Frame It

Frame It is a game in which each player takes a photo through a frame (a door, a window, an arch..), and afterwards writes a short title for it. Only the title is revealed to the other players, and they are then invited to take their own photos (also through a frame), capturing images that match the written titles they've received.

Once every player is happy with all their photos, and how they match their titles, the images are revealed to all, without initially revealing who took each photo. All players except the original author, get to vote on which picture they think the original one is. 

How To Play

Location

A small village, a shopping street, or place with many doors, windows, shopfronts, arches and other human-made frames.

A game can take place either locally in the same place, or remotely through the internet with each player finding a suitable location to explore.

People 

1 gamemaster and 4-8 players

Duration

45+ minutes. Game duration increases with the number of players. 

Tools, Tech and Preparation

1. Everyone should have a smartphone with a camera and a way to deliver text and photos to the gamemaster.
2. The gamemaster needs a way to send, or display the received titles and photos back to the player group without revealing who their author is (a message channel, or a way to print and shuffle these photos).
3. Pen and paper, or a way to keep track of each player’s points for the competition. 
   

Detailed Instructions

1. Each player takes a walk around the location for 10-15 minutes, taking photos through frames, making sure to include the frame itself in the photo.
2. Each player chooses one of their own photos and gives it a short title (max 5 words).
3. Each player privately sends 1 photo and its title to the gamemaster.
4. The gamemaster shares all the titles with everyone all at once, assigning the titles numbers, but without revealing who sent each title.
5. Each player takes a second walk around the location for (20-25 minutes) and tries to photograph things or scenes that match each of the other player’s titles (again, through frames).
   1. It is also possible that during the first walk players have already taken a photo that matches some of the titles.
6. After the walk, each player sends their own chosen photo, for each title, privately to the gamemaster.
7. One after the other and grouping by title, the gamemaster gathers and shuffles the photos in each group and then shares them all to everyone. If playing through a message channel or online, the gamemaster should number each photo in the group to facilitate voting.
   1. All players look at the photos and each prepares to vote on which one they think the original photo is. Each player only casts one vote. The original author pretends to vote.
   2. All players reveal their vote at the same time by sharing it publicly.
   3. The original author reveals which photo is their original photo and discards their own vote.
   4. Scoring:
      1. Every player except the author earns 1 point for every vote they receive.
      2. If everyone votes for the author’s photo, everyone except the author earns 2 points.
      3. If no one votes for the author’s photo, everyone except the author earns 2 points.
      4. If the author received at least one but not all votes, the author gets 3 points, and every player who voted for the author’s photo also gets 3 points.
      5. If all players are playing locally in the same place:
         1. Every player earns 1 point if they have photographed the same frame (in the real world) as the author.
         2. The author earns 1 point if some but not all players photographed the same frame as their original photo.
8. After going through and scoring all titles and photos, the player with the most points wins and must become the gamemaster next time.
   

Credits

A game by YenTing Lo, Qhuenta, Yvelisse, Ferran Bertomeu 

Inspirations and Thoughts

This game was designed during the [[alternative reality]]: JAM! event in Taipei on March 21st 2026, on the second floor of No. 52 in the Treasure Hill Artist Village.

The room where we jammed had 8 windows, and one of the ideas we explored in the jam was to make a game “by the window”. Windows and frames are interesting because they offer a fixed view into the world. They are immovable, and they always face the same direction.

During our brainstorming, we thought about the tabletop game Dixit, and suddenly the concepts merged together really well .

We hope to adapt this game digitally to be played online, maybe asynchronously, by different players in different parts of the world, sharing photographs taken through frames in their own surroundings.