The smart phone application Draw Something has captured the imagination of Chinese office workers, who have localized the English-only game.

People can be seen playing the game - players take turns drawing a picture for the other to guess - in restaurants, cafes and on subway trains.

Although the game is only in English, Chinese have found a clever way to play it while local IT companies have developed simple tools to help people play.

For example, if the word you choose is "massage," what would you draw? Perhaps a person lying on their front? Well, the Chinese version was a horse waving a knife over a dead chicken.

Unless you speak Mandarin, it would be impossible to guess "massage."

In Chinese a horse is ma, kill is sha and chicken is ji. Put the words together and you get "ma sha ji", or Chinese jargon for massage because of the similarity in pronunciation.

The picture of a horse killing the chicken spread like wildfire on microblogs.

"I laughed for one minute when I saw the picture on Weibo and reposted it immediately," said Salena Sun, a marketing official at an IT industrial park.

It's probably the best example of how a popular foreign game has been localized in China, the world's biggest mobile phone and Internet market based on subscriber base.

The game, developed by OMGPOP, surpassed Angry Birds as the No. 1 app in Apple's App Store last month for a short period. Angry Birds regained top spot after offering a new update.

Fifty days after its release, Draw Something had been downloaded 50 million times. In March, Draw Something and OMGPOP were bought by the game giant Zynga for US$180 million.

At present, Zynga does not have any plans to make the game in other languages (see Q&A below for more on Zynga).

Lee Kaifu, chief executive of Innovation Works and Google China's former president, recommends parents use Draw Something to communicate with their children. "I play Draw Something with my two daughters every day," wrote Lee on his microblog, which has more than 12 million followers. "It takes only two or three minutes but you can say some words you won't say during daily life."

On his microblog, Lee posted a drawing for the word teardrop, which represented how he misses his daughters.

Chinese people are often shy about expressing feelings and the game can help bring family and friends closer.

Sun Mengzi, an analyst at Analysys International, agreed and said Draw Something is more than a game or social tool. Sun said playing it with friends in the same culture can bring happiness and surprises.

A good example is a drawing for "airport."

There is no airplane or tower in the drawing. Instead, there is only the Chinese characters for "your breast." In Chinese, an airport is often described as a flat-chested woman.

Even for those who don't speak English, they can enjoy the game with help from mobile dictionaries like Kingsoft Ciba and NetEase Youdao.

In March, when Draw Something became popular in China, searches on Kingsoft Ciba's mobile version jumped 17 percent year-on-year.

Both online dictionary service providers have launched special tools for the game in its web pages. Users can tap the scrambled letters into the tools and see possible answers and their Chinese translation.

Kingsoft, which plans to launch the Draw Something tool soon on handsets, said users can get the answer through its tool as fast as 0.3 seconds.

There is also a Chinese copycat application called You Draw, I Guess. It was released on March 31 (about one month after Draw Something) and is only available in Chinese. It has been downloaded about 4 million times, according to media reports.



Travis Boatman, senior vice president of Mobile, Zynga, was involved in Zynga's acquisition of OMGPOP, the developer of Draw Something, for US$180 million. He now operates Zynga's mobile game business, including Draw Something. He talks to Shanghai Daily about the game's development and future plans.



Q: What was the original idea for Draw Something?

A: Draw Something is the third version of OMGPOP's Draw My Thing. The original version was a flash game on the social website OMGPOP.com, which was brought to Facebook in 2011. The game was then created for mobile phones early this year.

Q: Have your tried other apps, such as Charadium?

A: I haven't played Charadium yet. Scramble With Friends is currently my favorite game, although Draw Something is now coming a close second. Mobile games that are free, social, high-quality and multi-platform are what Zynga focuses on.

Q: Why is Draw Something so popular?

A: Draw Something is great for a touch screen. The game plays well on the small screen and has short play sessions. Most importantly, Draw Something also includes an excellent social mechanic as well as being designed to stay relevant with current trends.

Q: What's the biggest challenge when you develop the app?

A: Creating a compelling social game that fits on a mobile screen is always a challenge. Balancing simplicity, native design and the social element requires true talent.

Q: How did you choose suitable words for drawing and guessing?

A: The word list for Draw Something is a mixture of pop culture references, current events and fun topics. The team also made sure to create a balance with common and easy-to-draw words so that a larger audience could play and enjoy the game.

Q: Do you have plans to launch the app in other languages, say, like a Chinese version?

A: We do not have any plans for other languages at this time. We fundamentally believe that some experiences are universal and transcend cultural differences. We believe social play is one of those experiences. For example, drawing a picture of something and trying to guess what it is can be a universally enjoyable and social experience in any culture.

I can tell you from personal experience that I have certainly had to draw a few pictures when trying to communicate in a country where I don't speak the language!

Q: What's the next upgrade for the app? How will it be integrated with Zynga's platform?

A: This is just the beginning for Draw Something. As with all of our games, Draw Something is a live service that is constantly updated with new features and content. I can't go into specific plans, but I can say that we can't wait to surprise and delight our players with what is coming next.

Q: The game does not have a winner or loser. Is this related to the company's philosophy?

A: Zynga games are created to be free, accessible, social and of the highest quality - that is our core philosophy.

We want to lower the barriers to play, to inspire people to put more play in their day.

Our games are about the social connection you make when you play with your friends and family, so that everyone wins.