Follow-the-sun relay

A drawing relay for teams spread around the world. One person writes a prompt, the next draws it, the next describes the drawing, and so on. Each turn goes to whoever is in daytime, so the baton travels west with the sun, and at the end everyone sees how the idea changed on its trip.

How to play the follow-the-sun relay

Enter your name; your time zone is filled in from your device. Check your hours and press Create the relay.
Share the link. Each teammate opens it on their own device and joins with their name, time zone and hours.
Write a starting prompt, or press Surprise me, then Start. The route begins with whoever is in daytime now and moves west.
When it’s your turn, you see only the step before yours: draw it, or describe the drawing. Then paste the ready-made line into your team chat to pass the baton.
When the last turn is played, everyone sees the journey step by step and can download it as one picture.

Questions

How does the game work?

It’s the classic drawing telephone game. The starting prompt is words; the next player draws it, the one after describes the drawing in words without seeing the prompt, the next draws that description, and so on. Everyone sees only the step just before theirs. At the end the whole journey is revealed, and the drift is the fun part.

How do turns follow the sun?

When the game starts, it puts whoever is in their hours right now first (the one furthest east, if several are), then each player in the order their day begins, moving west. So the baton passes from Tokyo to Berlin to New York the way the sun does. The route shows everyone’s local time and roughly when the baton should reach them.

What if someone is busy or asleep?

Each turn lasts until the end of that player’s hours (or a set number of hours, if the game says so). If they don’t play in time, their turn is skipped and the baton moves on. Players can pass their turn, and whoever created the game can skip a turn or change the order of the turns still to come.

Do I have to draw?

No. Every drawing turn has “Describe in words instead”, so you can play with a keyboard or a screen reader, or if you just don’t like drawing. The next player then draws from your words.

How do people know it’s their turn?

After each turn the page gives you a line to paste into your team chat, such as “Your turn, Ana!” with the link. If your page is open, it can also show a notification when it’s your turn, once you allow it. There’s no email and no account.

What goes to your server, and how long is it kept?

To pass the game from player to player, the names, time zones and hours people join with, the prompt, the drawings and words of each turn, and the game’s settings are kept on our server. There are no accounts. Whoever created the game can delete it at any time; otherwise it’s deleted 7 days after the reveal, and at the latest 21 days after it was created. We never log what anyone draws or writes.

Can we play it live in a meeting?

Yes. Turn on “Everyone’s here now” for short timed turns (90 seconds to draw by default, half that to write), still in the order of the sun. When time runs out, whatever is on the page is sent.

How many people can play?

From 2 to 30 players. Small teams can go round the world two or three times, up to 30 turns in all.

Follow-the-sun relay

Start a relay