THE PICTURE PERFECT GAME
Pictionary, the classic charades-style word-guessing board game, has been a staple at gatherings for more than 30 years. Considering the name, it’s not surprising that Robert Angel, the creator of Pictionary, relied heavily on the dictionary to develop the game’s extensive selection of drawable words. In the early 1980s, fresh out of college and with no experience in the game industry, Angel experienced some bumps along the way while creating, designing, and marketing what would ultimately become a best-selling game.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Pictionary’s origins date back to 1981. That year, Angel, then 23 years old, graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Unsure about his career plans, he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he shared a house with some high school friends. In his 2020 book Game Changer, Angel noted that he became a waiter at a local restaurant called the Rocking Horse Saloon.
In their free time, Angel and his roommates played a simple game that was a version of “charades on paper.” Players formed teams of two people, and a random word was selected. One player sketched out the word and the other player tried to
