G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

I'm not exactly a great artist. Games in which other players have to guess my scribbles are therefore quite fun, but it often takes quite a while before the term depicted is actually guessed.

In this respect, I was somewhat reassured once I learned that in Broad Lines we are only allowed to draw either two straight lines or a curve. But how does this result in a word that has to be guessed? Well, quite simply:

First of all, a word is randomly selected from a card, which all players but one look at. The player who has not seen the word is, of course, our guessing person, the so-called Art Critic. And then one player starts to draw either two lines or a curve on a transparent sheet. The only important thing is that the curve does not change direction of its roundness and the lines are straight, otherwise anything is allowed.

The transparent sheet is then placed on a small easel and this is presented to the Art Critic. Of course, this first line drawing is usually not enough to guess the term, let's say baby bottle, for example. Therefore, the next player can now draw two more lines or a curve on another transparent sheet and then place this sheet on the easel as well.

By superimposing the two transparent sheets, a lot becomes clearer. Well, at least if you have estimated the positions of the marker well, because measuring is not allowed. If even that now is not enough to guess the word, the next player can add the next sheet and so on.

Now you might think that everything is half as bad: the Art Critic can simply throw lots of terms into the room and guess around. But of course, it's not that simple: only two attempts are allowed after each drawing action.

All of this is quite funny and the result are actually quite amusing drawings, as you usually misjudge the dimensions of what has already been drawn. As a result, you sometimes contribute more to confusion rather than clarification with your own doodling. But practice makes perfect and after two rounds the whole thing looks better, hopefully.

But what happens when the word has been guessed? Quite simply, the next player in order becomes the new Art Critic, a new term is chosen and the whole thing starts all over again. 25 transparent sheets are available for the whole party and the aim is to guess as many terms as possible with these 25 sheets, the high score is our common goal.

Broad Lines is a great family or party game in the style of Monday Painters. The restriction to two lines or one curve for the drawer is an interesting new idea and has worked perfectly in my rounds so far. The collective drawing was a lot of fun. The result is an entertaining game for young and old, which, with a playing time of around 15 minutes, also invites to repeat. Even if a Rembrandt is rarely created with this game and the transparent sheets are removed from the drawing after each game, I guess from time to time something for eternity will be created: the memory that with many of those two lines and simple curves you can paint and guess a trapeze artist, at least at some point.

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