# Communication Drawing Exercise vs a Bomb Round

- Author: Bomb Appétit (https://bombappetit.com)
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Category: Communication
- Canonical: https://bombappetit.com/blog/communication-drawing-exercise-vs-a-bomb-round

> The communication drawing exercise has one person describe a picture while another draws it. How it compares with a bomb round, and how to run both together.
In the communication drawing exercise, one person describes a hidden picture and a partner draws it without seeing the original. A bomb defusal round works the same split, one person sees and another acts, but adds a timer and instant feedback. The drawing shows how far a description drifts; the bomb shows when.

## How the communication drawing exercise works

The communication drawing exercise pairs a describer, who holds a simple picture, with a drawer, who has a blank page. The two usually sit back to back. The describer explains the picture in words only and the drawer copies it. At the end, both compare the drawing with the original and discuss the differences.

The usual picture is a handful of simple shapes: a circle inside a square, a triangle off to one side, a few lines joining them. Simple shapes keep the focus on words rather than drawing talent. Anyone can draw a circle. Not everyone can say where it goes.

Most facilitators run it in two rounds. In the first, the drawer may not speak or ask questions. In the second, with a new picture, questions are allowed. Comparing the two drawings shows how much a single question can save.

Variations are common. Some groups let the describer watch the drawing as it happens without commenting. Others swap roles between rounds so everyone tries both seats. Some use a picture with words or numbers in it, which tests a different kind of precision.

The exercise needs nothing but paper and pens, which is a large part of its appeal. It runs in any room, for any number of pairs at once, and takes about ten minutes per round including the comparison.

## What does a drawing exercise measure that a bomb round does not?

A drawing exercise measures how closely a whole description matches a whole picture: size, proportion, placement and relationships between shapes. It rewards rich, continuous description. A bomb round measures something narrower and sharper: whether one specific instruction led to one correct action. Each is good at what the other misses.

The drawing shows drift. A circle placed a little too high pulls every later shape with it. By the end, the drawing can be recognisably similar and still wrong in every detail. That gradual slide is hard to see in any other exercise, and it makes a vivid talking point.

The drawing also captures style. A describer who starts with the big picture ("it's a house shape") produces a different drawing from one who starts with coordinates. Comparing pairs shows the group how many ways there are to describe the same thing.

A bomb round measures decisions. In Bomb Appétit, the Defuser sees the bomb and the Experts hold the manual. Each module is a small puzzle, and the Experts must turn a description into one action: cut this wire, press these keys in this order. Either the action is right or the bomb records a strike. There is no partial credit for a nearly correct wire.

The bomb also tests listening in both directions. The Experts listen to the Defuser's description, then the Defuser listens to the Experts' instruction. The drawing exercise mostly runs one way, from describer to drawer.

The two complement each other. The drawing teaches people how descriptions decay over time. The bomb teaches them where a single word breaks an action.

## Feedback speed: a finished drawing versus a strike light

Feedback is where the two differ most. In the drawing exercise, players find out they were wrong only at the end, when the pictures are compared. In a bomb round, a wrong action triggers a strike right away. Fast feedback lets a team change its habits mid-round; slow feedback only helps the next round.

The drawing's delayed reveal has its own value. Seeing the whole mismatch at once is memorable. Groups laugh, point and work backwards to the sentence that started it. That makes for an easy, lively discussion.

But the delay also means the team cannot adapt during the exercise. A describer who says "near the top" ten times never learns that "near" was the problem until the drawing is held up. By then the habit has been repeated ten times.

The bomb's feedback is immediate and specific. A strike lights up, the countdown speeds up, and the team usually knows which instruction caused it. They can fix the habit on the very next module. The how-to-play page explains that each strike makes the timer run faster and that three strikes, the default, end the round.

Fast feedback has a cost too. It brings pressure, and pressure makes some people quieter. A group that needs a gentle start may do better with the drawing first, where nobody fails in public until the end and the failure is shared by the pair.

## Running a drawing exercise and a bomb round back to back

Running both in one session works well because they teach in opposite order: the drawing shows the size of the problem, and the bomb lets the group practise a fix. A 45-minute plan fits a short meeting or a class period. The bomb runs in a browser with no install, and the manual can be printed.

### A 45-minute session plan

Timings are a suggestion. Mission names are real missions from the game; pick others if your group has played before.

| Time     | Activity                                                                               | What to compare                                    |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| 0 to 5   | Explain both exercises and pair people up                                              | Nothing yet; ask who expects to do well            |
| 5 to 13  | Drawing round one: no questions allowed                                                | How far each drawing drifted from the picture      |
| 13 to 18 | Compare drawings; each pair finds the first sentence that drifted                      | Which kinds of words failed: position, size, count |
| 18 to 23 | Agree two house rules from the drawing (for example, say the direction of every count) | Which rules the group thinks will help on the bomb |
| 23 to 33 | Bomb round, groups of two to five, First bite or Button up                             | How many questions the Experts asked; any strikes  |
| 33 to 40 | Second bomb round with the house rules enforced, Strange symbols                       | Strikes and questions against the first bomb round |
| 40 to 45 | Short debrief across the room                                                          | Which habit from the drawing showed up on the bomb |

First bite has one module and five minutes on the clock. Button up adds a second module. Strange symbols has three modules, including the glyph keypad, and its own briefing tells players to agree on names for the symbols. That makes it a good test of whether the drawing lessons stuck.

For the last five minutes, the team building guide lists [debrief questions after a team building bomb round](/blog/team-building-communication-games-bomb-debrief#debrief-questions-after-a-team-building-bomb-round) that work just as well after the drawing. The wider guide to [team building communication games and the bomb debrief](/blog/team-building-communication-games-bomb-debrief) explains how to keep the discussion about words rather than people.

## Which communication exercise suits a first session?

For a first session, start with the drawing exercise. It needs no devices, has no timer, and everyone fails a little at once, which makes the discussion friendly. Follow it with an easy bomb round so the group can try what they learned. Reverse the order only for groups that already enjoy games.

Groups that have never done communication training often arrive wary. A drawing on paper feels harmless. Nobody's mistake is singled out, because every pair's drawing is a little wrong. The laugh at the reveal relaxes the room.

A bomb round as a first exercise can work, but it asks more of people. Someone has to take the Defuser seat with the clock running. Shy players may freeze. Starting with the drawing gives them a low-stakes warm-up and a shared vocabulary to bring to the bomb.

Some groups are the opposite. Friends who play games together, or a team that likes a challenge, may find the drawing slow. For them, open with a bomb round on an easy mission and use the drawing afterwards to explain what happened.

If you want more variety after the first session, there are [six communication exercises built on one bomb round](/blog/communication-exercises-built-from-one-bomb#six-communication-exercises-built-on-one-bomb-round), from describe-only rounds to swapped seats. The broader guide to [communication exercises for adults built from one bomb](/blog/communication-exercises-built-from-one-bomb) gives setups and timings for each. For an evening with friends rather than a workshop, [communication games for adults that do not feel like work](/blog/communication-games-for-adults-not-like-work) compares the options.

## The drawing exercise's weak spot: nobody can check midway

The drawing exercise's weak spot is that, in its strict form, the drawer cannot check anything until the end. One early mistake, such as a shape placed too far left, carries through every later shape. The drawing goes wrong early and stays wrong because nothing in the rules catches it.

This is by design in round one: it shows how much a one-way message can lose. But it also means the exercise teaches mostly through the reveal. Players see that they drifted without practising how to stop drifting.

The second round, with questions allowed, helps. Drawers ask "how big is the circle compared with the square?" and the drift shrinks. Facilitators can go further by asking pairs to check in after every shape: the drawer describes what they drew, and the describer confirms. That is a read back, and it turns the drawing into a closed exchange.

A bomb round has checking built in. The manual's own first page tells Experts to have instructions repeated back before the Defuser acts, and the strike light punishes skipping it. Running the bomb after the drawing shows the group what a midway check buys them.

To set up the bomb half of the session, browse [the missions page](/missions) and pick two easy missions in advance. Print the drawing pictures, set up the devices, and the whole session runs from one table.