The notion of Pictionary was a mystery to me, and the Laser Kiwi live version revealed it in a variety of ways, possibly original, and certainly multi-layered. It is labelled “the quiz you did not know existed (but desperately needed)”, so the discovery may have been shared. The game format invites teams of 4 or 6 to book together, thus increasing the social aspect of the outing.

The big screen was put to good use from the preparatory/introductory stage, well ahead of the scheduled start time of 8 pm: each team was invited to pick a colour and a name, that was illustrated on the screen by one of the three Kiwi artist(e)s presenting the show.

The technology used for drawings on the screen was similar enough to a hand-drawn sketch with felt-tip pens, and visual puzzles had layered levels, with a range of references linked to language, (popular) culture, puns/idioms and other challenges. Paper and pens were handed out when the audience was invited to draw one puzzling picture per team, and a couple of selected entries were reproduced on screen.

All guesses were conveyed through mobile phones – again, only one per team. Technology may have provided unfair advantages to some, quicker to type in and send their answers, to be promptly projected on the screen. However, teamwork and shared guessing meant that mobile phones, usually blamed for isolation, became a context for live exchanges in presence – in real life, as it is called now. Points were allocated on a variety of occasions, and the resulting scores were displayed, but no prizes seemed to be given, other than bragging rights.

It was indeed a chance to dust off those brain cells, in a surreal and funny context.