How to Play Ketchphrase With Friends: Setup and Guessing Tips

A picture starts to appear, someone thinks they recognise the phrase, and suddenly everyone wants the buzzer. Ketchphrase brings that style of guessing to a browser game for 2–5 players, with trivia, AI-generated picture clues and an AI voice host.

This guide covers getting a group ready and making sense of the clues. For the game overview and a small puzzle you can try immediately, visit the Ketchphrase page.

We make Ketchphrase as part of Artbitrator. It is an independent game inspired by the UK Catchphrase picture-puzzle format, rather than the official TV game.

Before you invite everyone

What you need	What to arrange
Players	Bring 2–5 people, including yourself.
Accounts	Each player needs an Artbitrator account. Ask everyone to sign in before the session.
Devices	Each person joins through a browser on their own device. No game download is required.
Cost	Ketchphrase is free to play.
Audio	The AI host uses voice commentary. If you are also on a call, headphones can help avoid echo.

If your friends enjoy spotting visual clues and guessing familiar expressions, this is a good format to try. Nobody needs to draw. Choose Multiplayer Madness if your group wants to create the pictures themselves.

Get your group into a room

1. Open Artbitrator and sign in. The play button on the Ketchphrase page opens the game menu.
2. Choose Ketchphrase. Create a room and share its invitation with your friends.
3. Have everyone join on their own device. Check that the full group is in the same room before starting.
4. Get comfortable with the controls. Use the first round to find the trivia answers and buzzer. Make sure everyone can hear the host at a comfortable volume.

A simple invitation is enough: “Fancy a picture-guessing game? It’s free, but make an Artbitrator account first. I’ll send the room invite when we’re ready.”

What happens in a round?

Trivia earns you more of the picture

An AI-generated image represents a phrase, idiom or saying. At first it is hidden behind a 3×3 grid of nine squares. Correct trivia answers earn reveals, uncovering more clues.

Try to notice relationships as well as objects. Is something inside another object? Above it? Escaping from it? A literal description of the whole scene may lead you to the expression.

The buzzer makes the guess a decision

When you think you know the phrase, buzz in. A correct answer scores; an incorrect answer locks you out of guessing that phrase. You get another chance when the next phrase begins.

There is a tradeoff: an early guess can beat your friends, but an extra revealed square might change your interpretation completely. Naming the obvious object is not always enough.

The finale changes the pace

In the quickfire round, squares reveal automatically. There is no trivia between those reveals. Watch the image emerge and race to identify each phrase before the countdown ends.

The AI host adds spoken commentary throughout the game. Keep its volume balanced with your call so your group can enjoy the reactions without everyone talking over the clues.

Three ways to get better at picture clues

These are imagined examples to explain the thinking, not a list of puzzles guaranteed to appear in the game.

1. Describe the action

A cat and a bag could suggest plenty of things. A cat getting out of the bag points towards “let the cat out of the bag.” The verb is the clue that turns two objects into a saying.

2. Notice position and size

A person standing above the moon could suggest “over the moon.” Look for words such as under, over, between, inside and behind when the picture’s arrangement seems deliberate.

3. Try an everyday expression

A scene of cats and dogs falling from a cloud makes little literal sense. “Raining cats and dogs” makes sense as an expression. Some clues click when you stop asking whether the picture could happen in real life.

Want a quick warm-up? Try the revealable example on the Ketchphrase page, then compare how many squares each friend needed before the answer clicked.

Make the evening easy to join

Sort accounts before the call. “No download” still includes a sign-in step. Letting everyone handle it beforehand makes the start smoother.

Use headphones when possible. Multiple speakers playing the host into open microphones can create an echo. Each player can adjust their own listening volume.

Give newcomers a practice round. Learning when to buzz matters as much as knowing the phrase. Let people understand the lock-out rule before treating the scoreboard seriously.

Leave room for different interpretations. A visual clue can suggest several phrases. Take a moment after a reveal to compare what everyone thought they were seeing.

If you are together in one room, you can enjoy the reactions face to face while each player uses their own device. If you are apart, a voice call gives you somewhere to share those reactions.

Want to make your own picture puzzles instead?

For a homemade version, draw or collect a few original picture clues, keep the answers in a separate note, and reveal them over a shared screen. Agree how people will signal a guess and how you will award points. One person needs to host, and that person will already know the answers.

That can suit a group who wants personal jokes or a particular theme. Ketchphrase supplies the trivia, picture reveals, buzzer and AI host when you would rather join a ready-made game.

For an evening that includes drawing too, our funny drawing prompts work as a separate paper-and-pencil warm-up. They are not an importable Ketchphrase question pack.

Quick questions

Is Ketchphrase a drawing game?

It is a picture guessing game. The image already exists; your job is to work out the phrase. Artbitrator’s other modes include drawing, but you do not need drawing skills for Ketchphrase.

Do we all need accounts?

Yes. Each player needs an Artbitrator account and signs in before joining. Ketchphrase is free to play and does not require a game download.

Can two people play?

Yes. Ketchphrase supports 2–5 players. If you would both prefer to draw, the two-player drawing guide explains a different Artbitrator format.

Is it connected to the Catchphrase TV show?

Ketchphrase is an independent Artbitrator game, inspired by picture-based phrase guessing. It is not the official TV game.

Ready for the first clue?

Open the Ketchphrase page, try the example, and use its play button to reach the game menu. Bring a few friends, get signed in, and see who spots the phrase first.