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Requirements

Guess My Sketch runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 or later, on a device that has Apple Intelligence turned on. The App Store only offers the game to devices that qualify:

• iPhone: iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max; iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, and 16e; iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air; and every newer iPhone.
• iPad: iPad Pro with M1 or later (11‑inch 3rd generation and 12.9‑inch 5th generation onward, and every 11‑inch and 13‑inch iPad Pro since); iPad Air with M1 or later (5th generation onward); iPad mini (A17 Pro).

iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPad (A16), and earlier devices don’t have Apple Intelligence, so the game can’t run on them.

Turn on Apple Intelligence

1. Update to the latest iOS or iPadOS: Settings › General › Software Update.
2. Open Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn on Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence is available in supported languages and regions; if the switch isn’t there, check that your device language and Siri language are both set to a supported language.
3. Wait for the on-device model to finish downloading. It downloads in the background over Wi‑Fi and can take a while; keeping the device charging helps. Settings shows the progress.
4. Open the game. It checks again on its own, or tap Check Again.

Before a run: when the AI isn’t ready

Instead of starting a run, the game may show one of these screens. Each names the reason and, when there is one, the fix.

“Needs Apple Intelligence”

The AI in this game runs entirely on your device with Apple Intelligence, which this device doesn’t support.

This device isn’t on the list above, so Apple’s on-device model isn’t available on it. There is no setting to change. You can play on any iPhone or iPad from the requirements list.

“Turn On Apple Intelligence”

The AI in this game runs on your device with Apple Intelligence. Turn it on in Settings, then come back.

Your device can run Apple Intelligence but it’s switched off. Tap Open Settings, turn on Apple Intelligence under Apple Intelligence & Siri, and return to the game. If the switch is missing, see Turn on Apple Intelligence above.

“Apple Intelligence Is Still Downloading”

The on-device model isn’t ready yet. Check again in a few minutes.

Apple Intelligence is on, but the model it needs hasn’t finished downloading to your device. Stay on Wi‑Fi, keep the device charging, and give it a few minutes. Then tap Check Again. Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri shows the download’s progress.

“This Model Can’t See Images Yet”

The on-device model here can’t read images, which the game needs to see your drawing.

Apple Intelligence is running, but the version of Apple’s model on this device doesn’t accept images, and the game can’t guess what it can’t see. Install the latest iOS or iPadOS update and try again. If the message stays after updating, that device will be able to play once Apple ships a model with image support for it.

During a run

A run is one game: draw as many words as you can before the clock runs out. Your score is the number of words the AI named. Here is every screen and message you’ll meet along the way, in the order you’ll meet them.

“How to Play”

A short sheet with the four steps of a turn (pick a word, draw it, the AI gets it, roll the die), the die’s faces, and a few example rules. It opens on its own before your first run, and you can open it again any time from the menu.

The word cards

Every turn deals three cards: one easy, one medium, and one hard. Each shows its word, its difficulty, and the time it gives back when the AI gets it: +8, +12, or +18 seconds. A ring counts down five seconds; if you haven’t chosen by then, a word is picked for you. The clock is stopped while the cards are up, so take a moment. Whatever the die last gave you is shown above the cards, so you can let it guide your choice.

The clock

It starts at 60 seconds and runs only while you draw. It stops while you pick a word, during the one-second celebration when the AI gets it, and while you roll the die. When it gets it, the card’s time lands on the clock, plus 3 seconds if it got it on its first look, five seconds in. Over a long run the time back slowly shrinks, 5% less every five words down to half, so the clock gets gradually tighter. At 10 seconds left the clock turns red and pulses. When it reaches zero, the run is over; nothing else can end it.

“No spelling it out!”

The AI won’t guess until it’s erased, and the clock keeps running.

This banner appears when the canvas spells out the word, part of it, or another name for it. Writing the word isn’t drawing it: while the writing is there, the AI isn’t asked to guess. Nothing is deducted, but the clock keeps running, so writing only costs you time. Erase the letters with the eraser, or clear the canvas, and the guessing picks up again.

The Skip button

You can skip any time while you’re drawing. You lose that word and get three new cards. The button always shows its price: 5 seconds for the first skip, then 10, 20, 40 and so on for each skip in a row. Clearing a word resets the price to 5 seconds. When the die has given you a free skip, the button reads Free skip, and using it doesn’t raise the price of your next one. When the price is more than the time you have left, the button reads End run instead, so you always know what a tap will do. A skip never earns time back and is never followed by a roll, a skipped word doesn’t count toward your score, and skipping doesn’t escape a rule the die gave you.

The die

Shake or tap to roll (on iPhone) · Tap to roll (on iPad)

After every word the AI gets, the die appears over your finished drawing. On iPhone, shake the phone or tap the die; on iPad, tap it. If you do neither within 3 seconds, it rolls itself. The tumble takes under two seconds, and the clock stays stopped throughout. The result shows as a colored card with an icon and a few words:

• Green is a Boost (three of the six faces): +10 seconds, a free skip, double time back, Easy street (all three cards easy), or Freeze (the clock waits 5 seconds before it starts).
• Red is a Setback (two faces), always milder than a boost: −5 seconds (never below 10 seconds on the clock), no skip, half time back, Hard pick (all three cards hard), or Blind pick (the game picks your word).
• Sun yellow is a Wildcard (one face): a special rule for your next word (One ink, No undo, Mirror, Upside down, Six strokes, Tiny canvas, Keep moving, Fading ink, Quicksand, One line, or Peephole), or a challenge (Double or nothing, Hard bargain). Rules change what you see or how you may draw, never what the AI sees, and the harder ones pay a reward when you clear the word.

Clock changes happen at once. Everything else stays in play until you clear your next word, and only one effect is ever in play. The die can never end a run.

The results screen

When the clock reaches zero, drawing stops and the results screen shows how many words you drew, how long the run lasted, how many rules you survived, a strip of every drawing labeled with its word, and one of the AI’s wrong guesses from the run. Then choose Share, Play again, or Menu. If you’re signed in to Game Center, your words-drawn total is posted to the leaderboard; if you aren’t, a button offers to sign you in.

Menu, sound, and music

The menu has Play, How to Play, and Leaderboard, plus two switches: one for sound effects and one for music. Each is remembered on your device, and nothing else changes when you turn one off. The Game Center access point appears on the menu and nowhere else.

Game Center and the leaderboard

• The leaderboard needs a Game Center sign-in and an internet connection. Everything else in the game works offline and signed out.
• To sign in, open Settings › Game Center on your device. The game also offers Sign in on its results screen when you aren’t signed in.
• There is one leaderboard, ranking everyone’s best run by words drawn. Runs played while signed out aren’t posted.
• Each posted score carries the run’s length in seconds, so ties can be told apart.
• Scores that look fraudulent may be removed from the leaderboard.

The AI keeps guessing wrong

• Draw big and simple. One clear outline beats a detailed scene.
• Lead with the shape that makes the thing recognizable: the sails on a boat, the mane on a lion.
• Amber means close. “Boat” for sailboat or “crocodile” for alligator doesn’t count, but it costs nothing and tells you to add a detail.
• Writing the word doesn’t help: the AI waits until it’s erased, and the clock keeps running.
• The AI looks every 2.5 seconds at everything on the canvas, including the stroke you’re drawing, and it never repeats a guess. Keep the pen moving.
• Stuck? Skip. Five seconds is cheap next to a word you’ll never land, and clearing the next word resets the price.
• Pick with the die in mind. After Double time back, a hard card pays 36 seconds; after Half time back, an easy card you can draw fast still keeps the clock alive.

Troubleshooting

Shaking doesn’t roll the die

Tapping the die always works, on every device, and the die rolls itself after 3 seconds if you do neither. Shake to roll uses the motion sensors in your iPhone: give it one firm shake rather than a wobble, and if the phone is in a stand or a thick case, tap instead. On iPad there is no shake to roll; tap the die.

The die rolled before I touched it

It rolls itself after 3 seconds, so the run never waits on you. The odds are the same whether you shake, tap, or let it roll.

The Skip button says End run

The next skip would cost more time than you have left, so tapping it would end the run. Keep drawing instead and give the AI a few more looks.

A word was picked for me

The cards wait 5 seconds, then the game chooses. The die’s Blind pick does the same for one word.

The AI has stopped guessing

Check the canvas for writing: while the word is spelled out, the AI waits (see No spelling it out!). Otherwise, make sure Apple Intelligence is on and its model has finished downloading (see Turn on Apple Intelligence).

FAQ