Duplik

Key features of the board game Duplik

You don't have to know how to draw

In each round, one player becomes the art director. His task is to describe the mysterious picture to the other players so that they can draw it as accurately as possible. Drawers have 90 seconds to create their work, during which time they try to capture the details described without knowing what will actually be judged. After time has elapsed, the images are compared to the original drawing, but the key is the evaluation criteria, which are secretly written on the back of the card. For each criterion met, the art director receives a point if at least one of the artists has met it, and each artist receives a point for each criterion he or she has met.

The winner is the one who best captures the details

When everyone has played their role as artistic director, the game ends and the one with the most points wins. The game stands out for its simplicity, but it also trains your ability to listen, describe and notice small details. At the same time, it provokes a lot of laughter and unexpected moments when the drawings don't match the original intention at all.

History and creators of the game

Duplik was created by Swiss game designer William P. Jacobson, along with French co-author Oliver Lamonthe. The game was first released in 2005, originally under the title Portrayal, and later appeared as Identik and Duplik. The current publisher is Zygomatic, who released the game as part of their wider party edition and made it available internationally. The game was localized into Czech in 2025 and was nominated for the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award in 2010.