- saree
- shopping bags
- sparkler
Medium 47
- bhai dooj
- cleaning the fan
- desk decoration
- diwali bonus
- diwali cleaning
- diwali mela
- diwali sale
- diya painting
- dry fruits box
- empty wallet
- ethnic day
- family dinner
- family photo
- family video call
- floating diyas
- flower market
- gift exchange
- gift hamper
- gift wrapping
- greeting card
- kaju katli
- lighting diyas
- making sweets
- marigold
- marigold garland
- matching outfits
- new car
- new clothes
- office diwali party
- online shopping
- opening gifts
- painting the house
- photo booth
- pile of shoes
- putting up lights
- ramp walk
- rangoli competition
- relatives visiting
- sharing sweets
- shopping rush
- soan papdi
- stepping on rangoli
- sweet shop
- tangled lights
- team lunch
- toran
- virtual party
Hard 24
- best dressed
- dhanteras shopping
- diwali wishes
- family time
- festival of lights
- festive mood
- first diwali
- food coma
- good over evil
- home for diwali
- joy of giving
- last-minute shopping
- leave approved
- light over darkness
- lights still up
- long weekend
- new beginnings
- power bill
- prosperity
- regifting
- sugar rush
- sweet tooth
- sweets for breakfast
- togetherness
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. Every game and every word pack is free, the Diwali pack included. There are no ads, no accounts and nothing to install.
How many people can play?
Two to 16 in one room, and 4 to 10 is the most fun. For the whole office, make a room for each team: every room gets its own podium and results picture, and the channel can vote for the best drawing of the game.
Can we add our own words?
Yes. The host can add up to 500 in “Your own words” in the room settings: team names, the canteen's famous samosa, this year's decoration theme. They mix in with the Diwali words, or tick “Use only my words” (it needs at least 10) to play only yours. With “Drawers can write their own word” on, as it is in a new room, whoever draws can also make one up on their turn.
Does it work on Teams or Zoom?
Alongside them, not inside them. Post the invite link in the meeting chat, everyone opens it in their browser, and the call carries on for the talking. Nobody needs to share their screen: each player sees the drawing on their own screen as it is drawn. It works the same with Google Meet, Slack huddles and WhatsApp video.
Is it all right for kids?
Yes. The pack keeps to what families share at Diwali: lights, sweets, new clothes, gifts and time together. Only people with your link or room code can join, and the host can remove anyone. Guesses go in a chat the whole room can see, so stay close to young players.
Diyas lit, sweets out. Now somebody has to draw “cleaning the fan”.
Start a Diwali game