# How to play Doodle Duel

Doodle Duel is a real-time drawing duel game judged by AI. Here is the full flow from opening the home page to winning a match.

## 1. Create or join a room

- Open https://doodleduel.ai.
- Click **Create Room** to start a new game and get a 4-letter room code. Share that code with friends in chat or over a call.
- Or click **Join Room** and paste a code someone gave you.
- No account, no email, no app install.

## 2. Pick a category and round count

The room owner chooses:

- **Category** -- animals, food, objects, sports, fantasy, etc. (Pro unlocks Mixed Themes and Feeling Lucky.)
- **Rounds** -- 3 to 50. A 5-round match takes about 8 minutes. A 10-round match takes about 15 minutes.
- **Time per round** -- defaults to 60 seconds.

## 3. Draw the prompt

When the round starts, everyone in the room sees the same prompt. Draw on your own device with finger, stylus, or mouse. There is a shared countdown -- when it hits zero everyone's drawing is submitted automatically.

## 4. Let the AI judge

The AI scores each drawing on:

- **Accuracy** -- does this look like the prompt
- **Creativity** -- extra detail and originality
- **Style** -- line confidence, composition

Scores appear within a second. The drawings and scores are shown side-by-side so everyone can see what won and why.

## 5. Repeat and win

Scores stack across rounds. After the last round the player with the highest total wins. There is no negative scoring -- bad rounds just contribute zero, they do not lose you points.

## Tips for winning

- **Draw the obvious shape first.** The AI scores accuracy hardest. A clear silhouette beats a beautiful detail in 60 seconds.
- **Use the full canvas.** Larger drawings tend to score higher than tiny ones in the corner.
- **Don't overthink.** Confident, simple lines beat hesitant scribbles. The AI is looking for "is this clearly a cat" not "is this a Rembrandt."
- **Mind the clock.** Submit something. An incomplete drawing scores; an empty canvas does not.

## More

- Pricing: https://doodleduel.ai/pricing
- Solo practice (no opponents needed): https://doodleduel.ai/solo/practice
- Blog with deeper drawing tips: https://doodleduel.ai/blog