Nine Men’s Morris or Sketch Round?

The key differences

• There’s no player count that suits both – Nine Men’s Morris and Sketch Round are made for different groups.
• From 3 players on, only Sketch Round works: it goes up to 10 players, Nine Men’s Morris only up to 2.
• Sketch Round needs a TV, or an iPad or Mac as the table; Nine Men’s Morris also runs on phones alone.
• Sketch Round is louder than Nine Men’s Morris (loud vs. silent).
• Sketch Round needs at least 3 players – with fewer people, only Nine Men’s Morris works.
• Only Nine Men’s Morris can be played against the computer – Sketch Round needs real players.
• Nine Men’s Morris rewards skill more than Sketch Round (pure skill vs. mostly skill).
• Sketch Round is quicker to learn than Nine Men’s Morris (explained in a minute vs. quick to learn).

At a glance

At a glance	Nine Men’s Morris	Sketch Round
Type	Board and dice games	Party games
Players	2 players	3–10 players
Length of a game	10–20 min	10–20 min
Age	ages 6+	ages 7+
Luck or skill	pure skill	mostly skill
Noise level	silent	loud
Learning curve	quick to learn	explained in a minute
Interaction	you react to each other	lots of back and forth
TV	not needed	needed
Against the computer	yes	no
Teams	no	no
Bluffing	no	no
Reading needed	no	yes

Which one suits you?

Nine Men’s Morris

The old board game with nine pieces each: place, then move, and finally fly. Close a mill and you take one of your opponent’s pieces – and a well-built double mill often decides the game.

Pick Nine Men’s Morris when two people want a calm strategy game that’s settled in about a quarter of an hour.

Sketch Round

One person draws on their phone while everyone else watches the picture appear live on the TV and types a guess. Faster correct guesses score more – and the worst drawings tend to be the funniest.

Pick Sketch Round when three to ten people are gathered around a TV and like to laugh.

What they have in common

• Both work from age 7.
• Both come free with Gather and need no account.