Bear Minimum
Waver bearBaby Bear bearChubby Sitter bear

Bear Minimum The free online drawing game where less is more

Every drawing starts as a bear. Leaving things off earns you points.

🐻 Guess today's bear

Playing alone? Bearnard draws, you guess. About a minute, no sign-up.

📅 Draw today's bear📺 Bearnard Party
or play with friends
or join friends

What is Bear Minimum?

Bear Minimum is a free multiplayer drawing and guessing game you play in the browser with friends. Everyone draws on the same blank bear. On your turn you get a secret prompt, like a Vampire, a Pirate or a Wizard, with the five features that give it away. Each feature is worth points, and every feature you leave off is yours to keep, as long as the table still guesses right. So the best bear is the barest one that still works. On your own, play the daily Guess the Bear: Bearnard draws a bear one feature at a time, and you name it in as few as you can.

Price
Free, no sign-up
Players
2 to 12 (best with 4 to 6), or solo
Round
90 seconds to draw
Prompts
88 built in, plus your own
Plays on
Any browser, phone or computer
Judge
We'll know if you drew it

Who it's for

🧒 A drawing game for kids

Silly bears, private rooms and no accounts. Great for families and classrooms.

💼 A team building game that fits in a meeting

A 15-minute icebreaker for Zoom, Teams or Meet. One link, nothing to install.

👋 A simple game to play with friends online

Long-distance friends and family: one link, easy rules, plays on any phone.

🎨 A draw and guess game where less is more

Love Pictionary-style games? Here you score for what you don't draw.

How to play (tap to open)

Everyone draws on the same blank bear. The Artist gets a secret prompt (Vampire, Pirate, Wizard…) with its most recognisable features, each worth points. Every feature you leave off earns you points — but only if the table still guesses right.

  1. Draw. Add features and colour the bear before the timer runs out. No letters, numbers, symbols or talking. You can stop early.
  2. Guess. The bear is revealed and everyone types guesses in chat. First correct guess ends the round.
  3. Review. The card is revealed and the table ticks which features they can see. The Artist can argue their case; ties go against the Artist.
  4. Score. Guessed: Artist gets 5 + the points of every feature left off, first guesser gets 2. Not guessed: Artist gets 0.

🔴 Live drawing mode: everyone watches the bear as it's drawn and the chat is open for guesses the whole time. The first correct guess stops the drawing, so any feature the Artist hasn't drawn yet still scores. Draw the least obvious clues first! If nobody gets it before time runs out, there's a short last-chance guessing round.

Colour is always free — painting the bear pale for a vampire costs nothing. Everyone is the Artist the same number of times; highest total wins, and ties play one more round each.

Full rules, scoring examples and game modes →

Frequently asked questions

What is Bear Minimum?

Bear Minimum is a free online drawing and guessing party game. Every player draws on the same blank bear, and the Artist turns it into a secret prompt like a Vampire or a Pirate. The twist: every feature you leave off earns you points, as long as your friends still guess it.

Is Bear Minimum free? Do I need to sign up?

Yes, it's free, and there's no account or download. Type a name, create a room and share the 4-letter code or invite link.

How many players do you need?

2 to 12 in a room. It's best with 3 or more, and 4 to 6 players is the sweet spot. Everyone takes the same number of turns as the Artist.

Can I play alone?

Yes. The daily bear gives everyone the same prompt to draw each day, and Guess the Bear is a daily puzzle where you guess a bear as it's dressed up one feature at a time. Both are free and keep a streak.

Is it good for kids?

Yes. There are no accounts, rooms are private to people with the code, nobody needs to be good at drawing, and teachers can write custom cards for a class. Kids who can type short words, roughly 7 and up, can play on their own.

Can we play it at work or on a video call?

Yes. It runs in a browser tab next to Zoom, Teams, Meet or Slack, with nothing to install. Share the invite link in the meeting chat. With one turn each, a team of 6 plays a game in about 15 minutes.

How does scoring work?

If the table guesses your bear, you score 5 plus the points of every feature you left off the card (features are worth 2 to 5 points). The first person to guess right gets 2. If nobody guesses it, the Artist scores 0.

Who decides which features I drew?

The game checks each bear and works out which of the card's features are on it, so the Artist doesn't have to mark their own drawing. The table sees the verdict in the review and can overrule it.

How is Bear Minimum different from skribbl.io or Gartic Phone?

In most drawing games you win by drawing more clearly. In Bear Minimum you win by drawing as little as possible: everyone starts from the same bear outline, and the points come from the clues you leave out.

Can I play it on my phone?

Yes. It runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers, so a group can mix devices.

Are our drawings public?

No. Games happen in private rooms, and no drawing is published unless its Artist chooses to share it. Shared bears are shown without the Artist's name, and only after a person has reviewed them.

Can I add my own prompts?

Yes. The host can write custom cards in the lobby, with their own features and points, and play with only those if they like. The game also comes with 88 built-in prompts.